In class I ask the question does Assimilation = sellout? Because I personally believe that we all have to conform in today's society, not to fit in but just to survive it. For example, Native Americans would not be able to live on huts in living in Western New York because they would not be able to survive the cold winters, therefore they had to adapt into living in houses, instead of huts.
Also, I believe that one can never actually get rid of who they are or what ethnicity one is, because it is in one's blood line and in one's DNA. It makes up who one's identity, without it one would not be the same person. Sometimes one may want to conform to make things easy for themselves. For example, I straighten my hair or put weave/extentions in my hair from time to time because it is alot easy for me to manage and I think it looks good on me. Not because I want to look like a white woman. I am not sellout, I just expressing myself. What's wrong with that? This is just my thoughts on it.
Assimilation is only considered sellingout because the ideal of asssimilation is steeped in colonialization which the attidude was of superiority. "Our way is better...let see if by force or persuation we can turn these savages into human beings" that attitude of our way is better is usually why assimilation is looked down on. In areas of race and ethnicity people precieve certain things to be disloyal or trader like. So belonging to this groups but denouncing its culture (choosing to live diffrently then that group does) is to them usually precieved by that group of people to be your sellingout. Saying this group that "thinks" thier superior and that thier way of life is superior and by you assimilating to them its saying you also feel the same.
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