Why should I have to assimilate?

sqwirlsgirl

Assimilation is a word "rarely" used......well before now. Of course your question leaves out "illegal" and that is where EVERYONE is going to go......(this is Yahoo answer....immigration forum).

You don't need to be like anyone.........you just need to be you. You ARE an AMERICAN and have the RIGHT to your OWN opinion and beliefs without regret.

To end....you don't need to follow the crowd.....you just have to follow your head and your heart.

Killy

You should try to blend in for your own best interest. This way it will be easier for you to make friends or to get a job. But nobody expects you to make hundreds of compromises and to nullify your personality. I'm guessing you are an exotic appearance, you should try to take advantage of it. With this rage you are feeling against natives, you are putting yourself in the position of a victim. They are not the oppressors and you are not oppressed, think of them as the owners of the house you are hosted in, a guest should not feel this for the host. I believe there is nothing in particular that you should learn about a certain country and its population, try to treat the people around you like different individuals and this way it will be easier to understand their reasons, to thank them or to forgive them. Best of luck!

FoxAmericaLover!

Why do you think you would have to take such dramatic action in America? This is the land of the free and home of the Brave. Happy 4th...

kristijay99

Move to Canada,

Apparently we let everyone in!

All kidding aside though, you chose to come to a free country. You chose to live the life you are living. I don't think you should change your beliefs or values, but if you chose to move to a better (I use this term loosely since you moved to the States) place, then you should assimilate as best as possible.

mr.bill

im of irish decent. I dont go around wearing a kilt and blowing bagpipes. I, like all REAL Americans stay informed on the issues, exercise my right to vote, celebrate independence day, observe memorial day, EARN a living AND pay taxes,and help my fellow Americans in the face of disaster, attack, or tragedy. Our nation is what it is because for hundreds of years immigrants have come and assimilated.When immigrants stop assimilating this nation will fracture and cease being great.

David

You don't have too.
But what good reason would one have for not trying to fit in? (I assume you are talking about visitors to a country)

Chx

You need to assimilate because you CHOSE (I hope) to live in this country. Assimilation? English is good. Consider yourself an American and you've almost assimilated. You need to assimilate because you are living here. If you don't want to assimilate, then why should you be here?

BIGL

go live where you were born there's too many of you here i suppose you'll get welfare and wic when your pregnant and we will have to support your kid or kids and you .

princess_29_71

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. At the same time, why should we respect you if you don't?

Elle

You need to speak English (which you obviously do.)

You don't have to "be like us" but you do need to know the laws so you can abide by them.

Mendi8a

You shouldnt, you dont, and the people that ask you to are idiots! We need the diversity in this country, and I for one, enjoy it.

Mr. Boof

If you want to live in America, embrace it for what it is. You can maintain your individuality and your national identity, but be an American first! Nobody is saying to "be like us"! We're saying "Be one of us"!

PS - Legally, of course! (You knew THAT was comin' Pancha - welcome back!!)

like who,,,,, just be yourself,

SL_SF

You *don't* have to completely assimilate. It's great that you speak English, but you can still hang onto parts of your original culture. That's what makes America so great - the diversity of our population! We have Italian food, and the Chinese New Year Parade, and sushi, and French manicures, and Yiddish, and Eastern Indian saris, and dashikis, and parts of every other culture in the world... the list is endless! It would be really boring if we were all exactly alike.

hawndawg

no you should not have to. i want to retire in mexico and will probably learn some spanish for my own convenienece but would resent it if I was FORCED to do it or anything else.
You can be an interesting foreigner living in the USA and make a contribution to our cultural diversity. we have plenty of regular american already. it is boring for everyone to be the same

Tho Deep ught

That is the USA for ya... they are a melting pot... Live in canada we are much more of a multi cultural nation!!!

dylanwalker1

Well, as long as you speak english and respect the laws of this country and pay your taxes then that's all you have to do to assimilate.

And that's all 99% of us ask of you.

rgb

because that's the way it is. sorry, but i didn't have much of a say either.

meathead

If you want be be an American, don't hide behind someone elses flag. To assimilate means to be an American. You have the right to your views. You have the responibility to follow our laws and pay your fair share of the taxes required. You don't need to be a cloned american, to be assimialted, you just need to follow the rule of law.

Iron Rider

as far as I'm concerned you can be what ever you want to be.

reallyfedup

Because you are in my country. If you moved to Iran or Saudi Arabia you have to become like them or be executed, be greatful you came here and show some interest in the country you chose to live in.

DAR

Very funny. You are assimilated.

All except that ice cream from a cart bit, and I admit I'm just jealous, there.

Lost. at. Sea.

The only way you can be assimilated is that you want it. If you are from Puerto Rico, for example, you are a American Citizen but you aren't the typical "American", your language is Spanish and your culture is a mix. I'm know Americans that live in P. R. for more than a decade and never learn to speak Spanish and I know Puerto Ricans that live only a few years in the USA and are completely assimilated to the American culture and language.

whistler

The only thing you need to do in my opinion is to bring the very best of your traditions and things you like to do from your old country,and make them a part of you here.That is what The US is all about.Leave the bad stuff behind.America is a black man running an Italian Pizza parlor in China town,in a mostly Hispanic state,that is part of a country that has mostly white people and is constantly changing.The USA depends on the diversity to survive as a nation.

Campbell Gramma

no one says you have to " be like everybody else ".

that is the beautiful thing about this country......you can be whatever....and whoever you want.

but, you still have to pay your taxes and give back to support this country that supports you and your family...

you can't just sponge off of our resources.....make your money....and send it back " HOME " to your country....

if you're gonna live here, work here, and raise a family here......then, make this your LEGAL home......

just like everyone else who LEGALLY IMMIGRATED to this country.

alagk

Would it be reasonable to expect any country to change for people that want to come into the country? Surely there are things, in this Country, that make it desirable to live in or come to and if that is the case I would think it would be a small cost to adopt the language and conform to the requirements that have been agreed upon by the people of that country through it's government. To also swear allegiance to that country and defend it if necessary. What should you have to? Maybe a better question is why you or others shouldn't if you indeed think this is the best country for you? If you do not feel that way then why would you want to come to a country you disagree with or don't like?

vacant

For one, be an American, give the USA your loyalty. Anyone from any other country can love their ancestral homeland, but not above the land that they claim as their home NOW, the country that offers so much you want to LIVE here. You have rights and freedoms, so do other Americans, don't forget that. Don't expect other Americans to give up their rights in order to accomodate people who are not Americans, especially those who are here illegally.

You don't have to be like anyone but yourself. Can you not be yourself and love and respect the USA, it's people, it's laws, all it has to offer? If being loyal to the USA means you can't be yourself, then you are in the wrong country.

An immigrant (legal) needs to assimilate in order to blend well in society, to get along with other people, to understand the people. The best way for him to do that is to learn the language, which is English. No one says he has to stop speaking his native language at home or with others who speak his language. But, he needs to learn English to be able to converse with the other people in the USA who are mostly English speaking. Ask anyone in the USA who never learned our language and I'm sure they would say they would have had life a lot better if they could have learned English. It only keeps them suppressed from the largest segment of society(TV, radio, work associates, customer service, neighbors, store clerks, etc.) How little a person can learn of a culture or the people of a country if they can't understand the language. They would be cut off from conversations with neighbors, songs on the radio, TV shows, the news, anyone giving them directions, replies from store clerks, etc.

That would be very lonely and confusing.

Brian

Resistance is futile!

Elizabeth l

You need to be an American first and whatever origin second. That's what it takes to be an American.

Aussie Chick

I agree with you, assimilation is wrong, I believe in integration. Here's a cool poem written by an Aboriginal woman living in Australia, called, Assimilation No!, Integration Yes!

Pour your pitcher of wine into the wide river
And where is your wine? There is only the river.
Must the genius of an old race die
That the race might live?
We who would be one with you, one people,
We must surrender now much that we love,
The old freedoms for new musts,
Your world for ours,
But a core is left that we must keep always.
Change and compel, slash us into shape,
But not our roots deep in the soil of old.
We are different hearts and minds
In a different body. Do not ask of us
To be deserters, to disown our mother,
To change the unchangeable.
The gum cannot be trained into an oak.
Something is gone, something surrendered, still
We will go forward and learn.
Not swamped and lost, watered away, but keeping
Our own identity, our pride of race.
Pour your pitcher of wine into the wide river
And where is your wine? There is only the river.

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