Red Sociology: ASSIMILATION AS ASSASSINATION

MT comment: Even if the blog entry below speaks of assimilation, or one-way integration of blacks in the United States, it’s pretty certain that these types of discussions will pick up in Finland as we become a more culturally diverse society. Who is being assimilated into Finnish society? Are blacks and visible minorities expected to assimilate while for white Europeans it’s a two-way process (integration)?  __________________ Shenita Ann McLean Introduction Much of what I have studied & come to understand through history is that the true definition of an American is to be a White male who owns a home.  This definition is crucial because it is based on how assimilation has ACTUALLY worked throughout history instead of how the larger society has told people how it works.  As a Black African woman, I fit no where in that definition  & my chances of being a “true” American are completely shot because those who define what it means to be “American” never intended for me to be able to access such a status.  Many people discuss how the process of assimilating into a specific culture requires the shedding of one’s own culture & history & then embracing the prickly culture of the target/dominant […]