A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Assimilation
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Kill the Indian, Save the Man: a documentary about the need of white Americans to assimilate Indians into their culture and how it denied the rights of millions.
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The process of marginalized people being incorporated into the dominant culture while simultaneously being stripped of their own culture, heritage, and self-worth. Historically, this has been accomplished through a variety of means: forced removal of indigenous children from their families and placement into settler colonial schools, the outlawing of indigenous languages, and the creation of idealized standards of beauty based on the bodies of those occupying dominant positions, wherein those outside the constructed norm feel they must change themselves to achieve that norm (a woman of color feels that she must straighten her hair to be more “approachable” for a job interview).
Assimilation is often looked at as a success by the dominant culture to bestow its "gifts," on people whose cultures it looks on as "savage," or "backwards." Others claim that while other cultures may be good in and of themselves, assimilation is still for the benefit of people and helps them to achieve a greater level of success within dominant society. However, assimilation can never bring liberation, but is rather a form of genocide that requires this kind of beneficent narrative to justify itself. |