Daryl Edwards

16 June 2010

An Examination Of Resistance To Assimilation Of African-Americans By Dominant Culture

     America has often been referred to as the world’s “melting pot.” As Crevecoeur noted, “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men…” (Crevecoeur, “Letters from an American Farmer”). It is a metaphor which is used to characterize the nation’s historical inclusion of different ethnicities and, ultimately, their assimilation into the Dominant Culture.  A subject of interest for me has been the resistance on the part of the Dominant Culture to assimilate, or “melt” the African-American. African-Americans have, from their arrival on America’s shores, been confronted with resistance, hostility, and outright violence during their attempts to assimilate into American Society. With these considerations in mind I endeavored to answer the question, “why do African-Americans face more resistance to their assimilation into Dominant Culture than other minority groups?”

     First, one must consider the ease of identification of African-Americans from other groups. Unlike the European immigrants African-Americans have been classified primarily as a result of their genetic characteristics, which differed greatly from the Dominant Culture. The slave-era was the result of the “otherness” of African-Americans ancestors being exploited and dehumanized as a result of genetic differences. The effect of such targeting was a form of self-hate, which resulted in many African-Americans loathing their “blackness”. Over the centuries it would come to manifest itself in a desire by African-Americans to modify or remove genetic characteristics in order to adopt those of the Dominant Culture. (Smith, “Blonde White Women”).

         The ease of identifying African-Americans serves to mark them as outside the Dominant Culture, which is much more homogenous in their appearance. Perhaps it is this physical difference which serves as a hindrance to the normal assimilation process. If so, then we are presented with a situation where African-Americans, while desiring to be assimilated—and therefore share in the benefits and privileges of the Dominant  Culture—are, by their ease of identifiability as minorities, faced with resistance to assimilation

     The historic exploitation of African-Americans by the Dominant Culture must also be considered. Beginning with the physical exploitation and brutalization during the slave-era, and continuing on into the twenty-first century with social and economic disparities, the African-American has yet to achieve the full inclusion that other immigrants have achieved. The stigmatization resulting from this period of oppression has resulted in a centuries-long pattern of overt racism, systemic discrimination, and economic inequality. It is bitingly ironic that African-Americans, who were at the foundation of this nation’s wealth building,  are often denied the opportunity to participate fully in its vibrant economy. A fact with Crevecoeur noted centuries ago continues to persist. Failure to fully and fairly assimilate African-Americans into the economic structure of the nation is, I believe, another example of rejection to their complete assimilation. (Patterson, “Race and Diversity in the Age of Obama”).

           The lamentation of Frederick Douglass in his Slave’s Narrative, his strong desire to realize his “dream” of freedom, to taste the privileges of America that so many other groups had enjoyed, continues even into this present century. There continue to be many obstacles and barriers to the full assimilation of the African-American. The African American has, in response to the persistent rejection, come through necessity to equally value his cultural identity. Ethnic groups are assimilated only partially through “choice.” The Dominant Group which one aspires to assimilate into must be willing to allow the amalgamation. In the case of the African American it appears to be continuously resistant to doing so.

                                                                Works Cited

Crevecoeur, Hector St. Jean de. “Letters from an American Farmer.” Online Texts for Dr. Craig White’s Literature Courses. University of Houston Clear Lake, June 2010. Web 16 June 2010.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative Of the Life Of Frederick Douglass An American Slave. Online Texts for Dr. Craig White’s Literature Courses. University of Houston Clear Lake, June 2010. Web 16 June 2010

Patterson, Orlando. “Race and Diversity in the Age of Obama.” New York Times Sunday Book Review. New York. 16 August 2009.

Smith, Patricia. “ Blonde White Women.” Online Texts for Dr. Craig White’s Literature Courses. University of Houston Clear Lake, June 2010. Web 16 June 2010.