Assimilation? Or the Need for Change.

Assimilation within the United States is seen very heavily from those who immigrate from countless other countries. It’s seen to be a very natural thing when trying to come and live a peaceful life within a new area. However, assimilation isn’t as much of a natural thing than one might think. Many people of Hispanic backgrounds see assimilation as a necessity towards living a successful, discrimination free life within the United States (English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States). With speech discrimination being the main driving force towards Latinos’ dire need to assimilate, it’s not something that should be ignored. Although discrimination within the Unites States is nothing new, it’s been going on for far too long, and this is exactly what we see facing the hispanic community in their day to day lives. Hispanics are scared to speak their own native language half the time, seeing it as dangerous to speak spanish in public and have others believe that they have the inability to assimilate within this country. Although discrimination is widespread amongst countless cultures and races throughout the world, it’s still a huge deal to target these forms of discrimination one by one. The realization of hispanic discrimination needs to be seen by everyone, not just those of hispanic heritage. While the majority of Hispanic Americans believe that assimilation is a necessity towards a successful life and the disposal of discrimination against them, and with countless other individuals constantly pushing them to do so, I question whether this is the solution towards Hispanic discrimination that such a high number of latinos face throughout the United States in their day to day lives.

When immigrants come into the United States in search of a better life for themselves, their main focus is to assimilate within the country as fast as possible. Shrin Hakimzadeh and D’Vera Cohn, both researchers and publishers of the Pew Hispanic/Research Center, in their article “English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States,” (November 29, 2007) address the topic of Latinos’ use of their native language within the United States, compared to their use of English in relation towards assimilation and speech dicrimination against them. They assert the idea that latinos believe English to be a necessity in becoming successful and avoiding discrimination within their day to day lives. According to their article, 89% of hispanics from a 2002 survey stated that they need to learn English in order to have success. Around 50% of latinos ranging from three separate surveys have also stated that they believe their inability to speak the English language is the leading cause of discrimination against them. I feel as if when coming to a new country in search of something better for yourself, one should never think of themselves as the problem. When there’s so much diversity, hate, and constant discrimination facing those who are simply in search of better living conditions, standards, and hope; discrimination in itself and those who decide to discriminate are the problem. Assimilation is basically forced upon latinos seeing that English is such a huge part of them acquiring citizenship within the country.  

With such high number of Latinos believing assimilation is the answer to their problems, one would think the discrimination they face would lessen. This is the case for the younger generations, only due to the fact that they’re able to assimilate at a much faster rate. “Latinos and Descrimination,” also published by the Pew Research Center by Mark Hugo Lopez, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, and Jens Manuel Krogstad (2018), describe the heavy dicrimination impacting hispanics within the U.S. According to this article, two-in-five latinos have actually faced heavy discrimination within the past year. As the hispanic generations carry on, there are less and less percentages of people who are openly viewed as being hispanic, which ties heavily towards the discrimination being faced upon the different generations as well. In other words, the more and more hispanics are able to assimilate throughout their generations, the less discrimination they face. Much like “English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States” stating the relation towards hispanics and their need to learn the English language, “Latinos and Descrimination” furthers this claim with 38% of hispanic discrimination resulting from their use of Spanish instead of an assimilation towards the english language. Other races and cultures should no longer be targeted for differences outside of their control, but rather taken into open arms with equality and acceptance. With this being a potential possibility, the dire need of assimilation seen by many Hispanic Americans will be greatly limited. Assimilation is not the problem, rather racism and constant discrimination from those with no understanding or accountability for others’ ways of life needs to be altered.

Although countless hispanics view discrimination as being based upon their use of language or simply the idea of coming from a foreign country, discrimination should instead be viewed as coming straight from those who have chosen to discriminate. Of course people of hispanic heritage are going to believe they need to learn english in order to become successful; however, even with learning the English language Hispanics will still experience discrimination so heavily within their lives in the United States. It shouldn’t be apparent in the first place, however it is something that has been dealt with over generations and generations of living in the U.S. According to Suzanne Gamboa in her article “Racism, Not a Lack of Assimilation, is the Real Problem Facing Latinos in the United States,” published by nbcnews in 2019, Ian Haney Lopez, an expert on racism and a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley stated that “There is an ingrained perception among many white people that all Latinos are foreign no matter how long they’ve been in the United States or how “assimilated” they are.” Much like the previous articles and information we’ve looked at, this further ties into the idea that the ability to properly assimilate within the U.S isn’t the issue for Latinos. Although they view assimilation as a breaking point towards their own discrimination, I believe that it’s all down to the people behind their discrimination instead. No matter how long they reside within the United States or become more and more assimilated through their day to day life, they are still constantly viewed as foreign just for being of latino descent. Me personally being Latino as well, and actually experiencing these same struggles throughout my life allows me to coincide with this information. Discrimination has no ties towards being assimilated, because I consider myself perfectly assimilated within this country. My parents, both being one-hundred percent Puerto Rican, raised me to learn the english language, provided me with a non-hispanic sounding name, and instilled the importance of education and intelligence from a very young age. The success story following Puerto Ricans is one of assimilation, knowledge, and the strive for future success in anything that we do. However, this doesn’t stop the discrimination. It doesn’t change our appearance, and it most definitely doesn’t change who we are or where we come from. We’re proud to be of Hispanic descent, yet we strive so hard to become truly American… and it shouldn’t be that way.

The urge to hastily assimilate within the U.S not only means adopting American culture, but quite simply losing one’s native language altogether. As previously stated, speech discrimination is one the main driving factors towards Latinos’ need for assimilation. Very much deriving from this statement, Roberto Rey Agudo, a research assistant professor in the Department of Spanish and Portugese at Dartmouth College, in his article “The Danger of Speaking Spanish in Public,” published on wbur.org in 2019, addresses the topic of latinos’ very limited freedom to speak their native language wherever they want. Agudo brings this topic into the crosshairs of many instances where hispanic speech discrimination is quite readily apparent, and provides statistics as well as videos to further his revolting view towards those who oppress latinos for speaking Spanish. In Agudo’s article, it was stated that about “40 percent of Latinos have experienced some form of harassment, including verbal aggression for speaking Spanish,” and that “hate crimes… since 2016… have increased by over 10 percent in the 10 largest cities.” The idea of assimilation being latinos’ only hope or option didn’t just spring up out of nothing. The constant backlash and hate from simply speaking the language that they grew up with is immense. The need to learn English and adapt to the “American Culture” in order to properly fit in within the rest is all in fact due to those who pushed these ideas upon them from the very start. 

Pushing the idea of assimilation so heavily unto latinos will in fact do one thing for certain; make them believe that they need to assimilate. Bouncing off of Agudo’s “Man to Spanish speakers at New York restaurant: ‘My next call is to ICE’, published by CNN , a New York lawyer by the name of Aaron Schlossberg went on a rant after hearing employees and customers of a restaurant speak spanish with one another. According to the video, the man described these spanish speaking individuals as “undocumented” and heavily emphasized that we are in fact, in America. When stating things such as this, it creates a tie towards the English language residing within the United States, and any other languages being pushed aside, or even completely thrown away. For any people of hispanic descent, viewing assimilation as their only option against these speech discriminations is actually quite reasonable. Threatening to call ICE against them for simply speaking their native language within America heavily pushes their desire to assimilate and simply avoid confrontations and complications such as these. Although, it’s pretty easily shown why they would wind up thinking this way and believing assimilation to be the answer towards the constant hate they receive, why wouldn’t they? In his article “The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public,” Agudo emphasizes the importance of bringing along change. Stating that not only is it progress when hearing Spanish being spoken on television programs such as the Oscars, but that “It will be even more meaningful progress when Latinos can speak spanish freely at a local Walmart…” Forcing and imposing assimilation upon spanish speaking individuals is not only describing to them that English is the best chance they have at success, but that the disposal of their own culture and language is the best outcome for them. So when Latinos are able to freely speak spanish no matter their whereabouts is when we can say that we have finally reached a peak in the fight against hispanic discrimination. This is when they will no longer see assimilation as their best option, but instead to not only stay true to themselves, but their culture and language as well. 

With the continuous growth of new generations, assimilation is only picking up speed. As time goes on, the numbers continue to increase. Published by the Washington Post, “Hispanic Immigrants are Assimilating Just as Quickly as Earlier Groups” by Dylan Matthews (Jan. 28, 2013) furthers this claim with relevant facts, as well as statistics and surveys. He addresses the primary topic of an increased rate of assimilation from the younger generation of latinos as well as various other cultures . Matthews asserts the claim that hispanic assimilation is increasing at a faster rate than the assimilation of other’s, such as asian, european, and even fillipino immigrants. With many different racial groups playing a factor, data collected in a study back in 2007 shows the percentages of those racial groups in support of English as the official language of the United States. As most may know, the United States is very highly diverse, with countless different races and languages residing within it. For people of hispanic background to be in support of another language besides their own to be the official language of the country they reside in is pretty far out, and is a heavy example of their assimilation within the country. According to Matthews, “… first- and second-generation Latino immigrants tend to be more skeptical about making English official. But by the third generation, the gap disappears.” Basing off the supporting graph of the 2007 research findings, first generation Latino immigrants had 23.6% in support of English being the official language. The number then created a larger gap with the second generation at 43.3% in support. Once more going into the third generation of Latinos, the numbers have now taken a huge leap up to 67.5% being in support, almost equivalent to the corresponding numbers of whites, blacks, and asians alike. These findings alone in correspondence with “Latinos and Descrimination,” published by the Pew Research Center, both tie together the idea of a rise in assimilation as the generations continue to increase. Both the findings and research in “Latinos and Descrimination,” and the supporting graph from Matthews washington post article support this claim. All the information and research is coming together to further exemplify the full picture of how Latino descrimination plays such a huge vital role in the constant increase of their assimilation within the United States. The longer they continue to live here, and the more descrimination they continue to face, the more and more they will have the urge to assimilate. Continuously increasing at a faster rate, hispanic assimilation will only continue to rise within the country, but should this truly be the one and only answer for Latinos, or any other race alike? 

Latino assimilation has consistently increased with the newer generations, it has been a constant topic throughout the majority of my research. James P. Smith’s peer reviewed article “Assimilation across the Latino Generations,” from The American Economic Review (2003) addresses the topic of Latino assimilation within the United States. Smith claims further reinforces the idea of Latino’s becoming more and more assimilated with the increase of their generations. He uses wage income and education of Latinos compared to Europeans and Whites residing within the United States in order to provide statistics towards his claim. Smith includes five different tables of information throughout his article providing the changing numbers of the Latino wage gap and education levels as the generations are increased; all in relation to those of the white men within the country. He then goes on to state that “2nd and 3rd-generation Hispanic men have made great strides in closing their economic gaps with native whites. The reason is simple: each successive generation has been able to close the schooling gap with native whites which then has been translated into generational progress in incomes.” Tying back towards the idea of the majority of Hispanics believing that assimilation is the key to success within the United States heavily relates to this idea. Before assimilating at a higher rate and increasing their level of intelligence, the wage income of Hispanics was fairly low compared to that of the white man. However, as the generations went on, and assimilation increased, not only did their education levels increase, so did the wage income as well. The fact that there was such a huge difference in the levels of education and amount of money being made by the Latinos in the later generations just goes to further show the idea of assimilation increasing at a drastic rate. 

With assimilation undoubtedly increasing for Hispanic Americans within the United States, it’s fair to say that their personal lives have become easier. With assimilation being a main focus, their wages have been increased and their education has undoubtedly taken a huge leap. However, there’s no need in saying that this could have very potentially still been the case without such high numbers of assimilation, especially for the wrong reasons. With the urge for acceptance and ability to acquire a successful life within the United States, discrimination against latinos has been the main driving factor towards their dire need for assimilation. With discrimination not slowing down, assimilation has only continued to increase; and with that, the latino generations are losing their own culture, language, and self being. Equality, acceptance, and success shouldn’t be tied towards the English language or as being an American. The real question is, when will this fully be realized? When will discrimination begin to slow down and when will the realization come that Latinos can become successful and live the lives that they want while being their true selves? 

Works Cited

Hakimzadeh, Shirin, and D’Vera Cohn. “English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States.” Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, 18 Sept. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2007/11/29/english-usage-among-hispanics-in-the-united-states/.

Lopez, Mark Hugo, et al. “Latinos’ Experiences with Discrimination.” Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, 27 Aug. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/10/25/latinos-and-discrimination/.

Gamboa, Suzanne. “Racism, Not a Lack of Assimilation, Is the Real Problem Facing Latinos in America.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 July 2020, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/racism-not-lack-assimilation-real-problem-facing-latinos-america-n974021.

Agudo, Roberto Rey. “The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public.” The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public | Cognoscenti, WBUR, 4 Mar. 2019, www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2019/03/04/spanish-hate-crime-oscars-roberto-rey-agudo.

“Man to Spanish Speakers at New York Restaurant: ‘My next Call Is to ICE’.” Youtube, CNN, 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ8s_W3R-T0&feature=emb_title.

Matthews, Dylan. “Hispanic Immigrants Are Assimilating Just as Quickly as Earlier Groups.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/28/hispanic-immigrants-are-assimilating-just-as-quickly-as-earlier-groups/.

Smith , James P. “Assimilation across the Latino Generations.” Jstor-Org.ccny, The American Economic Review, May 2003, www-jstor-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/stable/3132246?Search=yes.