Such a good point, Sister, that I need to remember it. At one time, there was an expectation of assimilation. Now there is an expectation of diversification. Let's all learn Spanish. I don't mind doing that on my own, but I don't want it to be because we've become a divided nation.
Indeed, so true, dear brother in Christ. Nowadays, a huge body of immigrants to our nation, illegal and legal, integrate into American society; but they do not assimilate to it.
But we praise them for their "diversity."
My Polish immigrant (legal) grandparents, though it was difficult for them to assimilate, largely because of poor English-language skills, made absolutely SURE that their seven children (including my late mother) WOULD assimilate.
Mom certainly did that, in spades. Seeing that her nation needed her at a time of perilous crisis, she enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and served four years as a Navy Nurse lieutenant jg in the South Pacific, during WWII. She served in MASH units, in POW camps; she lost three nursing colleagues to sniper fire. Her allegiance to her country saw her through it all.
She also availed herself of an excellent American education, and raised her kids up to be thorough-going Americans.
Indeed, to such an extent that I find myself regretting sometimes, that the Polish language became extinct in my family; and nobody now knows anything about how to prepare Polish cuisine....