1.1 Strategies and processes of adaptation in immigration  (Page 2/11)

John Quincy Adams reflected this feeling during his time as the Secretary of State in an 1818 letter he wrote in response some of Baron Von Fürstenwaerther’s questions:

They (immigrants to America) come to a life of independence, but to a life of labor –and, if they cannot accommodate themselves to the character, moral, political and physical, of this country with all its compensating balances of good and evil, the Atlantic is always open to them to return to the land of their nativity and their fathers. To one thing they must make up their minds, or they will be disappointed in every expectation of happiness as Americans. They must cast off the European skin, never to resume it. They must look forward to their posterity rather than backward to their ancestors; they must be sure that whatever their own feelings may be, those of their children will cling to the prejudices of this country (Gordon, 1978, p. 187).

Essentially, Adams was expressing the idea: "If they don't like it here, they do go back to where they came from.” Anglo-conformity or Americanization forces compliance as to the moral, political, and physical character of the country.

A century later, R. Park and E. Burgess (1921, p. 735) thought that the "cycle of the racial relations" or interethnic relations happened through four stages: contacts, competition, accommodation, and assimilation. Because of industrialization, people moved from farms to cities, there they were in contact with others, forcing them to either compete or co-operate for work: this process assimilated them. The stage known as “marginality” temporarily caught some between the old and new cultural systems. However, the passage of time caused ethnic differences and rivalries to disappear allowing for steps toward assimilation. This can be understood as “an interpenetration process and fusion in which individuals and groups acquire memories, feelings, and attitudes of other individuals and groups, and with sharing their experience and history they incorporate to a common cultural life” (Park&Burgess, 1921, p. 735). This reflection of “the melting pot”—an idea which we will analyze shortly— shows the forms of interpersonal association between the different ethnic groups as more powerful and lasting than the interpersonal competition (Park, 1928, pp. 881-893).

Myrdal (1994), on the other hand, reinforced Park and Burgess’ vision some decades later. Their studies on the relations between Blacks and Whites in the United States reached the conclusion that the inconsistency or cultural dissonance of the American creed, "all men are created equal," and the tendency of racial prejudice and discrimination would not be permanent. According to this vision, racism will eventually disappear, and blacks will assimilate.

The "melting pot" (crucible of races)

Considered as a version of the Assimilationalist School and an alternative vision by others, this perspective about immigration was also present since the origins of the American nation (Lambert&Taylor, 1990, p. 26). Gordon (1978) mentioned a series of testimonies that is worth remembering to understand what melting pot means.