Opportunities and Challenges of Assimilation Essay Example
Opportunities and Challenges of Assimilation
Katherine Malone
ETH/125
June 25, 2011
Lillian Chenoweth
Opportunities and Challenges of Assimilation
Over the next 20 years as there is an increase in diversity within the United States there will be new challenges as well as opportunities for Americans of Asian and Japanese decent. As more Japanese and other minorities emerge as activists, you will see more involvement by them concerning issues they feel affect them. Politically, you will see Asian Americans getting involved in city council and school board elections; things that affect them directly, instead of the bigger picture of politics. They have already shown concerns through protests of hate crimes, toxic working conditions, and the pilgrimage to Tule Lake.(Schaefer, 2006, p.351) As future generations assimilate, there will be even greater challenges to not lose their cultural roots. Zhancao zhugen which means “to eliminate the weeds, one must pull out their roots.” (Schaefer, 2006, p. 352) Correlates to the acceptance minorities want, but the price that must be paid to achieve it is a heavy one.
Since minorities tend to locate in groups and are not evenly disbursed throughout the United States, certain areas will show more signs of acceptance or reverse assimilation like what happened in Southwest Florida with the Cuban influx. Ethnic slurs and bashing will hopefully diminish as there is more interracial involvement.
We may see the economic ceilings removed somewhat as the United States becomes even more technological. With Asians and other minorities excelling academically they are a group that must be reckoned with.
Some of the main challenges will be what price are they willing to pay to advance and find their place in America, what are they willing to give up. How involved will they have to become before White America accepts them for who they are and what they have to offer. The opportunities can include more acceptance, further
Katherine Malone
ETH/125
June 25, 2011
Lillian Chenoweth
Opportunities and Challenges of Assimilation
Over the next 20 years as there is an increase in diversity within the United States there will be new challenges as well as opportunities for Americans of Asian and Japanese decent. As more Japanese and other minorities emerge as activists, you will see more involvement by them concerning issues they feel affect them. Politically, you will see Asian Americans getting involved in city council and school board elections; things that affect them directly, instead of the bigger picture of politics. They have already shown concerns through protests of hate crimes, toxic working conditions, and the pilgrimage to Tule Lake.(Schaefer, 2006, p.351) As future generations assimilate, there will be even greater challenges to not lose their cultural roots. Zhancao zhugen which means “to eliminate the weeds, one must pull out their roots.” (Schaefer, 2006, p. 352) Correlates to the acceptance minorities want, but the price that must be paid to achieve it is a heavy one.
Since minorities tend to locate in groups and are not evenly disbursed throughout the United States, certain areas will show more signs of acceptance or reverse assimilation like what happened in Southwest Florida with the Cuban influx. Ethnic slurs and bashing will hopefully diminish as there is more interracial involvement.
We may see the economic ceilings removed somewhat as the United States becomes even more technological. With Asians and other minorities excelling academically they are a group that must be reckoned with.
Some of the main challenges will be what price are they willing to pay to advance and find their place in America, what are they willing to give up. How involved will they have to become before White America accepts them for who they are and what they have to offer. The opportunities can include more acceptance, further