Assimilation, Pluralism, or Ethnic Nationalism?



Historically non-Europeans were never fully accepted as “Americans”: “Blacks, American Indians,
Asians, and Mexicans, for example, were all considered inferior peoples, culturally and
intellectually.” (Janzen: 36)


Paradigm I: Melting pot. Assimilation

-         various cultural groups, regardless of their origin, are treated with essential equality
in the United States;

-         “complete mixing together of various cultural traditions with regard to language,
customs, religion, economic system, and political system.” ( ibid.: 37).

-         All immigrant groups eventually accept an “Americanized form of English as a common
tongue.” (ibid.)

-         Individual rights and liberties have priority over rights of cultural groups. It
celebrates personal achievement and self-reliance. (Janzen: 37; Kim: 10)

-         “Although each person is unique, all humans are also endowed with the same set of
universal human needs, rights, and responsibilities.” (Kim: 10)

-         The primacy of the individual over the group. Emphasis on group identity over individual
identity is wrong (ibid.).

-         Individual ties to ethnic groups culturally rooted in other parts of the world are not
considered important or relevant> melting away of all original ethnic cultures and traditions >
melting away non-Anglo-Saxon traditions. (Janzen: 37)

-         Suggests that most immigrants in the past jumped into the pot voluntarily and with great
enthusiasm. (ibid.)

-         ‘Color-blind society’: “The government is responsible for universally applying societal
rules to all its citizens irrespective of skin color and religious creed.” (Kim: 110)

-          “Prejudice directed for or against individuals simply based on group membership is
morally wrong … “ (ibid.)

-


Paradigm II: Pluralism

-         Upholds group identity: “we are different “types” of persons defined by social categories
such as race, ethnicity, language, culture, and national origin.” (Kim: 111)

-         Status equality instead of procedural equality: a demand for equal results in the
interest of ‘emancipation’ specific groups that are historically ‘oppressed’ and ‘underprivileged’
(ibid.)

-         Race and ethnicity: cultural as well as political claims for “pride,” “dignity,” and
“justice” (ibid.)

-         Commitment to many traditional ‘American’ beliefs and practices and at the same time the
integrity of indigenous cultural identities. (Janzen: 39)

-         More pragmatic attitude: “America needs to continue to hold itself together as a vital
national system, and that this will not happen, politically or socially, unless certain established
traditions are adhered to by most citizens” (ibid.)



Paradigm III: Ethnic nationalism

-         “each ethnic group, regardless of origin, should preserve its unique character, customs,
languages, and ways of knowing without being assimilated” (Janzen: 38)

-         Cultural pluralism: seeks to preserve special cultural and linguistic understandings and
customs; the importance of retaining closed ethnic enclaves within American society (ibid.)

-         Example: Afrocentric curriculum movement


Extremist Ethnic Nationalism:

-         the marginal voices of separatism, “extremist” views

-         a maximum in-group-out-group separation

-         Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi, Skinheads: commitment to racial purism (Kim)





Literature:


Janzen, Rod. “Five Paradigms of Ethnic Relations.” In Samovar, Larry A., Porter, Richard, E. (eds.)
Intercultural Communication. Belmont, USA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003, pp. 36-42.


Kim, Young Y. “Unum and Pluribus: Ideological Underpinnings of Interethnic Communication in the
United States.” In Samovar, Larry A., Porter, Richard, E. (eds.) Intercultural Communication.
Belmont, USA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003, pp 108-119.