Contemporary understanding of the immigrants assimilation in the U.S. society

The article explores the shift in the perception of assimilation of immigrants who arrived in the United States throughout the 20th century. In the classical notion of assimilation the emphasis is placed on the correlation between the degree of assimilation of an immigrant and his/her position in social stratification. Thus, assimilation can be viewed as a part of the process of moving upwards in social hierarchy. The contemporary interpretation of the assimilation process, which was established in the early 1990s, does not stress such a correlation. The path of adaptation depends on a set of initial factors such as: the color of skin, the country of origin, or the initial economic position upon arrival in the United States.