To absorb (immigrants or a culturally distinct group) into the prevailing culture.Using this definition, I would be pleased to share some thoughts with you as I suspect I know the reasonfor your concern.  Let us begin at the beginning.  When we became the United States in 1789 we had many advantages not the least of which was that the former colonies--now states--were, generally speaking,homogeneous which made assimilation into the new political entity much less difficult than it would have beenhad we not been.I am doing this off the top of my head so I might miss a few points--please bear with me.  As I recall, wehad lots of white colonist from England, Ireland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Scotland, France and a few more I do not remember. Most, if not all of these, former colonial people were Christians of one stripe oranother and except for a few instances religion was not an obstacle to assimilation. Catholics were feared but not excluded.Language too was not a sore point--English was the lingua franca of the colonies and remained the same under the new government.  Many people were bilingual, but if you wished to participate in the life of thenation , knowing English was essential--one simply learned it.Now there were some people living here who were not expected to assimilate--black people being the most obvious example although Indians and swarthy people also were not expected and/ or  desired to befully assimilated.  When I was a child we had this little ditty--perhaps you have heard it:If you are red why aint you deadIf you are brown you can hang aroundIf you are black--get backIf you are yellow you are a bad fellowIf you are white you are all rightFrom 1789 till today people have come to our shores for a variety of reasons mostly seeking political andeconomic freedom and opportunity.  For many years assimilation was not a problem because there werepockets of people living in places that were isolated and differences were tolerated.  With the coming of the telegraph, schools, railroads and immigration from places other than the traditional areas of Europe someproblems began to develop.  Universal communication became necessary in the army, the schools and incommercial ventures and reading became a skill that was required for social mobility.Again there were exceptions.  In the vast territories gained by the victory with Mexico there were many who spoke only Spanish or Indian dialects--no matter--they were not yet important to the nation and would beleft to themselves for many decades.  There were also the Chinese who were admittedly human, but not as human as we were and certainly not a group of people we wanted to assimilate--ergo--Chinatowns--sort of 19th Century ghettos.Xenonophobia was always with us, but reached new heights in 1917.  Dachunds were called weiner dogs, sauerkraut became liberty cabbage and in the town where I grew up The German-American savingsbank became The Liberty Bank!  The hordes of immigrants that poured into the US from Southern andEastern Europe from after the Civil War until 1924 were very different with odd costumes, customs, languages and religions.  It is a remarkable fact that for the most part the children of these immigrantswere Americanized within one generation due to schools and the wonderful attractions of urban America.The kids learned from other kids and taught their parents.  They dropped the hyphen and became Americans even though they kept many of the customs of their parents' homeland.  This will happen again, but as we are now segregated by income in our housing it might be more difficult.When I grew up in the 1950's I lived among people that were all white, mostly Irish and mostly Catholic.  I never knew a Jew and remember only 1 Polish family and 1 italian family on the whole street which was a half mile long. We were really assimilated.  Three wars had worked their magic and being an American was the best thing to be in the whole world.  We were the good guys and everybody wanted to come here.  I never spoke to a black until I went into the Navy and never knew a Jew until college.There were still pockets of people who had chosen or been denied assimilation.  Blacks and Hispanicswere among these groups and both tended to hold on to aspects of their culture that proper folks saw as being inappropriate.  Blacks had a much more liberal attitude toward unmarried mothers and a casualattitude toward law enforcement.  Hispanics had a great emphasis on the family and saw no real need tolearn English as they did not need it unless they went to school and sometimes not even then.  In somecases the Hispanics rejected parts of the major culture in favor of their own which they considered morally or ethically superior.  Many Asians are now here as a result of wars or political decisions made in Washington.  Their academic excellence is well documented, but often they learn English and still retain theculture of their native land which in the case of some include arranged marriages.  Now we have the Moslems a religion which most Americans could not explain to you if you gave them a goldpiece.  They too comein many guises--as Asiatics, as Arabs, as Turks, as Persians, from Pakistan and from islands in the Pacific.  Many of them do not want to assimilate while others have determined that we do not want them to do so.  They are too different, worship different Gods , look and dress oddly and treat their women in ways we consider absurd.Now all this is prelude.  You want people who come to live here to become Americans as you define the term.This may require that they give up their peculiar customs such as unique food, dress, relations between the sexes and child rearing techniques in order to blend into our homogenized culture where behavior ispredictable, respectful and acceptable.  Fear not--this will happen although it may take a lot longer than you would like.  The solution is in the kids.  Once they learn that Dad is not the font of all wisdom and in factis often dead wrong, they will make their own choices and their own decisions.  Swarthy Mustapha willdate and marry Patricia Higgins and they will work out their differences by themselves.  Their kids willlearn English and gradually soccer will be replaced by football although middle east dishes will continue tobe served for another generation or two. English will become the only language spoken once grandpa has gone to PARADISE and American culture will prevail.  Assimilation will happen and will do so withoutgovernment pressure.  Bilingual schools will fade away and all will be as it was.  We just tried to absorb too much in too short a period of time.  We are comfortable with what we know and uncomfortable with what we do not know.  Be patient and ignore those who shout that there is panic in diversity.I asked my grandchild--age 15--whether inter-racial dating and interpersonal relations were of any concern in her high school.  She looked at me oddly--as though I was from Mars--and said : "Grandpa--race isirrelevant."  I thought that was a great answer and I have great hope for this country.  We will never be a melting pot--thank heavens--but to Use Wally's mentor--Carl Degler--we will always be a salad bowlwith lots of pieces--different--tasty and wonderful.  America--a great place to live!WillyD