Assimilation: Final Victory or the Road to Nowhere?

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, , language: English, abstract: But then I came to the conclusion that no, while there may be an immigration problem, it isn't really a serious problem. The really serious problem is assimilation. - Samuel P. HuntingtonFrom its very beginnings, the United States has been an immigrant nation. It has been built on the shoulders of immigrants from every imaginable part of the world and, up to this day, is being sustained by the ancestors of these immigrants. I therefore agree with Samuel Huntington that immigration itself cannot be America's problem. However, Huntington's claim remains thatassimilation is the really serious problem. What exactly is wrong with assimilation? Does the kind of assimilation that we observe today work at all? Should ethnic minorities and immigrants assimilate more into mainstream American culture or would that be detrimental for them in a way that is not tolerable? The latter will be the central question I will be posing in this paper. On the one hand, one's immediate reaction to this central question might be a definite 'no, they should not assimilate'. 'No'because the term 'assimilation' somehow carries negative connotations of small-mindednessand nationalistic fervor, that one might be hesitant to support, 'no' because it seems impossible to streamline human beings to fit a certain image, and 'no' because it seems illogical that immigrants should have to assimilate to something that is so diverse as the American culture. On the other hand, today's American society surely is not fully integrated. In so many instances, socioeconomic, cultural, political, and linguistic gaps stretch all the way across the continent and disunite America. Considering these dangerous gaps and continuing immigration, assimilation might well be a necessity to ensure the survival of American society and peaceful co-existence of all its members. To solve the puzzle of assimilation, it is first advisable to clarify the term in a way that further discussion can be based on the established definition. I then attempt to shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of assimilation and, finally, come to a conclusion about whether assimilation is the 'final victory' or the 'road to nowhere' for America and its immigrants. [...]