Walking down the street in New York can be a very harrowing thing for some people. In doing so, you hear the Pakistani proclaiming that he has kebabs for sale as the greasy sensation resonated from his cart. You will see the Mexican trimming his flowers outside the corner deli, while a group of blacks and Hispanics mingle about in front of the bar talking about the latest sporting phenomena. For those living in New York City, integration and assimilation are both subjects that are seldom at the front of our thoughts, but always in the back of our minds. Are some places more integrated than others? How do you get race relations to be better? Can they be? These questions are the ones that often come up when talking about how cultures and races interact with each other in America. While studies have been taking place for decades, there are no definitive answers to any of these questions. But there have been many arguments. Some people, such as Stanley Crouch, author of Goose-loose Blues For The Melting Pot, believes that integration and assimilation are prevalent in the United States, as evidenced by the media and lack of riots and separation when racial conflicts come into question. Others, such as Donnel Alexander, author of Cool Like Me, believe that America still has a long way to go before we can even think about calling ourselves integrated. And then you have people on the fence, such as Gish Jen, author of Coming Into The Country, who sees the assimilation, but questions its true success in America. While it may still be a pipe dream in isolated suburban areas, the growth of large urban centers and the social interaction that comes with them throughout America, cultural assimilation and integration has quickly become a reality to those living in them.
Any person living in large urban centers such as New York City will tell you that integration and cultural assimilation are a truth, and not a myth in these areas, as evidenced by going outside every day. When walking down the street in New York City, you will run into someone from almost every country if you stay out long enough. Walk into a store and be greeted by someone from the Middle East/Asia region, walk to the back to see a Caucasian asking his African friend what type of European tea he should by, and overhear a Dominican ordering a bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll. That is a normal, every day experience for those living in the city. The New York Census from the year 2000 matches these experiences. Of the over 8 million persons living in New York City in 2000, 25.9% are foreign born. Break down the statistics even more, and you can easily see the diversity of the New York City population. White persons make up 44.7% of population, Black or African American persons make up 26.6%, Latinos or other Hispanics make up 27.0%, while Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Others, make up a combined over 20% of the population. (United States Census Bureau) The statistics of New York City’s ethnicities clearly show the diversity of one of the biggest cultural hubs in all of the United States. If you look at other major United States cities such as Miami and Los Angeles, the statistics are very similar. One of the best things to look at when searching for cultural diversity is Public School Enrollment Statistics. These show how many students from each race are present in Public schools, in which they would be interacting with each other every day, causing them to share cultural views and traditions with each other, thus, assimilating. Using New York City as the prime example of an urban center once again, Public School enrollment statistics also show a high level of diversity. Of the over 2 million children enrolled in some form of Public School in New York City, 566,439 were Hispanic, 516, 476 were African American, 167,838 were Asian of some sort, and 289,535 were White. (Latino Data Project) This shows an amazingly diverse school system that is promoting interaction, integration, and assimilation every day. But statistics only show that different races are coming together. Experience in these urban centers from people that have actually been there is what will show assimilation is actually happening.
Anyone who has visited places such as New York, Miami, or other large cities knows that assimilation and integration are very successful in these types of environments. The statistics have already shown that the population in these areas are very diverse, but statistics can only go so far in telling you the amount of assimilation that goes on. Those who have lived in large cities will tell you the experiences they have had and the observations they have had. One such person is Stanley Crouch. In his essay Loose-goose Blues…, Crouch explains why he believes cultural assimilation is alive and well in the United States. Born in the Los Angeles, Crouch lived in one of the most culturally diverse areas of the United States. His experiences there showed him how much cultures can assimilate into each other. He described the new American as, “the American wears a top hat with an Indian feather sticking out of it, carries a banjo and a harmonica, knows how to summon the voice of the blues by applying a bathroom plunger to the bell of a trumpet or a trombone, will argue about the best Chinese restaurants…” (Crouch) Living in a city exposes a person to all of these different things. There are a wide array of restaurants, clothing stores, cafes, cultural centers, and other things that expose people to cultures and people from all over the world. This interaction with people from everywhere, every day, creates a tolerance. Crouch goes on to use the case of one Abner Louima, a black who was assaulted by white officers in a police station bathroom. Crouch explains that if New York did not have an assimilated culture, riots would have occurred. Instead, the black people knew that most white people are not racist, black-assaulting pigs and understood that it was an isolated incident. Instead of the city being pulled apart, members from all races came together to express their displeasure of what had happened. Because of all the ways we intermingle with each other in the city, an understanding has been built. The use of public transportation only available in cities is also a large contributing factor. The use of trains and buses by all types of people in a city can easily develop cultural assimilation. Someone, like me, who uses the train every day will meet a wide array of people from all over the world. While you may not talk to them directly, you will interact with the other people on the bus. Observe their clothes, their posture, what music they listen to, how they interact with friends and other aspects about them and their culture. While it is a subtle way for cultural assimilation to occur, it is one that is prevalent only in cities and further helps cultures interact with each other and is just one of many things missing in suburban areas, where integration and assimilation struggle.
While integration and assimilation thrive in urban centers, places that are not cultural hubs, such as the suburbs, seem to be death traps for assimilation to take place, as shown by lack of population diversity. While places like New York, Miami, and Los Angeles are extremely diverse in population, places such as Colorado, Utah, and other suburban areas lack the diversity of ethnicity needed to harbor cultural assimilation. Going by statistics first, we can see where the problem lies. Using the state of Colorado as the prime example, the United States Census Bureau shows that the amount of diversity in the state is sorely lacking. Of the estimated 5 million people living in Colorado in 2006, a whopping 72% of them are white. The closest race to that number are Hispanics, who come it 19%. Blacks only make 4.1% of the population and Asians make up only 2.6%.(United States Census Bureau) In those statistics alone, it is easy to see why assimilation might be lacking in these areas. There is just not a wide enough array of cultures in the area to support it. Looking at the school enrollment statistics for the area, the problem becomes even more clear. Of the 794,000 students enrolled into public schools in Colorado, 61,9% are white, 27.6% are Hispanic, and Black, Asians, and others make up a mere 10%.(Colorado Department of Education) When the children go to school, most of the other kids they will see will be white, just like them. Chances are, their cultures are all similar, and they will learn no new traditions or rituals from one another. Tolerance for other races will not grow because they are not exposed to them. This does not happen in just Colorado, however. Statistics from other stereotypically suburban areas tend to show the same alarming trend. Wyoming’s percentage of white persons is an astounding 86%, Utah’s an equally surprising 83%. How can cultures assimilate when there is no diversity in population? They can’t. The fact that these places are mostly suburban only add to that problem for several reasons.
As if the lack of population diversity wasn’t enough in the states shown above, the fact that they are suburban only increase the problem of little cultural assimilation and integration. In his essay Cool Like Me, Donnel Alexander perfectly explains why there is no interaction between people in suburban areas, the car. At the beginning of his essay. He tells an anecdote about a girl who has just moved into a black neighborhood to “learn more about the culture”. However, as he exclaims, “But her real experience of us is limited to the space between her Honda and her front gate.” (Alexander) This explains one of the perfect reasons no interaction can go on, even if a suburb is diverse. The need of a car to travel in suburbs ensures that no interaction can take place whatsoever. While in urban centers people are intermingling by walking in the street, going to the store, or taking public transportation, the method of transportation in suburbs restricts interaction with other people to mere glances while idling next to their car, or walking by them during a quick stop at the nearest market. Because of this, the only exposures to other cultures that persons living in the suburbs get is generally television. As Donnel Alexander says, “As such, I am a copshow menace and a show commercial demi-god-one of the rough boys from our ‘hood and the living, breathing embodiment of hip-hop flava.” (Alexander) Thus, the only thing suburbanites learn about other cultures are stereotypes and other things they see on TV. While they may adapt some of these examples they encounter when watching their favorite show, that is not assimilation. Assimilation is experiencing other cultures and people first hand. Integration is mingling and living comfortably with people of all races. As Gish Jen says in her essay Coming to America, “To come to America is to be greatly disoriented for many a day. The smell of the air is wrong, the taste of the water, the strength of the sun, the rate the trees grow.” (Jen) She goes on to explain the rules, regulations, and customs one needs to get used to. But eventually, after living in a certain place and interacting with the people, ” The moment we feel certain rights to be inalienable, when we feel them to be ours as our lungs are ours, so that their loss is an excision and a death, we have become American.”(Jen) That is assimilation. To become part of a culture and accept it as your own. To say that assimilation is occurring successfully everywhere in the United States is wrong, but to say it isn’t occurring anywhere at all is equally false.
People who say that assimilation does not occur at all in the United States are just as wrong as people who say assimilation is prevalent everywhere in the States. Donnel Alexander makes the argument that cultural assimilation is nothing but a myth, and that white people are merely stealing what is “cool” about black society, but to say that in my opinion looking in a very cynical manner. It is not only white people taking things from black people and casting everything off to the side. While this may be true in suburban areas which there are little to no minorities, in cities like New York, everyone seems to take a little bit of every culture for themselves. You will see a Mexican wearing baggy jeans, a black person displaying a sweater vest, and an Indian wearing the latest Calvin Klein outerwear. To keep the issue of assimilation to just black and white people is totally missing the big picture, because if assimilation is successful, then everyone is involved, not just certain races. But to say, as Crouch does, that assimilation is ever prevalent in the United States is being too naive. Just because media portrays people of all races as being experts in fields you would not normally associate them with, as he uses as an example in his essay, that does not mean that assimilation is occurring everywhere. Venture to a Wal*Mart or Home Depot in the center of Utah and tell me how many minority “experts” you see working the floor. Travel to Wyoming and tell me how many Chinese or Puerto Rican restaurants you see. Crouch is used to living in cities, and that is why he sees assimilation as so prevalent. But to say it is occurring successfully everywhere, as some people do, is just as wrong as saying that it is not occurring at all.
I continue to walk further down the street and come across and Afghani restaurant selling their take on the cheeseburger. A white man is walking by me, the smell of good Puerto Rican Bacardi ubiquitous in the air around him. I can see the Italian flags draped from a window, slightly above another brandished with that of Uganda. I call my cousin, who lives in the suburbs of Cresskill New Jersey, curious as to where he is. “A McDonald’s” he tells me, as he makes a side comment to his black friend, one of the few in the neighborhood. He continues talking as they get in a car and arrive home without interacting with another soul. This is the experience millions of people have everyday in the United States. While urbanites are surrounded by a plethora of diversity and humanity, suburbanites are lucky if they talk to someone else for five minutes. To say that cultural assimilation is occurring everywhere is wrong, just as wrong as saying it is not occurring at all. The truth is those of us in cities are used to interacting with various people every day, while it may be a once a year occurrence in the more isolated areas. Is this a big issue in America? Yes, probably. Is it something we are aware of every waking moment? No. That is why there is no definitive answer. Currently, assimilation is just something that is either there, or not there, and no one cares either way.
Works Cited
-“2006 Colorado Education Facts.” Colorado Department of Education. Dept. of Education. 10 Dec. 2007 http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdereval/download/PDF/EDFacts/2006EdFactSheet.pdf>.
-Alexander, Donnel. “Cool Like Me.” Seeing & Writing 3 (2006): 440-443.
-Crouch, Stanley. “Goose-Loose Blues for the Melting Pot.” Seeing & Writing 3 (2006): 446-452.
-Jen, Gish. “Coming Into the Country.” Seeing & Writing 3 (2006): 434-435.
-Salvatierra, Cecilia, comp. Latino Data Project. 2000. Center for Latin American, Carribean, and Latino Studies: CUNY. 9 Dec. 2007 http://web.gc.cuny.edu/lastudies/Private%20and%20Public%20School%20Attendance%20Patterns%20Among%20New%20York%20City%20Racial%20Ethnic%20Groups%20and%20Latino%20Nationalities.pdf>.
-“United States Cencus Bureau.” United States Cencus Bureau. 9 Dec. 2007 http://www.census.gov/>.
