WHAT MAKES AN AMERICAN? ASSIMILATION Assimilation is a process in which formerly distinct and separate groups come to share a common culture and merge together socially. Differences in among groups decrease. ETHNICITY Groups of a community who are identified primarily by cultural characteristics such as language or religion, cultural practices, or a mutually agreed identity based on background, national origin or a sociological belief in a “race.” WHO IS A MINORITY Some sociologists and historians believe that a “minority group has five characteristics: • The members of the group share a visible trait or characteristic that differentiates them from other groups. • The minority group is a self-conscious social unit. • Membership is the group is usually determined at birth. • Members tend to marry within the group. • The members of the group experience a pattern of disadvantage or inequality. PLURALISM Pluralism exists when groups maintain their individual identities. Groups remain separate and cultural and social differences persist over time. MULTICULTURALISM A recognition that society has many components, stresses mutual respect for all groups, and celebrates the multiplicity of heritages that have contributed to the development of a community or nation. AMERICAN CONCEPT OF ASSIMILATION, 19TH CENTURY Filled with patriotic stories, images, and poems, the basic “reader” was designed to teach English, democracy, American ways” and proper behavior. The “melting pot” meant remolding immigrants into Americans from western European ancestry. SOMALI CULTURE • Somalia rests in the northeast “horn” of Africa, a spot where for centuries Arabic, African and Indian culture has had influence. • Somali families are patrilineal (male dominated) and most Somalis are Muslim in faith. • Somali cultural strengths include poetic language and music, artistic traditions in sculpture and pottery (consistent with a faith that generally avoids representations of the human form in art). ETHIOPIAN CULTURE • Similar to Somali in some respects, but almost 65% of population is Christian (some Coptic -Greek influenced), and most of the rest are Muslim. • Not quite as male dominated as many other African nations. • Music has proven popular with westerners. • Again, like Somalia, has had divisions due to civil wars, strong memories of colonialism. HISPANIC CULTURES • Latin culture emerged in a mix of Native American, Spanish and African interactions in Central and South America – multiculturalism began early and no “one culture” emerged. • The Spanish empire in the America flourished for over 150 years before the first successful English colony existed. • When Spain dominated these regions, a caste system rigidly defined social status by ancestry going back 5 or more generations. • Only the language and Catholicism served as unifying elements after the 1820s. HMONG CULTURE • Hmong peoples have been a minority group in China, Laos, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand – they are accustomed to resisting discrimination. • Culture is male dominated and clans are at least as important as families. • Many Hmong converted to Christianity in the late 19th-early 20th century, but Buddhism and shamanism remain strong. • Many Hmong are refugees, not least because they allied with the U.S. in the Vietnam conflict. IMMIGRATION REFORM As to immigration reform, “a lot of questions need to be answered about where on a spectrum between deportation and citizenship we can find common ground to bring people who are living in the shadows out of the shadows.” Congressman Robert Goodlatte, House Judiciary Committee chairman, February 2013. FEARS “If the GOP does not engage in a massive Latino butt kissing today, Latinos coming of voting age in AZ, FL, TX, CO, VA, NC, will turn those states blue. That will give Dems 66 seats in the Senate, overwhelming control of the House and a forever lock on the White House.” Blog comment, February 2013. HOPES “Foreign students and their dependents added $21.81 billion to the U.S. economy in 2011-12. However, this figure doesn’t begin to capture the contributions which many foreign students go on to make as part of the high-skilled U.S. workforce and U.S. business community.” Walter A. Ewing, Immigration Policy Center, January, 2013. THE ALTERNATIVE OF ACCULTURATION Acculturation is a two-way (or multi-way) exchange with the all sides making adjustments: • Over Time, immigrants come to know “the national culture” and the values of the “new world” • Understanding and facility of the language • The citizens begin to understand the Complexity of the “strangers” culture(s), and become less likely to draw upon misleading stereotypes • Both (or all) groups try to act out of greater understanding MUTUAL TOLERANCE While rates of inter-marriage have grown, acculturation by mutual tolerance has been the object of much legislation, but issues of intolerance remain: • Gay marriage is confined to 13 nations (10 states in US as of April, 2013). • Gender differences in pay, with women getting about 75% of what men receive for comparable work. • Serious examples of racial discrimination still exist in housing, criminal prosecution, income and voting rights violations. • Minor issues of citizenship rose over Chester Arthur, George Romney and John McCain, and a major issue over Barrack Obama. INTER-MARRIAGE The 2000 Census counted 11.9 million identifying themselves as Asian Americans. That total was comprised of 10.2 million (85.7%) claiming purely Asian heritage and 1.7 million (14.3%) claiming mixed heritage. Of the mixed-heritage Asian Americans, 868,395 (52.4%) claimed part white ancestry, 138,802 (8.38%) claimed part Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander ancestry, 106,782 (6.45%) claimed part black ancestry, and 249,108 (17.7%) claimed another unspecified race. These mixed-race Asian Americans evidence a notable degree of assimilation, especially in light of the fact that in parts of the U.S. anti-miscegenation laws (prohibiting inter-racial marriage) weren't outlawed until the late 1960s. TO THE FUTURE “The greatest impact of immigration to America will be felt in the economy. Nowhere is this more critical than in the all-important entrepreneurial (business ownership) sphere. Immigrants by nature tend to be entrepreneurial as most come to America to find a better life for themselves and their families. “The immigrant role in creating new business has been particularly critical during the current recession. According to a recent report, the foreign-born were the a bright spot in the otherwise shell-shocked U.S. entrepreneurial sector. Overall, immigrants have boosted their share of new entrepreneurs from 13.4 percent in 1996 to nearly 30 percent in 2010. Many of the areas with the rapidly growing entrepreneurial classes among minorities—places like Atlanta, Nashville, Houston, and Dallas – will see economic upsurges.” America’s Demographic Future: A Cato Institute Study (2012).