How long does assimilation take?

[Revoltingest]

Those foods are for babies. Real men choke down fermented shark!

Daughter ran across that in Iceland.
As I recall, she passed on trying that 'delicacy'.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Those foods are for babies. Real men choke down fermented shark!

cough cough

 

[sun rise]

I wonder what the average time for a culture to assimilate into American culture is?

My experience, which of course is not universal, is that the first generation like my parents really never fully does. My parents primary newspaper was Yiddish. I heard a lot of Yiddish when I was growing up especially when they were talking about me.

The second generation, me for example, was typically not interested in my parents culture or religion. But some of the food I really liked. That is also true of the immigrants living next door except that they don't want their native, Indian, food.

I've also heard that immigrants work a lot harder than their children who come to expect certain things that their parents never had.

I prefer individuals who keep some, if not a lot of their birth culture. That makes for a more diverse and interesting community.

And I'm not really sure what "assimilation' really means at the detail level, anyway. I love eating at places which attract immigrants because I know I'm getting more authentic Thai food, for example. And seeing Australian football rules being used in a local park is fun.

 

[Jumi]

Those foods are for babies. Real men choke down fermented shark!

I would try that, if it wasn't from an endangered shark species.

 

[Jumi]

When we moved to france we had culture lessons. Made a big difference to how we "assimilated"

I wish they had more of that for everyone's benefit. Like a driving license to a culture, I don't understand why some people are against it.

 

[icehorse]

I would try that, if it wasn't from an endangered shark species.

I did try it a few years back. It was - by far - the foulest taste I've ever experienced. Since then I've heard that you're correct, it's typically from an endangered species - so I would never do that again. sigh.

 

[ChristineM]

I wish they had more of that for everyone's benefit. Like a driving license to a culture, I don't understand why some people are against it.

I dont either, if you are going to live in another culture it is only polite to learn something about it.

It has certainly helped in us being accepted.

 

[Ellen Brown]

I think it depends. Some of my ancestors were of French ancestry and living in Louisiana when that territory became part of the United States. They still retained the language and culture for generations afterwards, and even my grandfather spoke French as a child. But they had been living in rural conditions with little interaction with other cultures. As a result, they didn't need to assimilate all that quickly.

Similarly, I had Dutch ancestors who settled in the upper Midwest, and they were also living in rural settings where they mostly interacted with their own people. There was no pressing need to assimilate, so it was a slow process - driven more by necessity than anything else.

Those who settled in urban areas or took industrial jobs requiring greater interaction with other ethnic groups were under stronger pressures to assimilate.

Henry Ford even set up a school for his immigrant employees to teach them how to acculturate to America. There was even a graduation ceremony in which they first lined up in clothing from their native homeland, but then would change over to American style clothing so that they would look like other Americans.

At that time, a lot of immigrants also changed their names to make them sound more American. A guy with a strange, foreign-sounding name like Charles Dennis Buchinsky became Charles Bronson, an all-American hero. My Cajun grandfather changed his first name from Pierre to William. Things like this were rather common.

There were also little to no extra accommodations for immigrants back in those days. There were no multilingual voting ballots, no bilingual education, no "press 2 for Spanish" - it was mostly just sink or swim.

With family names like Webb, and Boucher, it is not hard to make guesses. I'm told that we arrived in America, in Virginia in 1735. I'm told that there was some association with the Huguenots, but I don't know much. Almost all of my relatives have passed on. A genetics test indicated the UK and broader Scandinavia and Europe. I had though there was some Middle Eastern heritage, but it is only 2%, so no claiming to be a relative of Muhammad PBUH.

With the Scots background, I'll not be learning the pipes, and am perhaps too old for toe dancing.

 

[David1967]

What is assimilation?

 

[Jumi]

Patrick Stewart! I already knew what it was about, although I can't access the video for some reason.

 

[pearl]

I love the diversity. We live in a college town, ten of them, and the next generation is quick to assimilate, but still retain their culture at home. There are numerous restaurants equally diverse. Whether anyone truly assimilates may depend on the reason for coming here in the first place.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

For some reason, Muslims seem to take longer, however when I was attending Mosques, one of the biggest complaints I heard from other Muslims is that their children did not continue with Hijab and attending Friday Prayer.

I've heard the same thing (more or less) from other Muslim immigrants. It's a testament to how good America has gotten at assimilating immigrants. America is so damn good at it that even entire countries are facing assimilation (such as Australia) ("We all live in America," sang the German band Rammstein).
IMO, it revolves around that fact that America as a nation has always been a land of immigrants, and thus has lots of experience with it. But also basic human psychology and sociology when it comes to conformity. America is a land of heavy advertisement pollution, and social value that revolves around disposable commodities of vanity. We also glorify celebrities and lives of luxury, and it's not usual for someone to wear a label/brand instead of just a shirt and pair of jeans.
And my own experience of going from a not so wealthy state to a state of a vast wealth, it all has a certain sparkle and attraction when you've never seen it before. And that's just going from Indiana to California. I can easily imagine it being a similar thing but to a much greater degree when going from a place like Iran or Saudi Arabia to just about anywhere in America.
And of course young people tend to be more open to new experiences than older people.

 

[Ellen Brown]

I love the diversity. We live in a college town, ten of them, and the next generation is quick to assimilate, but still retain their culture at home. There are numerous restaurants equally diverse. Whether anyone truly assimilates may depend on the reason for coming here in the first place.

I love Middle Eastern food and there are several restaurants here. There used to be great Chinese Restaurants, but it seems that their children all went to College and became Lawyers, so the restaurants are hard to find now.

 

[Orbit]

There were waves of Immigrants to America from Ireland, Scandinavia, China, Korea, and lots of other countries, and somehow we accommodated them. My 'people' came from Scotland and England. Hispanics seem to assimilate in a Generation or so. Arabs that are not Muslim seem to blend in almost right away. For some reason, Muslims seem to take longer, however when I was attending Mosques, one of the biggest complaints I heard from other Muslims is that their children did not continue with Hijab and attending Friday Prayer.

From what I have seen, lots of the immigrants in the latter part of the 19th century were Mormon converts, though I have no idea what percentage of the total it was.

At one Mosque, they thought I was undercover Police, and over all if you are white it was hard at any Mosque I attended.

I wonder what the average time for a culture to assimilate into American culture is?

I live near a College that has around 30,000 students, and at one time, I think that half were Arab. In fact, who ever monitors these things started diverting Arab students to other colleges. Since Trump erupted onto the populace I have no idea what the present numbers are.

3 to 4 generations for assimilation.

 

[shmogie]

I think it depends. Some of my ancestors were of French ancestry and living in Louisiana when that territory became part of the United States. They still retained the language and culture for generations afterwards, and even my grandfather spoke French as a child. But they had been living in rural conditions with little interaction with other cultures. As a result, they didn't need to assimilate all that quickly.

Similarly, I had Dutch ancestors who settled in the upper Midwest, and they were also living in rural settings where they mostly interacted with their own people. There was no pressing need to assimilate, so it was a slow process - driven more by necessity than anything else.

Those who settled in urban areas or took industrial jobs requiring greater interaction with other ethnic groups were under stronger pressures to assimilate.

Henry Ford even set up a school for his immigrant employees to teach them how to acculturate to America. There was even a graduation ceremony in which they first lined up in clothing from their native homeland, but then would change over to American style clothing so that they would look like other Americans.

At that time, a lot of immigrants also changed their names to make them sound more American. A guy with a strange, foreign-sounding name like Charles Dennis Buchinsky became Charles Bronson, an all-American hero. My Cajun grandfather changed his first name from Pierre to William. Things like this were rather common.

There were also little to no extra accommodations for immigrants back in those days. There were no multilingual voting ballots, no bilingual education, no "press 2 for Spanish" - it was mostly just sink or swim.

Nor was there a plethora of tax supported welfare benefits for immigrants. They had to work to survive, they had to learn the English language to move beyond menial labor jobs. They weren't provided housing, food, medical care and an income. They didn´t come here for any of those things, they came here for freedom and opportunity.

Today, welfare and all itś trappings is the magnet that draws them, money they never earned and have no right to.

I am sure some exist, but I have never come across Korean, Greek, Chinese, or Jewish immigrants on welfare, one wonders why.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Today, welfare and all itś trappings is the magnet that draws them, money they never earned and have no right to.

I have my doubts Jesus shares that sentiment.

 

[Stevicus]

With family names like Webb, and Boucher, it is not hard to make guesses. I'm told that we arrived in America, in Virginia in 1735. I'm told that there was some association with the Huguenots, but I don't know much. Almost all of my relatives have passed on. A genetics test indicated the UK and broader Scandinavia and Europe. I had though there was some Middle Eastern heritage, but it is only 2%, so no claiming to be a relative of Muhammad PBUH.

With the Scots background, I'll not be learning the pipes, and am perhaps too old for toe dancing.

I've never had a genetic test, so I'm not sure how it would turn out. If I ever took a blood test, it would probably turn out like Palmer in the 1982 version of The Thing. They'd realize that I was just some "thing" from outer space, and it would be all over for me.

 

[Stevicus]

Nor was there a plethora of tax supported welfare benefits for immigrants. They had to work to survive, they had to learn the English language to move beyond menial labor jobs. They weren't provided housing, food, medical care and an income. They didn´t come here for any of those things, they came here for freedom and opportunity.

Today, welfare and all itś trappings is the magnet that draws them, money they never earned and have no right to.

I am sure some exist, but I have never come across Korean, Greek, Chinese, or Jewish immigrants on welfare, one wonders why.

I know quite a few immigrants who have to work two or three jobs to survive. They don't seem to expect too much, but at least they can see that being in America is better than where they came from.

I know that some of my ancestors came over for religious reasons. Some for political reasons. Many in the 19th and early 20th centuries wanted to escape the turmoil going on in their homelands.

 

[shmogie]

I know quite a few immigrants who have to work two or three jobs to survive. They don't seem to expect too much, but at least they can see that being in America is better than where they came from.

I know that some of my ancestors came over for religious reasons. Some for political reasons. Many in the 19th and early 20th centuries wanted to escape the turmoil going on in their homelands.

That´s true, and more power to them.

The issue to me is based purely on economics.

We are a nation 21 trillion dollars in debt. The outlay to service that debt is horrendous.

So called entitlements are a massive part of the annual budget, either the first or second area consumer of taxpayer money.

These entitlements, welfare, housing subsidies, food stamps, medicaid etc. are for Americans.

Thousands and thousands of people, with virtually no education or skills, enter the country illegally.

Once caught, which many want, they claim sanctuary, are held for a while, weeks, and because there is simply no way to keep them till their hearing, they are given a court date way down the road, and they disappear into the interior, never to be seen again.

Like you, I live in the Southwest, and thousands of these folk have been simply turned loose at bus stations, Yuma is overflowing with them.

Aside from the cost to house them for those few weeks, and the medical exams they all must have, a high number, like, 80% wind up on some form welfare. Even if they work, they are unable to support themselves and their families, so they get subsidies.

The goose that lays the golden eggs is going to financially die, that is a fact. bleeding out cash will destroy the economy of the country.

The faster the bleeding, the sooner it comes.

Flagrantly blowing huge amounts of taxpayer money on people who have no right to it, citizens of a foreign nation, will kill the goose so much sooner.

It is insanity.

 

[Shad]

There were waves of Immigrants to America from Ireland, Scandinavia, China, Korea, and lots of other countries, and somehow we accommodated them. My 'people' came from Scotland and England. Hispanics seem to assimilate in a Generation or so. Arabs that are not Muslim seem to blend in almost right away. For some reason, Muslims seem to take longer, however when I was attending Mosques, one of the biggest complaints I heard from other Muslims is that their children did not continue with Hijab and attending Friday Prayer.

From what I have seen, lots of the immigrants in the latter part of the 19th century were Mormon converts, though I have no idea what percentage of the total it was.

At one Mosque, they thought I was undercover Police, and over all if you are white it was hard at any Mosque I attended.

I wonder what the average time for a culture to assimilate into American culture is?

I live near a College that has around 30,000 students, and at one time, I think that half were Arab. In fact, who ever monitors these things started diverting Arab students to other colleges. Since Trump erupted onto the populace I have no idea what the present numbers are.

Do not conflate assimilation with acceptance. Some of those groups didn't need to assimilate rather the general population stopped treating people like garbage; Irish.