Many articles by Tina Griego on this site. She tells about assimilation from the immigrant's side. DP
By Tina Griego
Rocky Mountain News: Every once in a while, I will introduce myself to a group like this: "I'm a fifth- or sixth-generation New Mexican, part of the assimilated generation of the family. My great-grandparents spoke only Spanish, my grandparents mostly Spanish, my parents only when they didn't want us to understand what they were saying. No one in my generation grew up speaking any Spanish."
The parents line usually gets a few chuckles, and I can almost always tell the politics of the room by the reaction to the word "assimilated." For some, it might prompt nods of approval: It is as it should be. The flame beneath the melting pot holds steady.
Others view the word in its most negative connotation, as a denial of ethnic heritage, a forced submission to the dominant culture. Think Indian boarding schools. Allotment. Remember your grandmother's stories of public humiliation if a word of Spanish or Lakota escaped into the classroom air.
My own feelings are as complex as the topic. My parents wanted us to assimilate. They believed success would come if we equipped ourselves with the tools of mainstream society: an education, the higher the better, and a mastery of English.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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