White Ethnic Groups Essay Examples

The Chapter 10 “White Ethnic Groups. Assimilation and Identity – the Twilight of Ethnicity?” of the “Diversity and Society” by Joseph Healey primarily focuses on the analysis of the white ethnic minorities immigration and the process of their assimilation into the host society during the three major immigration waves between the 1820s and 1920s and then proceeds with comparison of such processes to what racial minority groups have to face nowadays to become more included into the society of the dominant group of whites. The author shows how the mass immigration of the Europeans influenced the development of America from the young agricultural nation with large territories yet to be cultivated into the postindustrial country that grew to be one of the greatest world powers. To prove the importance of the discussed immigration the author traces the interrelation between the arrival of the enormous amount of cheap force from Europe and the boost in the Industrial Revolution, which led to the quick economic growth and achievement of postindustrial level of development. Although the representatives of the white ethnic minorities sometimes still encounter the biased attitude based on common stereotypes, the overall assimilation of these minorities is almost over with the latter generations of the immigrants not knowing or being interested in their great-grandfathers’ histories or cultures. The analysis of the path towards acceptance and assimilation of the white ethnic minorities is given in the chapter as an important knowledge for understanding the difference with the path of the racial (colonized) ethnic minorities that face covert racism from the white population. The author highlights that the degree of similarity between the immigrants and the host society, the ethnic succession and structural mobility, the changes in the economic structure due to the industrial development and the increasing availability of education caused the rapid assimilation of the white ethnic minorities, the factors that are not accessible for the racial ethnic minorities nowadays (p. 276). Also, the chapter provides the information on the role of women, who fought for their equality, in the assimilation process.
Being an American has always meant being a part of the multiethnic and multiracial society, whose representatives share a common American culture, ideology, but at the same time retain their ethnical, racial and religious identity, depending on the level of assimilation. Throughout the history of the United States the land has always been a receiver of the labor force, which helped the country grow and prosper during the period of industrialization, but in the post-industrial society, when the necessity in cheap work force is much lower, it became harder for the newcomers to adapt and become Americans quickly, regardless of how much they want this to happen. The process of assimilation has changed its focus, and now when the white ethnic diversity problems have almost disappeared, a new difference criterion is on the table – the race. Despite the numerous movements for the rights of racial minorities, the inequality still persists, and according to Joseph Healey while the white ethnic groups use “immigrant tales” about their forefathers’ achievements on the way to success, they don’t take into account that “past generations became successful despite the brutal hostility of the dominant group and with no government intervention, and they equate the historical difficulties faced by European immigrants with those suffered by colonized minority groups (slavery, segregation, attempted genocide, etc.)” (p. 285).
In understanding the difference between the “American” self-identification of the racial minorities and the white ethnic groups, it is important to track the difference between their ways up the social ladder. The white ethnicities assimilation has known several stages: the first wave of immigrants had much in common with the dominant group of America (race, culture, religion, level of development), so their acceptance into the society was prompt; the second wave (divided in two waves – Irish and Southern European immigration) was different in terms of religion (primarily Catholics) and development (especially the individual skills of immigrants), which is why they met a strong resistance from those who already resided in the country for a long time. This wave gave in a lot to build America, though their input was undervalued at that time. The third wave came from the Eastern Europe and consisted primarily of Jews, who lived in their enclaves and were usually more skilled that other immigrants and started their businesses in their new homeland. They faced anti-Semitism and had to fight for their acceptance, but all three waves of immigrants have already become a part of the society, taken their niches in social structure, when the racial minorities started their move to the urban territories and seek for work. The racism was still common at that times and other now-Americans would not let people of a different race to get the jobs they could give to those who were “of their kind”. Thus, while the white ethnic groups united in considering themselves Americans, they resisted the entrance of colonized minority groups into their fold.
Here it is important to note that white Americans (assimilated generations) had their waves of self-identification. While the second generation tended to forget about their ethnicity, the representatives of the third generation tried to revive it by getting back to their roots. This process later lost the steam, and white ethnicities representatives of our generation usually either vaguely associate themselves with their ancestors’ ethnicity or don’t do that at all, considering themselves just Americans. To the contrary, racial minorities, as shown in the chapter, refer to their ethnicity/race as an important factor in their lives (p. 287). The reasons for that are that they do not have the same opportunities for speeding up the assimilation as the white ethnic groups had: they can’t blend in to the host society and they no longer have an opportunity to rise in a social status by taking unskilled jobs and getting promotions, due to the fact that most of the enterprises are not automated. The only way to move up the social ladder is through getting education, developing skills and later getting a high-qualified job. At the same time an interesting and wide discussed phenomena of “model minority” comes to mind when thinking about assimilated Americans. The Asian Americans, who came to this land, faced discrimination as white minorities did, and, similar to Jews, they responded by establishing and staying inside their enclaves, creating Chinatowns in urbanized areas and rising in social status within their small and closed societies. Now may Asian Americans are considered a priori as having more chances to become successful quickly and are welcome in the white dominant society, facing the possibility of being accepted as whites in the future.
Finally, what does it mean to be an American today? First of all it means having an American citizenship. Despite all the historical, cultural, racial and religious differences we share, we already co-exist with other minorities and a dominant group in one country. The concept of a “melting pot” suggests that we all need to forget about our differences and gradually become one. However, instead of throwing away our identities to become one, we can stay different and remember our roots if we wish to do so, living together in one country without the fear of facing competition with those who are different from us. Being an American means accepting the rights and freedoms of other person and having equal opportunities to get the jobs if we have equal skills, but differ in race, religion, ethnicity or any other criterion that is not essential in our qualification. Being an American means to understand the essence of the United States as a country populated by immigrants from the very beginning of its existence; it means to understand that the word “race” includes white people as well, and that the country (as well as the world) is not divided into “just people”, who are the white people, and other races. It also means that while not forgetting about our differences, Americans need to remember that they share a whole nation and its ideology. The white ethnic groups have lost their hyphenated ethnic identities, and the historical process will eventually bring more acculturation, integration and intermarriages, blending the ethnic and racial differences. As for today, being an American means losing the left part of the hyphenated ethnic identity, while being tolerant to others not willing to do the same and considering them the equal fellow American citizens.