This week we start thinking in a more detailed way about assimilation. The Gordon and Gerstle readings define assimilation and put it in historical context, showing how “American” values and social norms were conflated during the 19th century with Anglo-centric culture and, in racial terms, whiteness.
After reading the excerpts and taking a look at the cartoons about immigration and assimilation, think about whether there have been times when you have felt pressured to be more “American.” When and in what setting did you feel this pressure? How was it exerted? Was the pressure to be more American really pressure to be more Anglo, less “ethnic” or less “urban” in your language, style or cultural outlook? [Be sure to make a couple of specific references to the readings or cartoons in your response.]
If you have never felt this way, another question you might answer is where you think similar pressures to assimilate in ethnic and racial terms can be seen in contemporary popular culture. The US music and film industries, for example, have been frequently criticized for either encouraging artists to be less ethnically or racially “different” or for favoring white musicians (Elvis, Madonna, Vanilla Ice, Justin Bieber) who appropriate black or ethnic musical styles and repackage them in racially unthreatening terms. Are Anglo-centrism or coerced assimilation part of contemporary American popular culture? [Same thing: be sure to make a couple of specific references to the readings or cartoons in your response.]
