Posted on 10/11/2010 12:38:18 PM PDT by lbryce
When Najoh Tita-Reid was a multicultural marketing director at Procter & Gamble Co. launching the "My Black Is Beautiful" marketing program, one of the realities she faced was that many of the women the effort was targeting were Hispanic as well as black. Today, as senior VP at GlobalHue Africanic, she sees a growing group of multicultural consumers who may not fully identify with any one box they're asked to check on the 2010 Census.
Call it assimilated America, one where Spanglish may be the emerging national dialect and the U.S. population is in many ways multiethnic, making future distinctions and segmentations increasingly complex or even impossible.
"More people are embracing more of their bicultural [status] and the country is increasingly embracing people who are bicultural and multicultural," she said. "They'll increasingly represent the new America."
You could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Despite, or perhaps because of, rapid ethnic-population growth on the way to a projected "majority minority" in 2050, ethnic polarization seems rampant -- look no further than the Arizona border controversy. The legendary American Melting Pot seems like history.
There's just one problem, however: It's wrong, according to some people who've studied it either as academics or marketers. The heat around immigration and ethnic tension may just be what the melting pot throws off as it simmers like it always has.
(Excerpt) Read more at adage.com ...
Mr. Vigdor's assimilation index measures how well immigrants resemble native-born populations based on a variety of economic and cultural factors such as education and language, and it shows today's immigrants are less assimilated than those a century ago.
But looking closer, that's largely because of the size of the immigration spurt since the 1980s, unprecedented in absolute numbers and roughly similar to that of the early 20th century in terms of how it's remade the ethnic landscape of the country. The increased ratio of newer immigrants to older ones seems to slow assimilation.
In fact, immigrants of the past quarter century -- and especially since 1995 -- are actually assimilating more rapidly than their counterparts a century ago, according to research by Mr. Vigdor, largely along cultural lines such as language acquisition, marriage and childbearing patterns.
What's more, the recent slowdown in new immigrants could actually foster assimilation, and evidence from the University of Southern California supports that view, according to Dowell Myers, professor of urban planning and demographics at the university.
People are slow to change their language or their food and clothing tastes when they immigrate, Mr. Myers said. But the second generation is often bilingual and acculturates rapidly, adopting a blend of their parents' and their home country's habits. By the third generation, many offspring of immigrants don't even speak their grandparents' language.
This study bodes well for the future of America in that assimilation has always been the over-riding consideration, the ultimate objective for those fostering immigration but also serves very well as political harbinger for those running for government office.
Politicians, political strategists take heed! What is politicking if not marketing, (shilling?) yourself, your candidate, tailoring the agenda, endearing yourself, selling yourself, most of the time your very soul in exchange for (political) currency other wise known as the vote in order to get elected?
When Najoh Tita-Reid was a multicultural marketing director at Procter & Gamble Co. launching the "My Black Is Beautiful" marketing program, one of the realities she faced was that many of the women the effort was targeting were Hispanic as well as black. Today, as senior VP at GlobalHue Africanic, she sees a growing group of multicultural consumers who may not fully identify with any one box they're asked to check on the 2010 Census.
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South American immigrants will integrate and assimilate - the question is merely into what part of US society. At least we can thank the heroes of the anti-bilingual education movement for the Southwest probably not turning into Quebec south.
Currently, it seems like far too many Hispanics are closer to assimilating into the black or white underclass rather than into the middle class.
Before David Frum decided that life carrying water for Newsweek et. al. was more comfortable than pursuing conservatism, he penned this well-written takedown of the notion that Hispanics as assimilating just fine, ironically using the data of the Amnesty lobby:
http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDNjYTdmNWJkMWRlODE3N2M4ZTNlMWI1OWM2ZTA0OTU=
Lazily assuming that all groups will display an assimilation pattern similar to the Germans is simply irresponsible and ignorant, especially as there isn´t any need to use the Germans as the indicator - there have been Mexican in the US for a very long time.
Of course - your final point is entirely correct. Republicans should sell themselves to Hispanics with the pitch that the Right offers the only true path into America.
If Hispanics instead prefer a future as a designated victim group, with larger handouts and quotas, but with less self-worth and commonality with other Americans, they can go to the Democrats instead.
How about Human is Beautiful? Enough dividing people into different warring groups.
Where’s the money in that?
“Enough dividing people into different warring groups.”
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Over my dead body!
Amen!
I just happen to be pure northern European but my husband is Scotch, Native American and Mexican. My DIL is Mexican, Native American, and German. When you say Mexican that could be any mixture of Native American and Spanish. The paternal side of DIL’s family, even the Mexican part, were here long before this was the United States.
Golly gee! They are just like me. Just humans with their faults and their foibles and their capabilities. There are a few cultural differences with DIL but less differences than I have with Eastern transplants.
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