Assimilation and Pluralism

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Assimilation and Pluralism

• Immigration and Emigration
• Assimilation Theories
• Patterns of Assimilation and Mobility
• Characteristics of Assimilation
• Types of Pluralism

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Immigration and Emigration

• Emigrate
• Immigrate
• Chain Migration
• Sojourner
• Bird of Passage
• Guest Worker
• Illegal/Undocumented Alien
• Foreign-Born and Immigrant

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American Immigration Laws

• 1790  Naturalization Act Whites only
• 1868 Burlingame Treaty recognized free migration
  and emigration of Chinese to US as visitors,
  traders or permanent residents.
• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act no more Chinese
  emigration
• 1906 Gentlemens Agreement Tensions with Japan
  intensified in 1906 when the public school system
  in San Francisco, California, segregated
  immigrant Japanese children. A 1907 agreement
  between the United States and Japan, known as the
  Gentlemens Agreement, resolved the dispute, but
  tensions persisted between the two ascendant
  powers.
• 1907-1913 Deny land ownership to Japanese
  immigrants
• 1920 Aliens who are ineligible for citizenship
  are not allowed to lease agricultural land or
  acquire agricultural land from minors
• 1921 Ladies Agreement Japan barred emigration
  of picture brides
• 1922 Cable Act White woman lost citizenship if
  she married Asian
• 1923 Alien Land Law Illegal for aliens
  ineligible for citizenship to acquire, possess,
  enjoy, use, cultivate, occupy and/or transfer
  real property. Their was based on ineligibility
  of Japanese to be naturalized citizenship. This
  underscored necessity of citizenship.
• 1923 Asian-Indian Exclusion Act
• 1924 National Origins Act prevented Asian men
  from bringing their Asian wives to US. Still let
  European men go home to get their wives
• 1924 US Border Patrol established

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Immigrants to the United States by Decade
1821-1998
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Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status
by Region and Selected Country of Last Residence,
1820-2006
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Region and Last Country of Residence for
Immigrants entering the United States, 2006
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Patterns of Assimilation and Mobility

• Social Mobility
• Economic Mobility
• Political Mobility
• Educational Mobility
• Occupational Mobility

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Assimilation Theories

• Robert Park
• Milton Gordon
• Human Capital

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Characteristics of Assimilation

• Religion
• Gender/Sex
• Social Class
• Economic Class

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Types of Pluralism

• Enclave Minority
• Middleman Minority
• Integration without Acculturation

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In-Class Exercise

• Trace your immigrant roots explaining how you or
  your immigrant ancestors may have assimilated
  into the dominant culture.
• Also note how you or your ancestors maintained
  your cultural identity even while operating as
  the minority group.