- At the turn of the 20th century, foreign-born citizens emigrated to the U.S. from many countries, and the term "melting pot" was coined. In the U.S.'s major entry points, such as New York, immigrants with similar ethnic background founded neighborhoods, work and social groups, and churches with each other. Yet at the same time, because they lived, worked and interacted with citizens who already called the Big Apple their home, their cultural differences thrived at the same time the groups collectively became part of the American culture. Like a melting pot, each ingredient contributed to the flavor and texture of the whole. In recent years, this concept has been reinterpreted. Modern social theorists talk about a society as a salad, where each member, or group, keeps its distinctiveness as part of the whole. Both evolutions are examples of cultural differences thriving within the context of a dominant culture.
- The process of melding a diverse, multicultural society into a cohesive society is called acculturation. The attitudes and behaviors of people from one group are changed as they share living space, and forge common experiences. For these reasons, second generations of immigrant communities, or tribes within a culture, are more likely to take on the values an identity of the larger culture. Acculturation implies that the different tribes influence each other, and elements of two cultures mingle together. For peaceful acculturation to occur, the two groups must exist in some level of cultural equality, and the groups have mutual access to self-determination.
- Tribal identities are more likely to exist when groups of people can connect and communicate with other like-minded groups, and when economic and geographic mobility enable tribes to maintain their own unique traditions within the dominant culture. Tribal structures require significant economic or political forces applied from the outside which limit their options, such as the Great Depression of the 1920s or WWII in the 1940s, to break down the tribal social ties and work toward a blended, non-tribal society. However, even in the most cohesive or controlled society, tribal factions continue to evolve between economic strata. Marx conceived the differences as the Bourgeois and the Proletariat. The 1950s saw the emergence of the adolescent teenager as an identifiable tribe. The music revolution, which happened as a result of the internet and digital file sharing, helped separate the hip hop generation from hard rockers and techno music acolytes.
- Social theorists suggest there are five possible outcomes when a culture engages the process of the acculturation. Because individuals continue to hold to a tribal identity, even within a dominant culture, tribal groups evolve into organized societies along one of the following paths. Assimilation moves all the members of a society toward the dominant culture. Integration creates a new culture out of the existing tribes. Rejection results as a dominant culture refuses to accept the influence of the less-dominant tribe, and returns to the traditional culture. Marginalization occurs when both tribes are alienated from the other and the dominant culture fractures as it attempts to live with unresolved conflict. Alternation occurs when the two cultures remain relatively distinct, and learn to co-exist and function cooperatively.
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