Cultural assimilation can be defined as the process by which social traits of one group are lost because of the interaction with another group and in turn the people start adopting the cultural traits of the other ethnic group (Tummons, 2008). Culture assimilation just like any other assimilation is a slow process; it is something that takes time people have to interact and learn about another culture and its details before they can start absorbing it and let go of their beliefs (Angelini et al. 2015).
It is something that happens unconsciously, and people are not aware that they are disregarding their original beliefs and cultural heritage until it has happened (Angelini et al. 2015). Cultural assimilation is an essential element that helps people from various ethnical backgrounds to unite and work together for the development of the socie
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Cultural assimilation cannot be assumed to be a one-way process; both groups borrow elements from each other, but it is the group that takes on most elements that mainly gets fully absorbed. For an assimilation to take place effectively, the two groups must have some relationship between that allows them to come into contact with the difference between their beliefs (Tummons, 2008).
The western culture is a good example of how cultures are assimilated, and there are very many people who travel to the United States either for studies or job opportunities, and this has led the population of foreigners in the United States to upsurge with time. These immigrants with time end up adopting the American culture including ways of dressing, language, music, food and also the way of talking among many others (Facchini et al. 2015).
There ar
many reasons why this happens, and one of them is to help them be accepted in this new society that is different from theirs. When people go to a new state or region for the first time they struggle to fit in with the new people and culture that they are introduced to (Angelini et al. 2015). They are then forced to adopt the new belief and culture including learning a new language so that they can be accepted in this new society (Angelini et al. 2015).
As people are trying to understand the new culture, they also share their culture and beliefs with the new society and so even if they will, in the end, absorbs a new culture, there are still some elements of their culture that is used by the new society that they are absorbed into. Though there are different ethnic communities in the United States, all the people seem to have adopted one culture that is accepted by the people, and this is the western culture. The minority group views assimilation as a pavement for better opportunities and equality within the society (Facchini et al. 2015).
Many people argue that cultural assimilation is not good because and it encourages discrimination based on race, especially in the United States. This is however not true because when cultural assimilation takes place, the people become one, and they are accepted in the society as equals (Angelini et al. 2015).
In the United States today, many laws have been enacted to protect the immigrants because they have already been accepted to be part of the American society (Facchini et al. 2015). The law prohibits discrimination based on
race within the society, and this has given the immigrants an excellent chance to establish themselves in the Western culture.
There is nothing wrong with integrating into a new culture; it is a free will, and it is not something that can be forced on individuals. A person should, however, advance as a people through the assimilation and learn new things that are helpful in their lives. People should not forget their cultures completely; they should have some sense of their cultures that they can relate to.
