Majority groups support assimilation -- except when they're not majorities
Thursday, January 5, 2012 - 08:02
in Psychology & Sociology
We generally think that views about how to integrate a diverse society depend on peoples positions in that societythat is, whether theyre in the racial, religious, or cultural majority or a member of a minority. In the U.S., people tend to believe that blacks prefer pluralism and whites prefer assimilation, says University of Delaware psychologist Eric Hehman. Assimilation asks minoritieswhether newly arrived or historically rootedto drop their cultural identities and adopt the ways of the majority. Pluralism recognizes and even celebrates minority cultures, which live cooperatively within the majority culture.