Why do people have to compromise their own culture in order to assimilate?
• Ahhh. . . there in lies the problem with assimilation. In order to fully assimilate, one has to give up their own culture, heritage, language and traditions and adopt those of the dominant culture. For me, that’s a huge problem. Just how intersting do you suppose this country would be if we eliminated the elements of other cultures? No cultural foods (and as a huge fan of Thai food, this alone would make me nuts) or celebrations. We have Lunar New Year, Soul Night, Posada, Colores Latinos, Dhamaka and other cultural celebrations on our campus on an annual basis. They are marvelous vehicles for introducing and educating others to the cultures of our world. You don’t hear many people these days, outside the discussion on language, pushing for assimilation. Most have come to accept that we live in a successfully pluralistic society which makes for a much more dynamic civilization. To what extent should cultures assimilate? • I believe cultures should assimilate to the point that allows
