Way back when, people emigrated here for OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOMS, they did not have some sort of ethnic association waiting for them to “set them up”, show them how to work the system, etc. There was no system, all you received when you reached our shores was the freedom to pursue your life to the fullest. Many immigrants returned to their homelands because they could not make it here.
My grandfather came here from Italy in the late 1920’s, 15 yrs. old ALONE, left a huge family in Italy. He assimilated right away, taught himself english, worked multi jobs, and by the time my mother was born, owned his own successful business until he died. My grandfather always stressed to my mom and uncle, they were American, Italian was not taught to the kids, only English. By God, he was so proud to have come to this country and become a citizen. He never stepped foot in Italy again.
Actually, immigrant mutual aid societies wer very big, especially among Jewish, eastern European, and Scandanavian immigrants. Most also settled in ethnic ghettos, along with their fellow countrymen. My great-grandmother came to this country from Poland in 1919, and, to the day she died in 1968, never knew more than a few words of English. Her husband, however, did learn it because he wouldn't have been able to build a successful business otherwise (or schmooze the local pols in Newark for that matter for contracts).
I agree with you that the multiculturalism/affirmative action regime must end. Nevertheless, it would be a myth to say that most immigrants in the past assimilated in the first generation. First generation were typically foreigners (and remained culturally so even when naturalized) living in ethnic ghettos, second generation were "ethnics" who wanted to leave said nabes, third generation were fully assimilated.