Many immigrant families, especially 1st generation born Americans, face the dilemma of assuming a unique cultural identity in a new culture.

Some people handle the challenges of living in a new country by sticking to their roots. They spend the majority of time with people of their home ethnicity/culture. They speak the native language at home. They continue their same traditions, customs, and cultures. They marry within race and often nationality.

Others handle the challenge by assimilating. They spend most of their time with Americans around them who have been around for a couple of generations. They take their kids to soccer and to baseball, and learn how to cook turkey on Thanksgiving. They may not speak their native language at home, and their American-born children may be involved in interracial/intercultural dating and marriage.

Obviously some people will strike a balance, but inevitably many will fall to one side or another.

Do you see one side as being more beneficial for the individual or for the society as a whole?

Is it better for the society that immigrants integrate, or is it better that they spend a lot of time together and preserve their home cultural identity?

Well, the primary concern is always going to be an immigrants' loyalty to his new society. Will he support that new society even when in conflict with his old home?

In that view, cultural assimilation provides a certain amount of reassurance, we can be safer in thinking that the loyalty is there. But preserving cultural identity does not mean they are disloyal either, and it does make a place more interesting and diverse, if nothing else.

So, I would say assimilation should be encouraged, but not forced to any extent. Most immigrants do tend to assimilate into the larger society they've entered after a few generations on their own, and what culture they do preserve only adds to what was there before.


Of course, that's an American perspective, and from what I've seen we do think quite differently than people from elsewhere on this matter.

If you are asking which is better for the preservation of the society, despite the general consideration, then of course assimilation. It reinforces national identity, and nationalism has always aided civilizations in their survival, for good or for bad.

This is a tough topic, with many variables. Assimilation is what founded America after all - both North and South. I guess I could give one perspective, one of my grandfather - assimilation is still trying to be enforced unto the original inhabitants of our American countries... so the American countries strive for it - for better or worse.

p.s. America/American countries (close to thirty countries including - Canada, USA, Mexica, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Chili, etc, etc..)

I have always been taught that Canada's immigrants form a "cultural mosaic," whereas the United States is a "melting pot." That is, in Canada immigrants retain their original identity and see themselves as being, for example, Irish Canadians, rather than simply Canadians; whereas in the States immigrants lose their original cultural identity and become Americans. Of course, it is easy for me to see now that this is an incredibly biased and naive view of both Canada and the USA, but alas, such as what Canadians are taught in school (a pity, too, because for the most part I would say that the Canadian school system is top-notch). It seems to me to be yet another mechanism by which Canadians see themselves as being superior to Americans -- we allow immigrants to retain their identity, unlike in the United States. This really isn't true, though -- maybe as a vast generalization it is, but many immigrants in Canada do give up their cultural identity, and many immigrants in the States retain their cultural identity. And I feel that given the awful way that this country has treated and continues to treat Aboriginals, we have no right to brag about our "multi-culturalism."

That tangent aside, I would say that a mix (as is often the case in these topics) of assimiliation and preservation is best. I believe that cultural identity should be retained, but I do not like for different ethnic groups to be too segretated -- when people see themselves as, for instance, Chinese first and American second, it is as bad as seeing themselves as Americans first and citizens of the world second. As I have said in other topics, I would like for people to consider themselves citizens, first of the world, and second of their respective countries -- in this case, I would say that they should first still see themselves as members of the global community, and that second they should see themselves as both Americans and members of their particular ethnic groups. Both identities are important, but frankly, their identities as human beings are more important than either -- so I dislike both "preservation" and "assimilation" if they lead to alienation from other groups, whether they be ethnic or national groups.

I think there should be a balance.

For example, I think your own culture should be kept alive as much as possible, but at the same time, you should add the new country's culture to your own.

I don't think any culture needs to be left out, really. If you come from Argentina to live in the U.S., I think you should continue to speak Spanish if you want, but still learn to speak English so communication doesn't become an issue. Other than language, considering the US specifically is more or less a free country, I suppose people should just adapt however they think is best.

I don't think either way is any more or less beneficial to anyone. If you came from one country to live permanently in another, chances are you like the new country better for some reason or another. So do you really think people who come to the US, for instance, won't defend the US? It's beneficial to them if they do, because then they can continue to live here with the same freedoms as "natural-born" citizens have.

However, many Americans (myself EXcluded) believe that people should become All-American, and more or less drop all their own cultures in public. Even my father thinks that people shouldn't ever sing the American National Anthem in any language except English. Now, that's not so bad, but he thinks that way because he believes that our forefathers fought for the right to speak English and died for it. While that may be true, I'm pretty sure freedom was a more pressing issue that we fought for than the English language (which, BTW, is English, not American).

-IMP ;) :)

Actually, fun fact, America's national language was just one vote shy of being German. Yes, all those poor immigrants could have had to learn German, God help them.

My sociology professor always said that Ben Franklin had a "Welcome to America, now speak English" bumper sticker on the back of his horse and buggy.