You make an ass out of imilate....or something.
I've been thinking a lot lately about "assimilation".....
Whenever someone takes a stand against undocumented immigrants in this country, and they are called "anti-immigrant" in response, they say something like: "I'm fine with immigrants, as long as they come legally, and when they get here, they assimilate into OUR country." Now...I take issue with a number of things here, not the least of which is a bunch of white-ass crackers saying that the United States is exclusively "theirs"...but that's a conversation for another time.
It seems that our now "pro-immigrant" friend here has something in mind when she is talking about assimilation. I'm not entirely sure that I know what she means...so I do what I often do...I look for examples...
I think the best place to look is in communities of immigrants that have been here for a long time...surely they have "assimilated".
What do they look like?
Is it about language?
Well. Take a trip to a Chinatown (pick one...of many). Are the signs in English? What language do you hear the locals speak to one another?
Maybe it's about the food...or the music....or that ephemeral notion of "culture"...
Go to Little Italy in Manhattan during the Feast of San Gennaro. Doesn't really look, sound, or smell like cheeseburgers, jazz, or country music....it feels...well...Italian...
That all begs the question....What do I think?
I think ultimately assimilation is more about what we, as an immigrant's new home, do to make them a part of our culture. I think assimilation occurs when we start to see that new community as a part of our collective whole, just like we've done with the Italians (Have you seen the Godfather....), the Chinese (What's a trip to San Fransisco, New York, or DC with out a stop in Chinatown for lunch?), and any number of the panoply of cultures that makes up the mismash that we call "our" culture. Once we get over ourselves, and recognize that "they" are really a part of "us"...then we've got that assimilation thing down.
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