Thread by @Noahpinion

1/I wanted to do one thread per book for my "immigration and diversity" reading binge, and I realize I forgot to do one for "The Other Side of Assimilation", by Tomas Jimenez.

This is an excellent book.

amazon.com/Other-Side-Ass…

2/Jimenez makes a point that I've been trying to scream from the rooftops: "Assimilation" isn't a one-way thing!!

America changes the culture immigrants and their descendants. But immigration changes the culture of America too!!

3/Jimenez looks at how native-born Americans are adjusting to immigrants and their descendants in three SF Bay Area cities - Cupertino, East Palo Alto, and Berryessa. Basically, an upper-class, lower-class, and middle-class community.

4/He finds that native-born white and black people change how they live, how they look at the world, and how they think of themselves based on their personal interactions with Asian and Hispanic immigrants and children of immigrants.

5/He finds that traditional notions of racial hierarchy can be upended by newcomers. In Cupertino, whites found themselves in second place relative to Asians, scholastically and in terms of income. In East Palo Alto, black solidarity was complicated by a huge influx of Latinos.

6/He finds that personal relations - marriage, romance, friendship, co-worker friendships, neighbors, Civic associations, athletics - demystify the newcomers, and prompt whites and blacks alike to explore new customs, new foods, new languages, lots of new stuff.

7/He finds that backlash to newcomers is almost never personal. Everyone likes immigrants and their descendants, basically.

But he does find some political backlash, especially a demand for English-only policies and unease about illegal immigration.

8/In general, though, "The Other Side of Assimilation" is both a triumphal success story about the victory of tolerance and the power of extended contact, AND a reassurance that fears of one-way forced assimilation are unfounded.

9/Many people of color fear that "assimilation" is a demand that they conform to a whiteness that will never truly accept them.

It's a legitimate fear! But Jimenez shows that this is NOT the typical reality on the ground.

10/This book made me think of a quote from They Might Be Giants:

"When he's underwater, does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?"

When it comes to immigration, diversity, and assimilation, the answer is: Both.

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