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Article: Assimilation and its discontents.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- The Public Interest
- Article date:
- January 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The National Affairs, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN the past, our immigration debates have centered on whether immigrants would assimilate into mainstream American society. It was a battle between defenders of the melting pot on the one hand and those who feared that millions of "undesirable aliens" would change the character of American society on the other. The country is once again experiencing a large wave of immigration, but the argument has changed. The anti-immigrant restrictionists and the pro-immigrant assimilationists have been joined by a new group--the pro-immigrant multiculturalists. The multiculturalists deem the traditional idea of assimilation racist, oppressive, insensitive, and ethnocentric, ...