Assimilation

1. Patterns of Racial &
Ethnic Relations
Professor Christine Monnier

2. What are patterns of racial & ethnic relations?
Regular ways in which the dominant group treats the subordinate group(s):

3. Assimilation
PATTERNS OF RACIAL / ETHNIC RELATIONS

4. Assimilation
The process by which the minorities or subordinate groups take on the characteristics of the
dominant group and are eventually accepted as part of it:
A + B + C = A
Conditions
1. Large differences between dominant and subordinate groups;
2. The dominant group refuses to accept minorities as equal;
3. The minorities want to retain their own characteristics;
4. The minorities are still concentrated rather than dispersed;
5. The minorities are recent, with easy access to their homeland.

5. Levels of Assimilation - Cultural
Cultural assimilation  acculturation
Who?  Minorities
Minorities take on the cultural characteristics
of the dominant groups:
 Language;
 Customs;
 Clothing and appearance;
 Religion, etc.
Anglo-conformity
“Indian schools” (p.209)

6. Levels of Assimilation - Structural
Structural assimilation  integration
Who?  Dominant group
Minorities gain acceptance through all social
institutions and their formal organizations.
Elimination of all forms of segregation (de jure
/ de facto).

7. Levels of Assimilation - Structural
Elimination of all forms of discrimination
(individual / institutional):
 Educational
 Economic / workplace
 Political / voting
 Health / health care
 Marriages / family
 Criminal justice
 Etc…
Affirmative Action

8. Levels of Assimilation - Biological
Biological assimilation  amalgamation
Who?  Dominant group
Removal of legal obstacles:
 anti-miscegenation law
 Interracial relationships / marriage bans
Obstacles in de facto residential segregation
More widespread in Mexico and Brazil than
the US.

9. Levels of Assimilation - Psychological
Psychological assimilation
Who?  Both
Change in racial and ethnic self-identification
Obstacles:
 Rejection by the dominant group
 More difficult if minority group members look
very different from the dominant group
members.
 Dominant group does not “see” its own ethnic
identification

10. Biological
Assimilation
It is hard;
It is work;
It is not unilateral;
It requires as much from the dominant group
as the minority;
It takes time;
Different groups assimilate at different paces.
Assimilation
Cultural Structural
PsychologicalBiological