Poll reveals ‘melting pot’ evolving and adapting

Over 100 years ago, the United States experienced major waves of immigration with deep implications for future American generations. Israel Zangwill’s The Melting Pot suggested a powerful message that all immigrants will become assimilated Americans in their lifetimes.

However, in the most recent immigration waves, a new trend seemed to take place. As immigrant populations reach a critical mass in communities around the nation, “the melting pot” no longer assimilates them into the American culture: It is they who now transform the American society.

With today’s emphasis on diversity and ethnicity, and assimilation being called into question, it has become easier for immigrants to circumvent “the melting pot.”

To test the proposition about assimilation fading away, students attending the Constitution Day ceremony and those in my government lasses were surveyed. Questions borrowed from the U.S. Citizen Test were to assess the knowledge of students who were not U.S. citizens; the implied idea being the broader the understanding of the United States, the greater the assimilation.

Questions were grouped around themes such as political participation, knowledge of the constitution, U.S. institutions, name recognition and U.S. history and culture.

Sample Profile
A total of 146 students were polled -- 74 (or 51 percent) were male, and 72 (49 percent) were female students. Thirty-nine (or 27 percent) were non-U.S. citizens (NU. S.) — 36 percent were female and 64 percent were male. The non-U.S. include category included 10 percent non-residents, 15 percent non-citizens and 2 percent illegal. Of the 146, 32 were 19 years old and younger; 72 were between 20 and 24; 19 were between 25 and 29; and 23 were 30 and above.

Political preferences
Of the 146 students polled, the N-U.S. students were overall more politically progressive in their views (26 percent) than their American counterparts (15 percent). American students were more conservative (32 percent) than N-US students (15 percent).

Knowledge of: U.S. Political Participation
Sixty-nine percent of N-US students knew who elected Congress versus 64 percent of U.S. students. Eighty-two percent of N-US students were familiar with the U.S. voting age versus 55 percent of their U.S. counterparts.

U.S. Constitution
Sixty-two percent of N-U.S. students associated the first 10 amendments with the Bill of Rights, 88 percent of their counterparts did. Only 56 percent of N-U.S. versus 61 percent of U.S. students were aware that the freedom of the press was guaranteed by the First Amendment.

U.S. Political Institutions
Seventy-nine percent of N-U.S. students identified the constitutional requirements for presidential eligibility. However, more U.S. students (85 percent) provided correct answers. And few N-U.S. knew who declares war (26 percent), whereas only 37 percent of U.S. students chose Congress as constitutionally declaring war. These are the lowest percentages recorded in this survey.

Name Recognition
No one chose Linda Glasscock as the mayor of Irving. N-U.S. students more so than their U.S. counterparts remembered the name of the Irving mayor (77 percent versus 74 percent). Our governor would be surprised to learn that N-U.S. students scored 100 percent on his name recognition versus only 89 percent from U.S. students.

U.S. History/Culture
History is not the strong point for both groups. Only 67 percent of U.S. students to 62 percent of N-U.S. students recalled Thanksgiving to be the holiday celebrated for the first time by American colonists. Only 95 percent of U.S. citizens associated the Star Spangled Banner with the U.S. national anthem. More than half of the N-U.S. students (54 percent) answered correctly.

Conclusion:
Based on this survey, 1) the majority of the N-U.S. students had a strong understanding of the United States, sometimes even better than their American counterparts; 2) Assimilation does not seem to fade away. The “melting pot” is not in demise, it is just evolving and adapting.

There was one notable research limitation: the survey failed to include the length of stay in the U.S. and years of college or studies of the N-U.S. students. As such, this study is only exploratory.

—Gabriel Bach is a government professor at North Lake College.