1. Chapter Two Assimilation and Pluralism: From Immigrants to White Ethnic to White Americans
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2. Assimilation and Pluralism
Assimilation is a process in which formerly distinct and separate groups come to share a common culture and merge together socially.
As a society undergoes assimilation, differences among groups begin to decrease.
Pluralism, on the other hand, exists when groups maintain their individual identities.
In a pluralistic society, groups remain separate, and their cultural and social differences persist over time.
Instructors Note:
Arguably the best example of assimilated groups for discussion are European ethnic groups.
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3. Assimilation and Pluralism
In some ways, assimilation and pluralism are contrary processes, but they are not mutually exclusive.
They may occur together in a variety of combinations within a particular society or group.
Some segments of a society may be assimilating, while others are maintaining (or even increasing) their differences.
Instructors Note:
Latinos have varying levels of assimilation between and within particular ethnic groups.
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4. Types of Assimilation
Melting pot—a process in which different groups come together and contribute in roughly equal amounts to create a common culture and a new, unique society.
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5. Types of Assimilation Americanization or Anglo-conformity
Rather than an equal sharing of elements and a gradual blending of diverse peoples, assimilation in the United States was designed to maintain the predominance of the British-type institutional patterns created during the early years of American society.
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6. Types of Assimilation
Under Anglo-conformity, immigrant and minority groups are expected to adapt to Anglo-American culture as quickly as possible.
Americanization has been a precondition for access to better jobs, education, and other opportunities.
But Americanization has also created conflict, anxiety, demoralization, and resentment.
Instructors Note:
Assimilation does not always lead to better SES and can also have integration without acculturation.
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7. The “Traditional” Perspective on Assimilation: Theories and Concepts
Robert Park and “Race Relations Cycle”
Contact
Competition
Accommodation
Assimilation
Assumed that Assimilation is inevitable in a democratic and industrial society.
In a political system based on democracy, fairness, and impartial justice, all groups will eventually secure equal treatment under the law.
Instructors Note:
Discuss flaws in assumption.
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8. The “Traditional” Perspective on Assimilation: Theories and Concepts
Milton Gordon, Assimilation in American Life (1964)
Differentiated between:
Culture
Social structure
Primary networks
Secondary networks
Instructors Note:
In Gordon’s theory, movement from acculturation to integration is the crucial step in the assimilation process. Once that step is taken, all the other sub-processes will occur in due time.
Some of his conclusions have been called into question.
Individual sub-processes of assimilation that Gordon saw as linked in a certain order are often found to occur independently of one another (Yinger, 1985, p. 154). A group may integrate before acculturating or combine the subprocesses in other ways.
Also, many researchers no longer think of the process of assimilation as necessarily linear or one-way (Greeley, 1974). Groups (or segments thereof) may “reverse direction” and become less assimilated over time, revive their traditional cultures, relearn the old language, or revitalize ethnic organizations or associations.
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9. Gordon’s Stages of Assimilation
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10. The “Traditional” Perspective on Assimilation: Theories and Concepts
Human Capital Theory
More a status attainment theory than assimilation theory.
Incomplete in explaining status attainment as it de-emphasizes structural factors in favor of individual factors.
Also assumes fairness in U.S. society.
Instructors Note:
Why did some immigrant groups achieve upward mobility more rapidly than others? Human capital theory answers questions such as these in terms of the resources and cultural characteristics of the members of the groups, especially their levels of education and familiarity with English. Success is seen as a direct result of individual effort and the wise investment of personal resources. People or groups who fail haven’t tried hard enough, haven’t made the right kinds of educational investments, or have values or habits that limit their ability to compete.
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11. Pluralism
Horace Kallen (1915) rejected the notion of Anglo conformity, which was inconsistent with democracy and other core American values.
Evidence that full assimilation has not materialized, even among European ethnic groups
Interest in pluralism has also increased due to
Increasing U.S. diversity
Global conflicts rooted in ethnic differences
Multiculturalism has been and will be an ongoing debate
Instructors Note:
Pluralism exists when groups maintain their individual identities.
In a pluralistic society, groups remain separate, and their cultural and social differences persist over time.
The Amish are a great example of a pluralistic group.
Multiculturalism, a general term for a variety of programs and ideas that stress mutual respect for all groups and for the multiple heritages that shaped the United States.
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12. Types of Pluralism
Cultural pluralism exists when groups have not acculturated and each maintains its own identity.
Structural pluralism exists when a group has acculturated but not integrated. That is, the group has adopted the Anglo-American culture but does not have full and equal access to the institutions of the larger society.
Integration without acculturation reverses the order of Gordon’s first two phases.
Enclave and Middleman Minorities
Instructors Note:
Many Native Americans are culturally pluralistic, maintaining their traditional languages and cultures and living on isolated reservations.
An example of structural pluralism can be found on any Sunday morning in the Christian churches of the United States. Not only are local parishes separated by denomination, they are also often identified with specific ethnic groups or races.
An enclave minority establishes its own neighborhood and relies on a set of interconnected businesses, each of which is usually small in scope, for its economic survival—Miami’s ‘Little Havana’.
Middleman minority also relies on small shops and retail firms, but the businesses are more dispersed throughout a large area rather than concentrated in a specific locale—Korean American groceries.
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13. Point out primary and structural assimilation.
Instructors Note:
Point out primary and structural assimilation.
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15. Other Group Relationships
Separatism goes well beyond pluralism and exists among groups in French Canada, Scotland, Chechnya, Cyprus, southern Mexico, Hawaii, etc.
Revolution seeks to switch places with the dominant group and become the ruling elite or create a new social order
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16. From Immigrants to White Ethnics
A massive immigration from Europe began in the 1820s
They came as immigrants, became minority groups upon their arrival , experienced discrimination and prejudice in all its forms, went through all the varieties and stages of assimilation and pluralism, and eventually merged into the society that had rejected them
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17. From Immigrants to White Ethnics
Industrialization and Immigration – Industrialization destroyed the traditional way of life as it introduced new technology, machines, and new sources of energy to the task of production. In response, peasants began to leave their home villages and move toward urban areas
The first wave or “Old Immigration” came from Northern and Western Europe in the 1820s; the second wave or “New Immigration” began arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe in the 1880s
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18. From Immigrants to White Ethnics
Northern and Western European immigrants included English, Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, Welsh, French, Dutch, and Danes. These groups were similar to the dominant group in their racial and religious characteristics and also shared many cultural values with the host society, including the Protestant Ethic.
Immigrants from Norway – On a per capita basis, Norway sent more immigrants to the U.S. before 1890 than any European nation except Ireland
Immigrants from Germany – The stream of immigration from Germany was much larger and German Americans left their mark on the economy, the political structure, and the cultural life of their new land
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19. From Immigrants to White Ethnics
Assimilation patterns – By and large, assimilation for Norwegian, German, and other Protestant immigrants from Northern and Western Europe was consistent with the traditional views discussed earlier
Immigrant laborers from Ireland and Southern and Eastern Europe – these “immigrant laborers” came in two waves: the Irish took part of the Old Immigration, while Italians and other Southern and Eastern Europeans made up the New Immigration
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20. From Immigrants to White Ethnics
Eastern European Jewish Immigrants and the Ethnic Enclave – Jewish immigrants from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe settled in the urban areas of the Northeast and Midwest; NY city was the most common destination.
Unlike most European immigrant groups, Jewish Americans became heavily involved in commerce and often found ways to start their own businesses.
The enclave economy and the Jewish neighborhoods established by the immigrants proved to be an effective base from which to integrate into American Society.
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21. From Immigrants to White Ethnics
Chains of Immigration – All of the immigrant groups tended to follow “chains” established and maintained by the members of their groups.
Someone from a village would make it to the United States; the successful immigrant would send word to the home village; within months, another immigrant from the village, perhaps a relative, would show up at the address of the original immigrant
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22. The Campaign against Immigration: Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination
Anti-Catholicism – Much of the prejudice against the Irish and the new immigrants was expressed as anti-Catholicism
Anti-Semitism – Jews faced intense prejudice and racism as they began arriving in large numbers in the 1880s
The prejudice and racism direct against the immigrants also found expression in organized, widespread efforts to stop the flow of immigration. The National Origins Act established a quota system that limited the number of immigrants that would be accepted each year from each sending nation, a system that was openly racist, allocating nearly 70% of the available immigration slots to the nations of Northern and Western Europe.
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23. Patterns of Assimilation
The Importance of Generations - It takes time to become completely Americanized.
First generation (immigrants) - Settled in ethnic neighborhoods and make limited movement toward acculturation and integration. Focused energies on family and social relationships.
Second generation (children of immigrants) - Psychologically or socially marginalized as part ethnic, part American. Many experience conflict between school and home worlds which reflected different cultures. Enjoyed wider choices and opportunities than their parents.
Third generation (grandchildren of immigrants) - Usually born and raised in non-ethnic settings. English is their first language. Ethnicity is a minor part of their self-image. Attain high levels of integration at secondary and primary levels.
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24. Patterns of Assimilation
Ethnic Succession
A second factor that shaped the assimilation experience is captured in the concept of ethnic succession or the myriad ways in which European ethnic groups unintentionally affected each other’s position in the social class structure of the larger society.
Politics – After a period of acculturation and adjust, the Irish began to create their own connections with the mainstream society and improve their economic and social position
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25. Patterns of Assimilation
Ethnic Succession
Labor unions – The labor movement provided a second link between the Irish, other European immigrant groups, and the larger society.
Religion – A third avenue of mobility for the Irish and other white groups was provided by the religious institution.
Other pathways – besides party politics, the union movement, and religion, European immigrant groups forged other not-so-legitimate pathways of upward mobility.
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26. Patterns of Assimilation
Continuing Industrialization and Structural Mobility
Structural mobility resulted more from changes in the structure of the economy and the labor market than from any individual effort or desire to “get ahead”
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27. Variations in Assimilation
Degree of Similarity –The degree of resistance, prejudice, and discrimination encountered by the different European immigrant groups varied in part by the degree to which they differed from these dominant group characteristics.
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28. Variations in Assimilation
Religion - A major differentiating factor in immigrant experiences.
Kennedy (1944) found the immigrant generation chose marriage partners from a pool whose boundaries were marked not just by ethnicity, but also religion. As children and grandchildren of immigrants married based on religion but less so by ethnicity (i.e., a triple melting pot)
Herberg (1960) - Acculturation didn't affect all aspects of ethnicity equally. European immigrants wee encouraged to learn English, for example, but not to change their religious beliefs. Religion became a vehicle by which immigrants could convey their ethnicity.
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29. Variations in Assimilation
Social Class - A central feature of social structure that affected immigrants.
Gordon (1964) argued that the U.S. in the 1960s had not three, but four melting pots, one for each of the major ethnic/religious groups and one for black Americans, which were subdivided by class. Believed the intersection of religious/ethnic and social class boundaries or "ethclass" was the most significant structural unit in U.S. society.
Social class affected structural integration.
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30. Variations in Assimilation
Gender - Experiences of women immigrants recorded less than were men's experiences.
Many immigrant women came from patriarchal cultures and had less access than men to leadership roles, education, and good occupations.
Men immigrants outnumbered women immigrants.
Women immigrants' experiences varied depending on their country of origin.
Women also began the process or acculturation and integration. For example, many Irish immigrants were young single women who came to the U.S. seeking jobs.
The type and location of women's employment varied. Irish women, for example, concentrated in domestic work and factories. Italian women did tasks that could be done at home such a laundry and piecework. Women's wages tended to be about half of what men earned.
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31. Variations in Assimilation
Sojourners – (Or “birds of passage”)
Some immigrants had no intentional of becoming American citizens and therefore had little interest in Americanization.
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32. The Descendants of European Immigrants Today
The largest ancestry group in the United States is German American.
Integration and Equality - White ethnic groups are today on the verge of being completed assimilated.
The Twilight of White Ethnicity? - Hansen’s principle of third-generation interest: “what the second generation tries to forget, the third generation tries to remember”
Ethnic revival – a notable increase in the visibility of an interest in white ethnic heritage
White Ethnicity in the 21st Century: From White Ethnics to White
Symbolic ethnicity or an aspect of self-identity that symbolizes one’s roots in the “old country”
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35. Contemporary Immigrants: Does the Traditional Perspective Apply?
Assimilation today is fragmented or segmented and will have a number of different outcomes: some groups will integrate in the middle-class mainstream, others will find themselves permanently mired in the impoverished, alienated, and marginalized segments.
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36. Implications for Examining Dominant-Minority Relations
Minority group status has much more to do with power and the distribution of resources than with simple numbers or the percentage of the population in any particular category.
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37. Comparative Focus: Immigration, Emigration, and Ireland
Like the United States, Ireland finds itself dealing with diversity and debating what kind of society it should become.
The number of newcomers entering Ireland increased more than 4 times over between 1987 and 2008, to almost 90,000, and the number of people leaving decreased dramatically, to less than 20,000.
These numbers are miniscule compared to the volume of immigrants received by the U.S. each year, but the percentage of the Ireland’s population that consists of immigrants (13.8%) is actually greater than the comparable percentage in the United States (12.8%)
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38. Comparative Focus: Immigration, Emigration, and Ireland
The immigration is changing the racial composition of Irish society.
Although still a small minority of the total population, the number of Irish residents of African descent has increased by a factor of 8 between 1996 and 2006.
Although many Irish are very sympathetic to the immigrants and refugees, others have responded with racist sentiments and demands for exclusion, reactions that ironically echo the rejection Irish immigrants to the U.S. experienced in the 19th Century
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39. Comparative Focus: Immigration, Emigration, and Ireland
The rejection of non-Irish newcomers was manifested in the passage of the “Citizenship Amendment” to the Irish constitution, which was overwhelmingly supported (80% in favor) by the Irish electorate in June 2004.
Prior to the passage of the amendment, any baby born in Ireland had the right to claim Irish citizenship.
The amendment denied the right of citizenship to any baby that did not have at least one Irish parent and was widely interpreted as a hostile rejection of immigrants.
One poll suggested that people supported the amendment because they believed that there were simply too many immigrants in Ireland
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