Summary

In the chapter “Assimilation,” Lalami discusses the idea that immigrants are expected to adopt certain cultural practices after arriving in a country. Lalami begins by recalling a conversation she once had with a stranger on an airplane. The man said, seemingly in complaint, that there was an influx of Korean immigrants in his town, and that they ‘refused to assimilate.’ He remarked, among other things, that they sent their children to programs where they would learn the Korean language. Lalami acknowledges that some aspects of the idea of ‘assimilation’ are based on practicalities such as civic engagement. However, many aspects of assimilation are related to xenophobia and make the unreasonable/irrational request that immigrants dissolve all personal and cultural connections to their original countries. In some ways, U.S. culture values immigrants and their contributions, but in other ways, U.S. culture seeks only...