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REDEFINING IDENTITY THROUGH ASSIMILATION

Assimilation is the process whereby a new member of a group or immigrant comes to adopt the

dominant culture of the new society at the expense of their own. Early use of the word dates to

1848 when the US general treatise stated that the United States is also made up of individuals

from all over the world and that it was the policy and duty of the country to transform these

individuals to look like the British (iresearchnet.com, n.d.). The practice of assimilation existed

long before 1848, when large empires conquer and assimilate feeble ones. According to Yoshina

(2006), lack of covering or assimilation has resulted into a new form of discrimination in the

American society today and this discrimination has led to more assimilation. 

Advantages of Assimilation

Assimilation improves the overall health of immigrants when they imbibe good health practices

and discard unhealthy ones. For instance, some societies use herbal medications to treat ailments

based on symptoms alone. It has been shown that herbal medications have a broad effect on the

body and prolonged use negatively affects organs like the liver and kidney that work to detoxify

them (Onder & Liperoti, 2016). An immigrant assimilated into the United States society has

access to modern health facilities and practices; ailments can properly be diagnosed and treated.

Also, some cultures are known to practice female genital mutilation and low regard for female

children, assimilation into the American society would afford them the opportunity to treat

children properly and stop the mutilation. 

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It creates job opportunities and improve the overall economy of the non-immigrants through

direct investment by immigrants and services. A Chinese nationalist relocating to the US with

their family would need to learn English language which might require the services of an

English language teacher. If they come with car manufacturing investment, they would have to

learn the road and safety laws of the United States as they produce vehicles to suit the American

society. All these would require the input of non-immigrants, this would get them employed and

reduce unemployment.  

Disadvantages of Assimilation

It can lead to negative legislation and actions against immigrants; assimilation can put people in

a position where they have no choice than to break the law especially if the legislation

establishing the law is unjust them. A Nigerian parent that immigrated to the US once told a

story of how they almost lost the custody of their children because an inscription on their wall

read, “I hate my mom’’. One of their children probably wrote it on the wall after having their

request turned down, a neighbor saw it and reported to the police, they were arrested and

interrogated. Coming from a country where parents are at liberty to discipline their children the

way they want, these parents were recipient of negative actions. Another example was the

negative legislation against slaves after their assimilation into the American society; they would

be flogged for owning or lifting a weapon, their side could never be heard in a court of law, they

were not to travel without permission nor own properties. This legislation led to so many unjust

actions against them. 

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Another disadvantage of assimilation is it causes tension, competition and conflict (Skerry,

2000); this can make a once peaceful society restless particularly for the non-immigrants who do

not have anywhere else to go. The American civil war is an example of this, where the

assimilation of African Americans caused a stir that led to a nationwide conflict (National Park

Service, 2015). 

How Assimilation influence immigrants' identity 

Identity is the state of being defined by certain qualities or behaviors and remaining so. When an

immigrant chooses to assimilate, their innate identity might conflict with the cultures and

identity of the dominant group which may lead to other forms of discrimination. For instance, it

is on record that police brutality against African Americans is higher than the dominant white

population (Bunn, 2022) even though they have been completely assimilated. It is believed that

white Americans with traditional names receive more invite when they apply for jobs than

African Americans with names like Jamal, Barack etc. (Leonard, 2003). Assimilation may also

cause people to discard their identity to avoid persecution and discrimination; under the right

circumstances these individuals may pick up such identities again, this is called resurgent

identity (Le, C. N. 2016). An example was how the Japanese Americans who were imprisoned

changed their identity after World War II but picked it up when there was agitation for

compensation and restitution. 

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References  

Assimilation - IResearchNet 

Bill Leonard (2003). Study Suggests Bias Against ‘Black’ Names on Resumes. SHRM.

https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0203hrnews2.aspx#:~:text=The

%20results%20are%20a%20bit,men%20and%20women%20were%20contacted. 

Curtis Bunn (2022). Report: Black people are still killed by police at a higher rate than other

groups 

Graziano Onder & Rosa Liperoti (2016). Herbal Medications. JAMA.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2499278#:~:text=Herbal%20medications

%20can%20mistakenly%20be,effects%20have%20also%20been%20reported. 

Le, C. N. (2016). Assimilation & ethnic identityLinks to an external site.. Retrieved from

http://www.asian-nation.org/assimilation.shtml#sthash.b3GCI2g6.dpbs 

Asian Nation provides information about assimilation and ethnic identity, particularly as they

relate to the Asian culture. 

Peter Skerry (2000). Do We Really Want Immigrants to Assimilate? Brookings.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/do-we-really-want-immigrants-to-assimilate/ 
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Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis T. C. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of

race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability (7th ed.). New York,

NY: McGraw-Hill. 

US News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/report-black-people-are-still-killed-police-

higher-rate-groups-rcna17169