Which Immigrants Are The Quickest To Assimilate? (illegal, invasion, companies)

[GiovanniTheGreat]

Originally Posted by caribny

Yes clearly, as the rest of what you write is pure ignorance. Obviously you have no real exposure to other varieties of what being an American is.

Uhhhh yes I have. I speak from EXPERIENCE. Stop with the nonsense because you're not going to convince me.

[TwinbrookNine]

Originally Posted by caribny

And of course the Indians who you know are the highly educated ones. This isn't a function of what Indians are. Its a function of what being highly educated is. If more poor uneducated Indians migrated to the USA their experience in the USA would be very different.

But as you speak, you are probably not aware that Indians are very proud of their identity and culture, and think poorly of those of their US born off spring who completely assimilate into white US culture. Indians operate from an assumption that one can simultaneously learn and incorporate that which some one needs to attain occupational mobility in the USA, without dumping essential elements of what being Indian is. They are excellent examples of selective assimilation, but not full integration.


You may not know what "ABCD" means. It is an "American Born Confused Desi". There are active programs among Indian communities to "save" their kids from marrying outsiders, meaning any one who isn't Indian.

I know full well that Indians are very aware and "proud" of their culture. So are a lot of European-Americans, still to this day. But neighborhoods inhabited by Indians don't contain cow dung and they don't head off to the river to cleanse themselves or their clothes - they know where they are.


EFG: Some Christian European Americans still won't marry a Jew. So what? Some do. Some Indian kids marry whatever. Poles had their own debutante functions that boys were sometimes encouraged to attend, if for no other reason, a decent girl that could be a great wife.. It's a free country. You can aim your kids in whatever direction you want irregardless of what Hollywood and Madison Avenue tells them they should do.

But they (Indians) go to work, act civilized, often quite sociable, and the kids go off to school and blend in well. Oh, they win a lot of spelling bees, get good grades in math, and most eschew contact sports in HS (which I'm all for - biggest waste of a kid's time, ever) and I don't know a one whose kid wound up on welfare. I know a lot of non-Indian offspring who grew up to be unproductive, 100% "gimmies," though.

Being "American" is way more than kicking a football around in HS just to be poplar. "American Pie" has many flavors.

But walking around my Walmart wrapped in a black rag with an opening so you can see? Creepy. Stay out of my checkout line lest you explode. In fact, go back where you came from.

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by Reynard32

Would that not apply also in the event that a Latino community arose within what had been a predominantly Anglo community? Would it not be the case that the more Spanish you hear in your world, the more need you have of learning it?


Have you ever read "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin? Tales of a white man turned black in the Deep South of 1959. Well worth the read.

To the first question, well -- yes, I do mean that. Either that or move to where one feels more "comfortable." To your second question, I would not need to learn Spanish (or any other language) unless it was necessary for me to do so in order to conduct any necessary business.

Regarding your third question, yes, I did read that way back in the 60's, as well as Soul on Ice, and a few other books by black activists. I was very much a liberal in my teens and 20's, and I STILL think that people who are non-Anglo have many legitimate gripes -- so I get really tired when those of us who want to keep the middle-class "Anglo" way of life in already-existing, middle-class, mostly-Anglo communities are called racist dinosaurs or the equivalent of such.

And, just to be as absolutely clear as I can be, I -- and most Anglos I know -- would be very happy to have our community be more racially diverse as long as our neighbors would accept the norm to which we have become accustomed -- such as keeping loud music and parties to a minimum (meaning only on the weekend and not past 1:00 a.m.), not having trashy lawns, etc. And to be absolutely clear about THAT, I object to loud parties and trashy lawns no matter what race the offenders are -- and it has been my experience that low-income "whites" are as bad as any other group! As I have said over and over again, I would MUCH rather live next door to a middle-class person of ANY race than a "redneck" whose idea of decorating is a display of empty beer cans, a dozen antlers and a Confederate flag -- and who thinks that firing off guns is a perfectly acceptable way of celebrating July 4th!

Your comments really tie into the current thread in Politics and Controversies, "Wanting to Preserve Your Way of Life Does Not Make You a Racist of Fascist."

Oh, and one more thing -- I do not object to other cultures being brought to the U.S. at all -- I think it is wonderful that there are so many of them and that they add so much interesting variety to food, music, art, etc. I just object to the Anglo culture being "run over" by other cultures to the point that it sometimes feels like the Anglo-American culture is in the process of being eliminated. (Yes, I know, much like the Native Americans felt and still feel!)

[keraT]

The group that is most similar to USA culture can assimilate easily. The once most different will take longer

[Reynard32]

Originally Posted by whocares811

Oh, and one more thing -- I do not object to other cultures being brought to the U.S. at all -- I think it is wonderful that there are so many of them and that they add so much interesting variety to food, music, art, etc. I just object to the Anglo culture being "run over" by other cultures to the point that it sometimes feels like the Anglo-American culture is in the process of being eliminated.

Whether you see it or not, there is serious internal inconsistency here. The more of one necessarily means the less of the other. Neither the ascending nor the declining culture in an area has claim to any superiority. At the group level, each will need to adapt to the presence of the other. Individuals would be well advised to do so also, though some may indeed choose not to go along.

[LexusNexus]

I don't think it's based on which country is quickest to assimilate, but based on the individual. There is a certain segment of people from every country who quickly assimilate, even faster than many Americans assimilate when abroad.

[deb100]

Considering the vast cultural and linguistic challenges, the ability of East Asians to quickly blend into the American mainstream is astounding.

[SwizzyFicket]

Every so often I'll be in a group of people and someone will make a comment about there being too damn many immigrants, immigrants taking our jobs, etc.

At that point I'll point out that hey, I'm from Canada - I'm an immigrant.

They invariably say something like "Oh, that doesn't count."

Oh? Because I'm blond-haired and blue-eyed? Because English is my first language? Because our two cultures are so similar that integration isn't a problem?

I find it all kind of fascinating, really.

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by deb100

Considering the vast cultural and linguistic challenges, the ability of East Asians to quickly blend into the American mainstream is astounding.

Exactly.

There are numerous demographic groups who were born and raised in North America, whose families have been here for generations, and they can't integrate themselves into the mainstream.

And THAT is astounding..

[Reynard32]

Originally Posted by deb100

Considering the vast cultural and linguistic challenges, the ability of East Asians to quickly blend into the American mainstream is astounding.

When did these East Asians begin arriving? What levels of their native societies did they live in before their departure?