Randy's Fredrickson Analysis

The first thing that I noticed was the style of writing. This essay is a research paper. It is divided into sections, has in-text citations, and an overall feel of a research paper. We must remember this and consider it when analyzing the work. There is no direct pathos involved. It is implied between the lines when discussing the brutalities of assimilation and treatment of other races. However, much logos and ethos is involved. Included in this is a direct thesis statement, “four basic conceptions of how ethnic or racial groups should relate to each other have been predominant in the history of American thought about group relations – ethnic hierarchy, one-way assimilation, cultural pluralism, and group separatism” (450).

Fredrickson introduced an interesting idea about how different groups relate to each other and what happens when they merge. I found the section on one-way assimilation the most interesting. “The coercive efforts to ‘civilize’ Native Americans – as ‘cultural genocide’” I believe is the fundamental problem with assimilation (452). Many of the groups and individuals that assimilated did not want to but rather were forced. The Native American being forced to go to boarding schools and live on reservations with no economic potential are included in this group. Rather than having their culture mixed with the current American culture, they were stripped of what made them unique. In addition, Fredrickson states, “ African Americans were generally deemed ineligible for assimilation because of their inferiority to white ethnics” (454). For true assimilation between groups to be termed successful on many levels, no group should be excluded. I agree with Fredrickson in regards to cultural pluralism being the best form of ethnic relations. With cultural pluralism, I can imagine a unified society but also a society that has unique features in different ethnic groups. I believe the cultural diversity present would make the society seem even more civilized because the society respects other group’s traditions and cultures.