ASSIMILATION, ACCULTURATION, AND THE CHINESE IMMIGRANY

The thesis of this paper is that it is wrong, perhaps even immoral, for Chinese immigrants to assimilate into American society to such an extent that they lose pride in their own ethnicity. Some history is helpful in terms of understanding this thesis. The Chinese have been immigrating to America since the 1800s when they were attracted by the gold rush in California (Chang, 2004: 38-52).

However, once in the United States, they encountered many problems, most of which were associated with racism and discrimination. For example, during the gold rush, violence was used against the Chinese to deprive them of their mining sites (Chang: 38-45). As a result of these hardships, Chinese pushed harder to assimilate and, as a result, often suffered a loss of their self-identity, great self-doubt, and other psychoemotional problems (Miscevic & Kwong, 2000: 44-82). It is the contention of this paper that a substantial part of this suffering was the attempt to assimilate which can lead to a loss of self-esteem, ethnic pride, and other psychological and emotional problems for Chinese immigrants.

Effects of Assimilation on Chinese Immigrants

There is a substantial body of research indicating that strenuous efforts to assimilate into American culture can lead to negative outcomes for Chinese immigrants. For example, in a study by Lieber, Chin, Nihira and Mink (2001: 247-261) in which 83 Chinese immigrants were exte

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o do it quickly, making strenuous efforts to "fit in" and accommodate the larger society being itself part of their culture. Even something as seemingly small as eating meals can make for negative outcomes for Chinese immigrants. For example, in their study of proper diet among Chinese immigrants, Satia-Abouta, Patterson, Kristal and Tu (2002: 21-39) found that while a Chinese diet is much healthier than an American diet, greater assimilation can lead to a failure to engage in Chinese dietary practices and consequently, higher levels of health problems. Indeed, younger people in Chinese immigrant families tend to have higher levels of assimilation and not only are they less inclined to maintain Chinese dietary practices, they do not believe that these practices are, in fact, healthier. It is noted that over the years, this lapse from their cultural eating habits can lead to a host of health problems. One of the most negative outcomes of acculturation and assimilation on Chinese immigrants is that of low self-esteem. According to Caetano, Parker and Tam (1998: 1-110), not only can the stress and strain of trying to acculturate to a very different culture lead to a lowering of the self-esteem of Chinese immigrants, this lowerin
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Approximate Word count = 1272
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)