Letter: Assimilation can incorporate other cultures, races
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In his Feb. 5 column, Abdi Nor Iftin, supporting Maine’s increasingly diverse student population, said, “The schools should encourage multiculturalism and not assimilation.” He said assimilation involves expecting students to “abandon their cultural institutions and values and replace them with that of the majority.”
That happened, forcibly, to many Native American children many years ago. I doubt today’s Maine schools expect or require children to abandon their culture, nor should they.
My only experience with assimilation is as a third-generation Italian whose grandfather came here as a 12-year-old around 1900. My father, born here, spoke only Italian until he entered kindergarten at Portland’s old Presumpscot School. He learned English, graduated from Portland High School, fought in WWII and assimilated (which is easier when you pretty much look like the dominant caste).