I was struck by something I recently read, “The history of Britain is often presented as one group of invaders after another displacing the native population. The Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans all left their mark on Britain both politically and culturally. However, the story of Britain is far more complex. In fact, modern studies suggest the earliest populations weren’t wiped out, but adapted and absorbed the new arrivals.”
It occurred to me that a similar assessment could be made of many areas of the world, including our own. Most believe the modern human race all began in one place. Modern day archaeologists tend to think it was somewhere on the African continent. We all spread out from there. That means almost all of the world has been populated by invasions, either into areas occupied only by non-human animal life or by other humans who just happened to get there first.
The first people to enter present-day America are now generally known as Native Americans. Wikipedia references a 2012 “Nature” article that says the prevailing theory is that Native Americans migrated through Siberia to present-day Alaska. The next invaders were primarily from Britain, France and Spain starting in the late 15th century. They were followed up by immigrants from the rest of Europe, Asia and other parts of the world.
The British, French and Spanish were not absorbed into Native American culture. However, the immigrants who came later were generally absorbed into the British, French and/or Spanish culture, especially the British as far as our country is concerned. That resulted in what can generally be referred to as an “American culture.” Notable exceptions to full assimilation into “American culture” have been African-Americans, who were forcibly brought here as slaves, and Native Americans.
Much of the reason for these groups failing to fully assimilate into the prevailing “American culture” can be attributed to governmental actions. Before the Civil War, in order to justify slavery, slave owners conspired with politicians, mostly Democrats, to promote the false concept that African-Americans were an inferior race. The bloody Civil War led by the first Republican President ended slavery but many in the former slave owning states clung to the belief that had been ingrained in them, that African-Americans were somehow inferior.
To curry favor at the ballot box, politicians in many states, again mostly Democrats, instituted the segregation of African-Americans which largely continued until the Civil Rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s resulted in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Although that act was passed under a Democratic president, it would not have passed without overwhelming Republican support. There was still a lot of Democrat opposition from the old slave-owning states.
Since 1964, a lot of progress has been made in ending the exclusion of African-Americans. Much remains to be done, especially in ensuring economic opportunity. The last Republican administration did make significant progress in that direction.
Native American exclusion from “American culture” is a different situation. Those who live on reservations (only about 22% according to the Census Bureau) do not appear to have assimilated very well. Poverty is quite prevalent on reservations, and education levels are low. Substance abuse, poor healthcare services, low employment and substandard housing are also persistent problems.
It’s difficult to find reliable information on the 78% not living on reservations. My own assessment based on having grown up in Oklahoma, where there is a large Native American population but very few live on reservations, is that they appear to have adapted quite well to the “American culture.” In fact, I remember, and the Oklahoma Historical Society documents it, that one chief of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma was also the chief executive officer of the Phillips Petroleum Company. Native American assimilation problems appear to be primarily due to the federal government reservation system.
On the whole, it appears that most of the people in our country are doing quite well in assimilating into the “American culture,” and with a few changes by the government, all could probably do so. So then, why do we have many politicians, again primarily Democrats, trying to stop assimilation and turn us into separate warring groups?
Carl Brady is a retired engineer who has lived in Frederick for 16 years.
