A new angle to the assimilation debate in the US

With “The Other Side of Assimilation” Jiménez provides an important and urgently needed new angle to the assimilation debate in the US. He investigates a key assumption of assimilation theory: assimilation as a two-way process in which both migrants and established groups will change through interacting with each other. In integration research, the urgency of looking at established groups in diverse cities is increasing, because in many cases they are becoming a numerical minority themselves. The different empirical building blocks Jiménez brings to the table should bear no other conclusion than that existing assimilation theories are becoming increasingly inadequate for explaining the dynamics in especially superdiverse majority minority neighbourhoods. We urgently need to look into what I would call a paralyzed white identity. Paralyzed because of losing–or the fear of losing–its dominant position, and the apparent inability to react to the changing circumstances.