Assimilation by any standard is conversion. A type of conversion into another’s culture with new beliefs, morals, and traditions that changes an individual. Forced or willingly done, this act of assimilation is a loss of a person’s identity within his/or her own culture, whether he/or she is African, Native American, Chinese or Latino. However, who says that one must fully assimilate into another culture, taking on another’s entire way of living and committing to those beliefs, ridding oneself of one’s own heritage? In Lee Schweninger’s essay, “Back when I used to be Indian: Native American Authenticity and Postcolonial Discourse,” he acknowledges “the importance of tribal identity, an identity maintained despite and separate from those dominate impositions” (77). Therefore, while an individual might seek to become a part of another society, transforming his/her life to fit the mold of another’s, s/he always continues to hold elements of his/her own cultural and historical identity. Gloria Anzaldua, in her postcolonial text, Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza, explores the idea that, “Because the future depends on the breaking down of two paradigms, it depends on the straddling of two or more cultures” (1852). Completely conforming to one culture and its dominating morals, beliefs, and traditions is not easily done by those of different nationalities and heritage. Like Anzaldua writes, the “straddling of two or more cultures” is the reality of many situations (1852). Therefore living between the two, accepting some aspects but holding on to others, brings balance in the lives of those caught in the middle. Anzaldua argues that if an individual changes the way they view their reality then they create a new consciousness, mor... ... middle of paper ... ...Birth of Tragedy From the Spirit of Music.” The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rded. David H. Richter. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. 435-459. Print Schweninger, Lee. “Back when I used to be Indian: Native American Authenticity and Postcolonial Discourse.” Native Authenticity: Transnational Perspectives on Native American Literart Studies.1sted. Deborah L. Madsen. Albany: State University of New York, 2010. 69-85. Print. Shafton, Anthony. “African-Americans and Predictive Dreams.” asdreams.com. Association for the Study of Dreams, 2003. Web. 14 Feb. 2011 Wright, John S. "The New Negro Poet and the Nachal Man: Sterling Brown's Folk Odyssey." Black American Literature Forum 23.1 (Spring 1989): 95-105. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Timothy J. Sisler. Vol. 55. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.
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Many people in America want to assimilate to the U.S. because they think that being American is a better option. People such as the Italians in the 1870s tried to assimilate in order to become an American to not become an enemy in the U.S. Also, the Mexicans today are constantly coming to the U.S. to have a better life because they know being American is the best solution for their problems at home. What assimilation mean is when a person leaves one’s own culture to join a different culture the person wants to be. For the purpose of this essay, an American is a person who has commitment to succeed in what one wants, able to speak english, to love the pop culture in the U.S. at the time one is living such as the hit songs, games, T.V. shows, etc. but not to other cultures, and be a citizen in America. People throughout history must assimilate to become a true American
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So many things have said about the cultural assimilation, and so many people have struggled to live the new society to prove themselves and work hard to absorb the new life by learning the language and new culture. So many people devoted their lives to assimilate to be part of American society. Cultural assimilation does not only means to survive in the new life, but also people who try to fit in the new society. A society where people are not judged by their class, money, or education, but are determined by race, color, religion, and where they come from. Do we really and profoundly feel what it means to be part of new society? Do we keep following the stereotypes that we have created in our very own minds, which is, if we speak the same language with same exact dialect, and we share common interests from the new culture, we lose our own cultural roots or background? To make a long story short, what is cultural assimilation means? One of the brilliant examples from personal experience is revealing a particular point of view on the matter of the outstanding work of Richard Rodriguez “Hunger of Memory”. Rodriguez shows cultural assimilation in his personal examples, and displays the issue completely by talking about himself as a Mexican-American who tried to survive a new way of life to become something of himself. In this book, Rodriguez tries to idealize not only his way of life when he assimilates, but he includes his feeling of being alienated from his own culture, his background, society, and his family. He believes that his existence in American society made him understand what it is to be a Mexican American, and what it is to be a minority f...
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