Assimilation is a factor of colonialism, which, throughout history,has resulted in the loss of an "inferior" groups collective identity, if the group refuses and conflict occurs they could become marginalized from the society or worse yet extermination of the group. Assimilating a population in order to achieve peace in a colony would only benefit the “superior” group as it is based on their principles. More specifically, assimilation results in a reduction of cultural diversity, such as when the indigenous children of Canada were assimilated and put into residential schools,in an attempt to convert them to Christianity; as a result, that specific generation cannot carry on the traditions of their people. Sometimes factors, such as language barrier and cultural beliefs can lead to forced racist policies to be implemented by the colonizers. This is shown when the Incas were conquered by the Spaniards and were not assimilated at all because the Incas beliefs lead to a conflict between them and the colonizers. Also when a minority group becomes assimilated, they could possibly get marginalized as the colony grows. The Native American culture has been portrayed in a negative and stereotypical manner over the last century, i.e., “Black Hawk War”, 1894 . The reason for this is because they truly understand their religion but others see it as apart of pop culture. Consequently, the perspective presented in the source should be embraced to no extent, as assimilation does not allow a culture to flourish as it should since assimilation is apart of ethnocentrism which comes from colonialism.
Cultural diversity is necessary for all colonized societies because it creates a more inclusive society and allows for a strong sense of belonging. Low cultural diversity can only be obtained through assimilating a younger generation of children as they are, Typically they are assimilated into the same religion as the colonizers. This is not necessary to create peace in a colony as shown in the source for it displays a negative image upon the colony in the future. This is exactly what happened to Canada with the implementation of the residential schools. When the indigenous people were sent to these residential schools it was to convert them to Christianity which was one of their beliefs. Assimilating the population of an colony would result in there just being 1 religion among the population. When the indigenous people of Canada were assimilated by being taken from their families and put into residential schools which was supported by the Canadian government and church for many years. In those schools the children were forced to follow a different religion and learn a new language and neglect their own practices and beliefs which then causes the indigenous peoples religion to not flourish properly. When the Canadian government realised what they were doing helped revitalise the indigenous culture by dedicating a whole day to them.
Depopulation can happen if conflict occurs between colonizers and indigenous peoples and this eventually leads to a group of people becoming assimilated. For example, when the Spaniards were looking to colonize today’s Peru from 1532-1572.The Spaniards had an ethnocentric view which lead them to follow the principles of colonialism. When the Spaniards met the Incan emperor, Atahullpa, Incan emperors religious beliefs alongside with the Spaniard’s greed and colonial beliefs lead to conflict. The technological advancements in terms of weaponry and mode of transport allowed the Spaniards to conquer the Incan population and, thus, assimilate the Incan emperor. The reason the spaniards did this is because the Incan emperor thought that if he killed them he would be seen as a god to his people. This then forced the spaniards into conflict which they were able to overcome due to how advanced the were. Once they assimilated Atahullpa the Spaniards were able to gain access to all of the Incas prized artifacts which were made of gold. Also they were not able to assimilate the rest of the population because they unintentionally caused more depopulation by bring viruses that they were immune to and spreading them to the Incas. In turn, the colonizers were able to gain access to the valuables of the land due to the depopulation of the Incas and their unintentional conquering.
Assimilating the population of a colony eventually leads to their culture being
marginalized into the colonies pop culture. They could be marginalized into pop-culture in two ways stereotypically or inaccurately. For example Steven Salazar's illustration “Black Hawk War 1894” is an inaccurate depiction of the native Americans place and reason in the Black Hawk war . The illustration shows that the native americans are the criminals in the war and the “white man” are depicted as the victims. The illustration shows the Native american terrorizing the “white man”. The Native American are then again depicted to the public in a different way. They are depicted stereo typically through the sports team Cleveland indians The reason they are depicted stereo typically to the public through the Cleveland Indians is because the icon of the Cleveland Indians shows that the Native Americans are the “red man” also a minor detail would be that they always were a feather on their head. In these cases the Native Americans are marginalized into art to influence public opinion or into pop-culture such as famous sports teams.
A stated the perspective presented in the source should not be embraced because the assimilation of a colonized society is based of a ethnocentric view which is rooted in colonialism. Assimilating a population can lead to a number of things occurring such as a reduction in cultural diversity, the depopulation of a society and the marginalization of the assimilated population. Cultural diversity is needed in order for a colony to flourish properly. In order to reduce the cultural diversity the population must be assimilated which as shown with canada’s residential schools doesn’t end well. Certain factors such as cultural beliefs can intern lead to the depopulation of the colony. Which is shown when the spaniards were looking to conquer peru during 1532, but when the beliefs of the Incas interfered with the colonial views of the spanish lead to a conflict which caused the spanish to go to conflict with the Incans, also the spanish were able to succeed do to the fact of how advanced they were. As shown throughout history the indians then are marginalized after they are assimilated to either a stereotypical extent or to negative extent. The indians are currently being marginalized to a stereotypical extent because the Cleveland indians symbol portray them as the red man and always wearing a feather. This is also shown again as in Steven Salazar's illustration was an example of the indians being marginalized to the society as criminals due to the fact that there was a war between the “white man” and the natives