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Bryan Lara

Professor Batty

English 28

13 December 2018

“Included” by Being Excluded: Assimilation as a Form of Oppression

Should immigrants retain their culture or assimilate to the American culture? When it

comes to immigrating to america the journey here is very dangerous. Not everybody makes it.

What’s even more sad is the fact that children go through this journey as well. Going through the

obstacles of the harsh environments, jumping onto moving trains, gang violence, lack of

resources to not pass out, and finally the strict border patrols. Not just one, but multiple border

portals. Now finally passing all those obstacles immigrants lose their cultural roots by the

subliminal pressure to assimilate to american culture. To assimilate is to transform or the

integration of a person with a different culture or idea. For the survival, immigrants are forced to

assimilate to the dominant society. Causing internalized hate and oppression to one another.

Although some may say that assimilation brings the diversity in America and it helps out the

immigrants, I argue that immigrants shouldn’t assimilate to the American culture because

assimilation is a form of oppression.

Although America does has a diverse population, that does not dismiss the fact that the

American society promotes these oppressive ideals to how a “good” person should look like and

how a “bad” person looks like. You can see it through the media, movies, and even video games

that they favor eurocentric beauty standards. Having lighter skin, colored eyes, and blonde hair.

There are immigrants that have light skin, colored eyes, and blonde hair that are able to get by;
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but if the immigrants that have brown nappy hair and dark colored skin, they are seen to be the

“bad” person. An example can be in the news when a person of color can be seen as a terrorizer

and a white person can be seen as a person with a mental illness problem. With those ideals

promoted it creates the division and the misunderstanding that an immigrant isn’t always a

person of color. That’s the one dimension we see that America promoted and not many people

recognize that. That’s where internalized hate and oppression comes from. People of color

marginalize and exclude themselves for once being apart of the immigrant culture. “I am an

American citizen and she is not” (Mukherjee pg.280). How this whole issue began was the

decisions of immigrants migrating here to search for a better chance of living.

The reasons why immigrants come here to America is for work and to have a better

occupation than the one they have back home. Other reasons too can be to see family members

that have migrated to America as well, but most cases is that immigrants are forced to leave their

native lands. An example is the civil war in El Salvador between 1980 and 1992. For some

background information, during the Carter and Reagan administration, America funded millions

of dollars to military training and weapons to the Salvadoran military (Bonner). America’s “good

intentions” funded a corrupt government at the time, which eventually led to the death of Saint

Óscar Romero (Bonner). Saint Óscar Romero was a very important person that many looked up

to. Saint Óscar Romero spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture. He

was targeted by the Salvadoran government and from his death, it led to groups to rebel against

the government. That then caused a whole civil war. With that going on, that’s when the creation

of refugees happened. America let organized violence take root. That’s why immigrants find

refuge in America. To get away from the violence and horrible situation happening in their

native lands.
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For the numerous amounts of genocides that has occurred, assimilation is apart of the

cycle of genocide (Stanton). For example the Native Americans. Their land was taken away by

the colonizers that created America today but the whole process of that involved assimilation.

“The erasure of cultures” (Stanton). Native Americans were forced to cut their hair a certain

way, dress a certain way, speak English, and they were forced to have their skins bleached to

have lighter skin. The process of assimilation erased their culture and for the survival, they were

forced to assimilate. But they shouldn’t be forced to assimilate to the point to give up their

culture that is apart of their identity.

The issue with assimilation is that it causes internalized hate and enables oppressive

behavior. It may not be as clear because things have become so normalized. The force of

assimilation is not there but the subliminal pressure, that comes from the oppressive ideals that

America promoted, is still there to get the immigrants to assimilate. That’s why people of color

are targeted. The diversity has been possible through rediscovery of identity. Acknowledging

your roots and taking back what was apart of you than repressing who you really are. “The price

that the immigrant willingly pays, and that the exile avoids, is the trauma of self-transformation”

(Mukherjee pg.283). Diversity is seen to be more genuine if it is left raw rather than to be shown

how a person should look like or act like. Because to assimilate to American culture is to ask

others to repress uniqueness in a country where assimilation is a constrained box that only shares

one description of what success, beauty, and pride should look like. Just how Mukherjee thought

that assimilation was meant to make her fit into the dominant society she still felt excluded. “I

was always well employed but never allowed to feel part of the local Quebec or larger Canadian

society” (Mukherjee pg.283). So when it comes to immigrants being forced to assimilate to

American culture, they shouldn't because it is a from of oppression.

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I hope for this essay to let the people reconsider the fact that immigrants should not be

forced to assimilate to the American culture. Immigration is for a reason, to flee from the

violence that was happening in their native lands. The continuation of oppression is through

assimilation and that is something that people should be aware of. Even though the system of

America is corrupt, the children of immigrants are changing America in positive ways, and

hopefully in time, America will be more welcoming to immigrants.

Works Cited

Bonner, Raymond. “Time for a US Apology to El Salvador.” The Nation, 12 Dec. 2016,
www.thenation.com/article/time-for-a-us-apology-to-el-salvador/

Ivan, Rhys. “Assimilation as a Form of Oppression.” Mindless Focus, 21 Aug. 2015,

mindlessfocus.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/assimilation-as-a-form-of-oppression/
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Mukherjee, Bharati. “Two Ways to Belong in America”

Stanton, Gregory H. “10 Stages of Genocide.” Genocide Watch,

genocidewatch.net/genocide-2/8-stages-of-genocide/