Opinion - America is less white but it’s still very American

When I was in class my junior year, a classmate decided to tell me to “go back to my country.” Before I had a chance to respond, a friend sitting next to me said “Shut up. He may not be as American as the rest of us, but he is still American.”

After class, I asked her to explain what she meant, since I was, in fact, born in Passaic, N.J. To her, since her family had come to New Jersey back when it was a Dutch colony she was more American than me, a citizen whose parents came to this country in 1976. We had a lively discussion about what it means to be American, American values and patriotism.

We liked the same sports teams, practiced the same religion, liked the same foods, were in the marching band together, liked the same music, and both considered ourselves “patriotic.” At the end of it all, she still insisted that she was more American because her family had “longevity.”

Years later, we are still having this discussion. Except now it’s been amplified because of America’s changing demographics. Let’s be honest, while most Americans want illegal immigration fixed there are some that are also angry that America is becoming less white. Now, they aren’t wrong. The demographics of the U.S. have rapidly changed over the last few decades. Immigration from Asia, Africa and Latin America along with declining birth rates in an aging white population has led to this.

But does that mean this country is less American?

The most powerful thing about America is not our military or economy. It is our culture, and it’s not even close. American culture is one of assimilation, and that assimilation goes both ways. Conservatives will complain that immigrants and their kids don’t pick up American values, but everything shows that they participate in all aspects of American society.

Let’s break this down with a staple of American culture: college football. We have kids who are playing on the gridiron who are children of Polynesian, Mexican, Nigerian, East Asian, Middle Eastern and Caribbean immigrants. Look at college marching bands. My alma mater, Ohio State fields the “Best Damn Band in the Land.” The band is way more diverse than when I went to school there, with more Black, Asian and Latino kids marching, but they still set the standard for college bands around the country. Look at the student sections as you watch football games, and you will see a wonderfully diverse group of kids screaming their heads off and hoping to storm the field.

For all of America’s demographic changes, it seems that these new demographics really love to participate in every one of our countries’ traditions. The so-called “War on Christmas” is laughable, because you see Hindu families going all out to decorate their houses and Muslim parents taking their kids to see the lights. Even atheists go out of their way to spend money, decorate, travel and participate in a Christian celebration.

There is a word for that — “assimilation.” The Fourth of July still goes strong. Thanksgiving is still a day of football and family conflict thanks to UNO. We still honor our veterans — in fact, we honor our veterans more than in the past when this country wasn’t as diverse (see Vietnam).

Speaking of the military, you even see assimilation in the armed forces. A traditionally very conservative institution has seen an increase in immigrant and first-generation enlistees over the last 30 years. First-generation Americans are running for office, running corporations, running school board meetings and running their kids to basketball practice.

This notion that immigrants aren’t assimilating has always been a false argument made by anti-immigration nativists. There was a time when Italians didn’t have our values, the Irish didn’t have our values, Poles didn’t have our values and Jews didn’t have our values.

Now, some from those backgrounds will insist that newer immigrants don’t share our values and that they won’t assimilate like their own ancestors. It’s a perpetual whitewashing that seems to never end. Maybe in three generations, Indian Americans will insist that their ancestors came here and didn’t have any problems blending in, even if they did.

And I think that’s what people focus on. Immigrants do struggle to fit in. The language is hard to learn, the customs and culture are different, and the differences in weights and measurements alone are enough to drive people crazy. Also, new immigrants have to learn the rules for both baseball and football, which is almost impossible.

So, you hang out with your own kind and try to get by. The politicians who like to keep us scared focus on this, but never on what happens next. Every group starts assimilating and adapting. It is literally part of our culture for people to become self-reliant and to demand participation in our society. And immigrants do just that.

Let’s look at Usha Vance. The child of Indian immigrants, she was born and raised in California. She was in the marching band, went to college, taught American history, volunteered with the Girl Scouts, went to Yale and is now is the second lady of the United States. She has also retained part of her parents’ culture as a practicing Hindu and vegetarian. She represents American assimilation just well as anyone.

But here is the thing: Vance is not the exception to the rule. She is the rule. As brilliant as she is, and as accomplished as she has become, she is literally one of thousands of immigrant kids who have assimilated into American culture.

Her husband, Vice President JD Vance, went to Ohio State, served in the Marines, and got an Ivy League post-grad degree and cooks great Indian food. I also went to Ohio State, served in the Marines, went to an Ivy League school and cook a mean lamb biriyani. That’s textbook assimilation.

We are in an age where we are trying very hard to reduce the immigrant population of this country (both legal and illegal) despite the adverse effects that it will have. And it is easy to fall for the fear that politicians sell that America is becoming “less American.” But those politicians continually doubt the power of American culture. Our culture is one of assimilation, and immigrants and their kids are assimilating well. Don’t believe me — watch college football this weekend.

Jos Joseph is a published writer and is a graduate of the Harvard Extension School and Ohio State University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.

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