Acculturation
Acculturation describes the process of assimilating to another dominant culture or way of life and overlooking the underlying culture. It often occurs when a person moves from one part of the world and moves to another region that observes different norms as their way of life. Often a person is forced to change and adapt to their environment in an endeavor to lead a fulfilling life that relates to their environment. Usually, the same applies to Muslims that migrate to America as was the case of the Pakistani family in the Domestic Crusaders. It becomes more challenging for Muslims, especially with the connotation of terrorism that is associated with Muslims. As such, they often find themselves segregated in the broader community and have to re-adjust to seem as though they exclusively support the dominant American culture over their original heritage. The American-Pakistani family only moved in America following the 9/11 event, which resulted in increased islamophobia in communities. As such, newcomers had to change their culture and assimilate to the American way of life to avoid prejudice. At the same time, acculturation takes significant time to become effective. The longer a person stays in a foreign culture, the more likely they are to forget their heritage and assimilate to the new way of life. For instance, parents that arrived in America earlier are more likely to have American views regarding the future of their children more than encouraging them to adapt to their original culture. The paper hereby compares and contrasts the views of acculturation expressed in different articles.
The two sources compare in the aspect that boys are often more inclined towards their host culture more than the girls. Often when young men move to a new culture, they are more likely to become cultured and belong to the host culture more than girls. Khaleque et al. (407) investigated migrant boys and girls and their parents to establish the impact of acculturation on young families. The outcome supports that many young boys became more inclined to the American culture more than their original Pakistani heritage. The same aspect is mirrored in Domestic Crusaders, whereby the boys are leaning towards the American way of life more than their Pakistani roots. For instance, the older brother is described as being unmarried and adopting the playboy lifestyle. Often men in his age are married with families in the Pakistani culture, but he has embraced the American culture of being independent and not settling down to have a family. The young man has grown to become part of the American culture and does not show the intent of following his Pakistani way of life. The same applies to many other immigrants who come to the country with their cultural ties. Once they become citizens of the US, they are absorbed to chasing and attaining the American dream, whereby they forsake the former cultures. The same can be seen in their father, who has deep-seated Pakistani culture. He, however, has become assimilated to the American culture and wants his sons also to follow the same. He is cautious that his lastborn son is still entangled in the Pakistani practices and wants him to embrace the American culture. He encourages him to become a surgeon while still being a Muslim. Although he wants his son to hold on to the Islamic identity, he views the American way of life as the most ideal and promises greater value to his children in future.
Although the aspect of acculturation promotes the adoption of the more dominant culture, the immigrants remain tightly inclined towards their original heritage. Boys, girls and their parents alike showed a great affiliation towards their Pakistani heritage in the study by Khaleque et al. they maintained aspects of religion, language and other elements such as foods and dressing. The parents also showed great affiliation towards their Pakistani culture and encouraged the children on observing specific aspects of the origin. It becomes apparent that although acculturation remains strong in the US, certain aspects of life do not conform t the ways of the immigrants who prefer to live life according to Pakistani customs. At the same time, the youngest son in Domestic Crusaders aspires to become a history teacher instead of the surgeon his parents want him to become. He tells his parents that “You will get the blessings of my work” (55). He endeavors to teach history to young one such that they grow with a full appreciation of other cultures, especially that of the Pakistani people. It shows that he is inclined towards his roots of origin more than his new culture. At the same time, the sister maintains wearing a scarf over her head and forms intimate relationships with Muslims. It shows her strong support for her original culture.
The two sources, however, contrast in that while Domestic Crusaders shows the aspect of immigrant parents learning through experience to balance the two cultures, the article by Khaleque et al. only shows the struggle of the immigrants in assimilating fully to the host culture. The parents in Crusaders seem to understand the point of their children and only offer insight into the choices of the children.