Assimilation vs Acculturation

Summary

This script explores the concepts of assimilation and acculturation, explaining how assimilation involves fully adopting a new culture, while acculturation is the adoption of cultural traits without losing one's original culture. It discusses the historical preference for assimilation in the U.S., where immigrants were encouraged to become 'American' at the expense of their heritage. Today, there's a shift towards embracing multiculturalism, with examples of bilingual parents teaching their children to maintain both their native and host culture. The script uses the metaphor of a salad to illustrate the blending of cultures in acculturation, versus the 'melting pot' of assimilation, and encourages finding personal connections and understanding the historical context of these terms.

Takeaways

• 📚 Assimilation is the process of adopting a new culture as one's own, leading to identification with that culture.
• 🌐 Acculturation involves adopting traits from another culture while still maintaining one's original culture.
• 📉 Historically, immigrants were encouraged to assimilate to be more accepted in American society, often by suppressing their native culture.
• 🌈 Today, there is a growing appreciation for multiculturalism and pride in one's cultural heritage.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Bilingual parents may practice acculturation by teaching their children both their native language and the language of the host country.
• 🥗 Acculturation can be metaphorically compared to a salad, where different cultural elements are mixed together.
• 🍲 Assimilation, in contrast, is likened to a soup, where the individual's original culture is absorbed and lost.
• 🌟 The script suggests that being bicultural may require navigating between one's native culture and the dominant culture of the host country.
• 🔄 Bicultural individuals often switch between cultures, for example, speaking their native language at home and the host country's language at school.
• 💡 The script implies that embracing multiple cultures is becoming more acceptable, which may reduce the need for strong distinctions between assimilation and acculturation.
• 🤝 Finding personal connections and understanding historical context can help in appreciating and adopting elements from different cultures.

Q & A

What is the main difference between assimilation and acculturation according to the script?

Assimilation refers to the process of taking on a new culture as one's own and being identified by that new culture, while acculturation involves adopting traits of a culture while still maintaining one's original culture.

Why was assimilation more desirable in the past for immigrants in America?

In the past, assimilation was seen as more acceptable because it was deemed necessary for survival and acceptance in American society. Immigrants often tried to appear more American by getting rid of their accents and not teaching their children their native language.

What is the current trend regarding the maintenance of one's original culture in the context of immigration?

The current trend is moving towards being more prideful about one's cultural origins and maintaining those cultures, even while adopting traits of the host culture.

Can you provide an example of how bilingual parents might practice acculturation with their children?

An example is a couple where one speaks Spanish and the other English. They might speak to their children in their respective languages, requiring the children to respond in the other language, thus maintaining both cultures.

What metaphor is used in the script to describe the process of acculturation?

The script uses the metaphor of a salad, where different elements like tomatoes and cucumbers represent the adoption of different cultural traits.

What does the script suggest about the future use of the terms 'assimilation' and 'acculturation'?

The script suggests that as society becomes more accepting of multiple cultures, the terms 'assimilation' and 'acculturation' may not be as strongly emphasized in the future.

How does the script relate the concepts of assimilation and acculturation to bicultural individuals?

Bicultural individuals often have to navigate between their native culture and the host culture, stepping in and out of each depending on the context, such as at school or at home.

What advice does the script give for understanding and embracing different cultures?

The script advises finding personal connections and common values, as well as understanding the historical context of assimilation and acculturation.

Why is it important to understand the historical context when discussing assimilation and acculturation?

Understanding the historical context helps to recognize the evolution of societal attitudes towards cultural integration and the impact these attitudes have had on different generations.

How can the concepts of assimilation and acculturation be applied in a family setting with children of different cultural backgrounds?

Parents can apply these concepts by teaching their children about their own cultural heritage while also exposing them to the host culture, fostering an environment of mutual respect and understanding.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Understanding Assimilation and Acculturation

This paragraph introduces the concepts of assimilation and acculturation, explaining the difference between adopting a new culture as one's own (assimilation) and adopting traits of a new culture while maintaining one's original culture (acculturation). It discusses the historical context of these terms, noting a shift from an emphasis on assimilation to a growing appreciation for maintaining cultural heritage. The speaker uses the metaphor of a salad to illustrate the idea of a multicultural identity, as opposed to a 'melting pot' or 'soup' approach where the original culture is lost.

Keywords

💡Assimilation

Assimilation refers to the process where an individual or group adopts the cultural traits of another culture, often to the extent that their original cultural identity becomes less prominent. In the video's context, it is about becoming identified by the new culture and absorbing oneself into it, as exemplified by the older generations who tried to appear as American by getting rid of their accents and teaching their children only English.

💡Acculturation

Acculturation is the adoption of cultural traits from another culture while still maintaining one's original cultural identity. The video explains this concept as picking up different cultural elements without losing one's own, similar to adding different ingredients to a salad. An example provided is a bilingual family where the parents maintain their languages and teach their children both, thus allowing for a multicultural identity.

💡Multicultural

Multicultural refers to the existence of or interaction between multiple cultures within a society or community. The video discusses the shift towards embracing multiculturalism, where people take pride in their cultural origins and pass these traditions onto their children, as opposed to the past where assimilation was often preferred for social acceptance.

💡Cultural Identity

Cultural identity is the sense of belonging to a particular cultural group, which is defined by shared traditions, language, and practices. The script explores the tension between maintaining one's cultural identity through acculturation and the pressure to assimilate to fit into the dominant culture.

💡Sociology

Sociology is the scientific study of society, patterns of social relationships, and institutions. The video mentions sociology in the context of understanding complex concepts like assimilation and acculturation, which are key topics within the field when studying social integration and cultural dynamics.

💡Survival

In the context of the video, survival refers to the historical necessity for immigrants to assimilate into the dominant culture to ensure acceptance and opportunities. This often meant suppressing their native language and customs to fit in and be seen as 'American'.

💡Bicultural

Bicultural individuals are those who have integrated elements from two different cultures into their identity and behavior. The script uses the term to describe people who navigate between their native culture and the dominant culture, often having to switch between languages and cultural norms in different settings.

💡Language

Language is a crucial aspect of cultural identity and is highlighted in the video as a tool for maintaining cultural heritage or assimilating into a new culture. The example of a family teaching their children both Spanish and English illustrates the role of language in cultural transmission and acculturation.

💡Tradition

Tradition refers to the customs, beliefs, and practices that are passed down within a culture. The video discusses the importance of maintaining traditions, such as language and food, as a way of preserving one's cultural identity while living in a multicultural society.

💡Acceptance

Acceptance in the video script pertains to the social approval and integration that immigrants sought by assimilating into American culture. It contrasts with the modern trend of embracing and celebrating cultural diversity, where acceptance is not contingent on abandoning one's cultural background.

💡Historical Context

Historical context is the background of events, conditions, or characteristics that existed in a particular period or place. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical context of assimilation and acculturation to grasp why certain practices were prevalent in the past and how societal attitudes have evolved.

Highlights

Assimilation is taking on a new culture as your own and becoming identified by it.

Acculturation is adopting traits of a culture while maintaining your original culture.

In the past, immigrants often tried to assimilate for survival and acceptance.

Nowadays, there is more pride in maintaining one's original culture.

Bicultural individuals may step in and out of their native and adopted cultures.

Multiculturalism is becoming more acceptable and trendy.

Parents can teach their children multiple languages as an example of acculturation.

Acculturation can be visualized as a salad, picking up different cultural elements.

Assimilation is like a soup, absorbing and getting rid of the old culture.

Bicultural people often have to switch between cultures, especially in school and home environments.

Embracing multiple cultures is becoming more common as people marry from different backgrounds.

The terms assimilation and acculturation may become less strongly used in the future.

Finding personal connections and common values can help understand cultural adoption.

Understanding the historical context is important when discussing assimilation and acculturation.

Assimilation was deemed more acceptable in the past for immigrants to fit into American society.

Parents who are bilingual can teach their children both languages as a form of acculturation.

The shift from assimilation to acculturation reflects changing societal attitudes towards cultural diversity.

Transcripts

[Music]

so the terms assimilation and

acculturation you may have heard before

and unless you're an expert on kind of

sociology you might not fully understand

what the difference is so I just want to

break it down so you understand kind of

how to use them or if you hear them what

they mean so assimilation is a term that

is used when you kind of take on a new

culture as your own so you're absorbing

yourself into it and you really kind of

become identified by that new culture

and acculturation is adopting traits and

pieces of a culture but still

maintaining your original culture as

well so when you want to focus on you

know if someone identifies as

multicultural or by cultural some people

who may have emigrated earlier on a few

decades ago it wasn't really trendy to

kind of maintain your culture it really

it came down to survival you wanted to

appear as American they may have tried

to get rid of their accent they may have

tried to not want their children to

learn England or to learn you know their

old language they wanted them to learn

English because they really wanted them

to feel assimilated because just to be

frank it was it was deemed more more

acceptable to want to be this version of

American and nowadays it seems like

we're really starting to step back a

little bit and being more prideful about

where people are coming from and holding

on to those cultures so nowadays you

might find that parents who are

bilingual they're teaching their kids I

know a couple that one woman she speaks

Spanish and her husband you know is

black and they speak to their kids one

might speak in Spanish the child has to

respond in English the dad he speaks in

English the child has to respond in

Spanish so that is an example of a cult

eration of maintaining and adopting at

different parts of cultures and another

kind of metaphor that works this thing

of it as a salad you throw in tomatoes

you throw in you know cucumbers

different elements and

you're kind of picking up different

cultures here and there so say if you're

immigrating from you know Korea and you

want your kids to be acculturated to

American culture but not lose their

Korean culture you'll you'll teach them

about the food you'll want them to learn

Korean but you'll also understand that

they're gonna pick up on things at

school but assimilation would be someone

who would be like you don't speak Korean

at all you have to speak English and

that's sort of an older way of thinking

it does still exist for certain cultures

but just keep that in mind that you know

assimilation is more like a soup you're

kind of absorbing and getting rid of the

old culture where acculturation is

adopting different traits but also

maintaining around so this comes into

play for people who are bicultural

because they oftentimes have to kind of

step in and out of their native culture

and then American kind of traditional

culture and they do that by going to

school if you grow up in a public school

you're going to learn English you're

gonna make friends with people who come

from different backgrounds but when you

go home if your parents don't speak the

language you're gonna have to kind of

switch back so that's where these terms

kind of come into play for people who

kind of have to live in both cultures

but we just want to make sure that those

terms are clear whenever you read them

or if you use them but I think that

we're starting to enter an era that it's

becoming more acceptable to kind of

embrace multiple different cultures you

know people are starting to kind of you

know get married to people of different

cultures so I think that those terms

will probably not be asked strongly used

in the future but just as context for

you depending on whether you're talking

to older generations or younger that are

bicultural those terms might pop up so

in terms of you know practically what

can you do with these terms and how can

you know what is appropriate to use or

or what is not I would say always look

for that personal connection

what are interests that you share if you

have kids and

kids what are those common values that

you're trying to teach your children and

finding those similarities will kind of

help you better understand different

things that they're adopting and maybe

you can start adopting some things from

their culture as well so yeah always

find those personal connections and

understand the historical context when

it comes to assimilation versus

acculturation