Immigration & Assimilation

Differences between new and old immigrants (3)

(1) Racial Distinctiveness: We are currently in the midst of a large waive of immigration to the United States that is transforming the ethnic and racial composition of the population. Since the 1965 immigration law that removed the national-origin quotas that limited much legal immigration to the U.S to those originating from Europe, immigration to the United States has been mostly from non-European countries, like Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean (Alba and Nee, 1997). This has the potential to drastically change the color line/the racialized hierarchy in the United States today. (2) Absence of a Hiatus - There was a halt in immigration in the 1920s due to legislation followed by the depression. This 40-year interruption of large-scale immigration guaranteed that ethnic communities and cultures would be steadily weakened over time. Additionally, we have more technology and travel options for immigrants to keep in touch with loved ones abroad in their original countries. (3) Economic Structure- WE currently have an hourglass economy, meaning we have a narrow band of middle-level jobs and a bulging strata and the bottom and at the top. Although since Portes and Zhou (1993) discussed this issues we have gone into a recession with less opportunities at ether end of the spectrum. When the economy was an urban industrial economy there was steady employment in manufacturing sectors.

Gordon's 4 competing states of assimilation

(1) The melting pot (2) Cultural pluralism (3) Anglo-conformity - he focuses on Anglo conformity as the descriptive reality and states that immigrant groups have given up their heritage for the dominant preexisting protestant Anglo-Saxon core culture and society.

outcomes or benchmarks of assimilation (list and citation)

(Steinberg 2004 Lee & Bean 2004, Hirschman 1983) (1) Socioeconomic status is defined by educational attainment, occupation, and income. By measuring socioeconomic status researchers want to find out if immigrants eventually catch up to native-born people in terms of human capital characteristics. (2) Spatial concentration is defined by geography or residential patterns. The spatial residential model proposed by Massey states that increasing socioeconomic attainment, longer residence in the U.S, and higher generational status lead to decreasing residential concentration for a particular ethnic group (Ellis & Goodwin-White 2006). (3) Language attainment is defined as the ability to speak English and the loss of the individual's mother tongue. The three-generation model of language assimilation states that the first generation makes some progress in language assimilation but remains dominant in their native tongue, the second generation is bilingual, and the third-generation speaks only English. (4) Intermarriage is defined by race or ethnicity and occasionally by generation. High rates of intermarriage are considered to be an indication of social integration because it reveals intimate and profound relations between people of different groups; intermarriage reduces the ability of families to pass on to their children a consistent ethnic culture and thus is an agent of assimilation. (5) Racial Attitudes (Hirschman 1983): This is an important area to study because even after over hostile attitudes and strong prejudices are reduced, stereotypes of ethnic and racial groups are likely to persist and to have important consequences for social interaction which may affect these other measurable aspects and therefore integration.

Portes and Zhou 3 different modes of incorporation

1. Certain groups notably political refugees are eligible for a variety of government programs 2. Certain foreign groups have been exempted form the traditional prejudice endured by most immigrants, thereby facilitating a smoother process of adaptation 3. The resources made available through the co ethnic community (most important). Co ethnic firms employ up to half of the recently arrived immigrants and that self-employment offers a prime avenue for mobility to second-generation youths.

Portes and Zhou: 3 features of vulnerability

1. Color - many immigrants never experienced racial prejudice in their native lands 2. Location - concentrations of immigrant households are in central cities. This leads to identification of the conditions of both groups - immigrants and the native poor as the same in the eyes of the majority. It exposes second-generation children to the adversarial subculture developed by marginalized native youths to cope with their own difficult situation. 3. Absence of mobility ladders - changes in the host economy namely the new hourglass economy have led to the evaporation of occupational ladders for intergenerational mobility. The trend forces immigrants today to bridge in only one generation the gap between entry-level jobs and professional positions that earlier groups took 2 or 3 generations to travel

Critiques of Classic Assimilation

1. Experiences of European immigrants showed a tie to their ethnicity 2. failure to account for the experience of African Americans 3. Fails to accurately characterize incorporation pathways adopted by new immigrants (cultural pluralism, or segmented assimilation)

Other Theories of Immigrant Incorporation

1. Racial Ethnic Disadvantage Model 2. Segmented Assimilation

New Assimilation Theory

Alba and Nee (1997) refined Gordon's approach by arguing that certain institutions play important roles in achieving assimilation. They stress that immigration groups also involve change and acceptance by the mainstream population.

Waters, Findings

American Teens: did not identify as a member of their ethnic group. However their parents still have a negative view of black Americans as lazy and Waters saw that some of the children were internalizing these ideas. They do not see school as a method of upward mobility. Ethnic Teens: These teens identified as American and their racial ethnic group. They would consciously talk about "passing" for American. They agreed with their parents' negative views as black Americans, and they reject the American black peer group culture. The dilemma for the 2nd generation is that while they have a strong sense of their own ideates this was no clear to other people who associate them with blacks. Overall the more socially mobile cling to ethnic identity as a hedge against their racial identity. The less mobile blacks see little advantage to stressing an ethnic identity in the social worlds in which they travel which are shared mostly with black Americans.

Is assimilation dead?

Beyond the Melting Pot (Glazer and Moynihan 1963) "the most important thing about the melting pot was that it did not happen". Steinberg 2004 says no, however current research shows that notwithstanding their racial difference that new immigrants are assimilating at a faster rate than earlier immigrants did from Europe (Steinberg 2004). Glazer (1993) says No, because assimilation is the most powerful force affecting the ethnic and racial elements of the U.S, and the inability of Blacks to do this is exactly what we should be focusing on.

Straight Line/Bumpy Line Approach

Gans (1973) and Sandberg (1973) saw the sequence of assimilation as a sequence of generational steps, and each generational state enters a new state of adjustment. However later Gans modified this theory to the bumpy-line theory of ethnicity admitting that ethnicity may go though periods of stalling or recreation. However he still maintained that it was primarily generational, perhaps with tangents.

Gordon

Gordon (1964) expanded on this idea and argued that there is one unidirectional way to successfully assimilate into the nations economic and social structure and that acculturation preceded and was necessary for structural incorporation. In this assimilation process immigrants will lose their ethnic distinctiveness and will adopt an American Identity. This model emphasizes generational changes within immigrant groups over time.

Cons of Gordon's Approach

Gordon does not focus enough on the difference of power dynamics and historical background of each racial or ethnic group. Additionally he did not specify whether he was referring to an individual or a group.

Pros of Gordon's approach

Gordon's multidimensional formulation has proven attractive in part because it readily lends itself to operationalization and hypothesis formulation suitable for middle-range research

Have we come to a better analysis of assimilation?

Have we come to a better analysis of assimilation? Despite the assimilation weaknesses, this perspective broadly defined continues to be the primary theoretical framework for sociological research on race and ethnicity inequality. Hirschman (1983) states that we must begin to specify and measure the impact of causal forces and intervening mechanisms on the various dimensions of ethnic change in different contexts. We must find some other casual factors. These have been introduced studies that emphasize class interests (prejudice, labor force, etc). The major tasks are to identify the contexts (political, regional, industrial) in which forces of resistance can slow down or negative integrative mechanisms. We should move forward from asking if ethnicity matters to learn how and why it matters. I believe we are doing this today. With As we can see in Alba & Nee (1997) , Portes & Zhou (1993), and Glazer and Moynihan (1963) the conversation has moved forward to using different methodology to specify the inner reasoning and motivations of racial identification and assimilation. However as (Waters and Jiménez 2005) point out, that we need to further out research and study the implications of the geographical dispersal of immigrants to nontraditional receiving areas, and the continuing replenishment of immigrants though ongoing immigration.

Gordon's 7 Dimensions of Adaptation

In this there are 7 dimensions of adaptation that may take place at different rates. (CM BASIC) (1) Cultural assimilation - change of cultural patterns to those of the core society (2) Structural assimilation - penetration of cliques and associations of the core society at the primary group level (3) Marital assimilation - significant intermarriage (4) Identification assimilation- development of a sense of identity linked to the core society. (5) Attitude-receptional assimilation - absence of prejudice and stereotyping (6) Behavior-receptional assimilation - absence of intentional discrimination (7) Civic assimilation - absence of value and power conflict • He argued that once structural assimilation occurred all of the other types of assimilation would follow. • Gordon does acknowledge that racial prejudice impedes structural assimilation, and he also acknowledges that there

Critiques of Park

Not a theory because it could not be empirically proven. Instead it should have been a model with ideal types.

definition of assimilation

Park and Burgess (1921) : a process of interpenetration and fusion where persons and groups acquire memories, sentiments, and attitudes of other persons and groups, and by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a common cultural life. It equates assimilation wit the social process that bring ethnic minorities into the mainstream of american life. It is not required that they erase all signs of their ethnic origins.

Race Relations Cycle

Parks' the race-relations cycle included contact, competition, accommodation and eventual assimilation. He argued that new means of communication through exploration enforces new contacts and result in new forms of competition, conflict, and commercial exploitation, but out of this confusion new and more intimate forms of association arise. Park had two main elements to his perspective 1) that ethnic antagonism and divisions arise naturally from ethnocentrism and the competitive processes of modern society after contact had been established 2) there is an inevitable process of assimilation which could be slowed down by "obstacles" but not reversed in modern societies.

Segmented Assimilation

Portes & Zhou (1993): indicated that there were three possible path ways of immigrant incorporation. i. Straight line assimilation into the white middle class (light skinned Cubans in Miami) ii. Downward Assimilation into the minority underclass (Haitians in Miami) iii. Selective assimilation - immigrants remain immersed in the ethnic community and preserve the immigrant community's values and solidarity as a means to achieve upward mobility. They find that Cubans who were in the best position is the least likely to step outside their interpersonal circle of relationships and the worst off group Haitians were the most likely to do so. Therefore, selective assimilation may prove to be the best course of action for immigrant minorities.

Portes and Zhou Groups Studied

She looked at 3 groups (Mexicans, Punjabi Sikhs, and Caribbean Youth)

Classic Assimilation Theory

The Classic Assimilation Theory (better thought of as a model) that started with Park and Burgess (1921; 1969) and the Chicago school. The race relations cycle was completely formulated by Park (1950) which states that assimilation is the process of interpenetration and fusion in which persons and groups acquire the memories, sentiments, and attitudes of other persons or groups, and by sharing their experiences and history are incorporated with them in a common cultural life.

Thomas and Znaniecki

Thomas and Znaniecki (1927), They studied polish Peasants. They invented a new methodology of life study. They got the immigrants to tell their other own life stories though social surveys and letters. They inaugurated the 1st truly transatlantic approach to European immigration, one that looked at both its U.S. and European context. They wanted to research their adjustment to America, there mores. They sought to explain social problems by examining the relation between individuals and their surrounding society. They demonstrated that Poles were held together primarily by social ties, and that when social breakdown occurred it was because the individuals became isolated. They also demonstrated that more complex was happening than they were just becoming American, they were becoming something unique, Polish-American, and they preserved their culture through polish local associations (the parish, the community center, the parochial school).

3 studies of assimilation

Waters (1994) Portes and Zhou (1993) Thomas and Znaniecki (1927)

Waters

Waters (1994): She explored types of racial and ethnic identities adopted by a sample of 83 adolescent 2nd generation West Indian and Haitian Americans in NYC. This sample was drawn from 4 sources designed to tap into a range of class backgrounds including (public schools, church, street based, and middle class). She found that a number of factors influence the type of identity the teenagers develop including social class background the of the parents, the social networks the parents were involved in, the type of school the child attended and the family structure. She found that there were immigrant-identified teens, ethnic identified teams, and American Identified teens. Immigrant teens did not identify as American rather they identified themselves as immigrants. They often had negative views of blacks as their parents did as well. They also saw it as a positive attribute to be an immigrant rather than a black American. They do not feel as much pressure to choose between identifying or separating themselves form black Americans.