Problems with immigration fill written publications and Internet communication sites. I’m not certain where I stand on the issue, with all its complexities. I can, however, comment the issue of immigrant assimilation, including learning English. The argument I hear is: “If you come to this country, you learn English. After all, that’s what immigrants have done throughout the United States history.” I take issue with the second part of that statement, that immigrants came to this country and immediately assimilated. I take issue because of what I have seen in my genealogical and historical novel-writing experience. My first experience came with my genealogy research. My grandfather emigrated from Lithuania at the age of two. His parents became coal miners in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in the late 1800s. When I went to Minersville to explore the cemetery, I had to not only find the Catholic church cemetery, I had to find the Lithuanian Catholic church cemetery. Then I learned all the church records from the early days of the church were written in Lithuanian, unreadable by anyone not knowing that language. This tells me that people didn’t learn the language of their new country, but grouped together so as to maintain their own language and culture. My second experience is also genealogical. A group of ancestors came to this country from Germany. At least two families (and there were others) migrated to Westmoreland County, Pa., from Lehigh Valley, Pa. in 1770. Their church was German Lutheran, their cemetery was German Lutheran and their documents were translated recently from the German language. Again, these families didn’t assimilate but grouped together, maintaining their language and what they could of their culture. My third experience comes from researching a historical romance novel, circa 1790s. There were 500 Frenchmen who arrived at Alexandria, Virginia. A main character in my novel, Madame Rosalie de la Val, was an independent land speculator in America. She planned to set up a colony to preserve the French language and culture. Although her plans fell through, there were other French colonies set up in America that were successful. Again, no assimilation. It often took three generations for full assimilation---the immigrant generation concentrated on survival; their children focused on better jobs, and the next two generations moved ahead with increasing education. My observations indicates it will be the immigrant’s second, then third generations that will fully assimilate. To expect less is, perhaps, to be unreasonable. ---written by Carolyn |
