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I'd say its the Scotts-Irish of Appalachia, who have resiliently maintained their isolationism and culture since the late 1700s. The next most unassimilated are the Amish and Mennonite communities.
The rest of the immigrant communities seem to be assimilating right on schedule, and by the 2nd and later generations are marrying and mixing with other religious and ethnic groups.
I dont agree. Appalachia is the area where most people report American as their primary ancestry so I'd say they're well integrated. Isolated I can understand but not unassimilated
I grew up in Miami and never met a 2nd generation American who didn't speak English either. Unless they were under 6 years old. Even though lots of 1st generation immigrants don't learn, their children certainly do. They kinda have to, in school, with their peers.
It's nearly universal for all immigrant groups to the U.S. that the following happens.
First generation either doesn't speak English, speaks it poorly, or at least has a heavy accent.
Second generation can understand their parents language, but prefers to speak in English, depending upon where they went to school, they may have no accent or a mild one.
Third generation speaks only English.
Speaking the language is not the only criteria of assimilation. As another poster mentioned, Muslims in Dearborn are definitely not assimilated into American culture. Even the second generation, who speak fluent English, prefer Sharia law and don't believe in democracy/other American culture/values. They are still a small share of the population in the US, but they are just as unassimilated as their brethren from Europe.
As far as one nationality, probably the border areas in Texas, such as Laredo. If you include religious communities with multiple nationalities (but mostly immigrant), probably the Hasidic towns in Upstate New York.
Can't help but notice that the intellectual lights of C-D have overwhelmingly chosen Dearborn Muslims as the most "unassimilated".
The only way that these kids could be more assimilated into American culture is if they were also eating apple pie and catching rides in their parents' Chevrolets after the game.
Just because you play football doesn't neccessarily make you assimilated into American culture, but I do think there's a lot of dog whistling on this thread in regards to the Dearborn Muslim community.
But maybe it can also be seen as whether the second and third generation are still fluent in their ancestral language. There are parishes (counties elsewhere) in South Louisiana where over 20% of the population still speaks French, particularly in the areas around Lafayette. Spanish is still very prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley and Southern California and Miami. I've personally met Mexicans from South Texas and LA who still speak with a VERY pronounced Mexican accent vs an American accent. Many people in Miami also speak with a Spanish accent.
There are also elements like how they name their kids in the later generations. Most Asian Americans in the US who were born here have American first names. This is not the case in other groups, for example most Arabs born in the US still name names like Mohammed, Abdul, Saleem, etc. Same is true for many Indian Americans.
I know some Mexicans from South Texas and they are most definitely NOT assimilated. They've actually told me that Mexican culture completely dominates that area and that white and black people are seen as "strange" and "outsiders". Mexicans have lived in South Texas for over a hundred years yet they are nowhere as Americanized as the Irish Americans, German Americans and Polish Americans whose ancestors came here 100 years ago.
I forgot about the Somalis in Minnesota, many of whom still engage in cultural practices like arranged marriages between cousins (Dearborn Arabs do this too). Even though these groups are more assimilated than the British Muslims and French Muslims.
In all of North America, the Quebec French are probably the least assimilated group given their numerical dominance which allows it to happen. The majority of Quebec French still speak French as their native language and have truly kept an authentic French culture. I think the Cajuns/Louisiana French should be up there somewhere too. I'm not sure, though, whether many Cajuns still speak English with French accents like they depict in the movies.
I was at a Cajun restaurant this Spring Break in LaPlace and there was a family and the grandfather (about 85) was only speaking in Cajun French. I talked to him a bit as I know a little. The grandkids were all speaking English and the mother was the translator. The hubby was just along for the ride.
Can't help but notice that the intellectual lights of C-D have overwhelmingly chosen Dearborn Muslims as the most "unassimilated".
The only way that these kids could be more assimilated into American culture is if they were also eating apple pie and catching rides in their parents' Chevrolets after the game.
If that football player believes that Sharia law should supersede U.S. law, then no, he's not assimilated. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev participated in certain aspects of American culture, but still felt compelled to bomb the Boston Marathon, so it became painfully clear that he didn't assimilate. Being that the U.S. is a nation of laws, it is impossible for an immigrant to assimilate without respecting U.S. law.
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