I'll have to look into this book. In university I did a few research papers about 19th-20th c. migration to the Americas---not just the US, but also Canada and Brazil, two countries that opened their doors to much of the world after America started to close theirs in the 1920s. From everything I read, it seemed to me that immigrants and their descendants were much more likely to retain their original language in Canada and Brazil than they were in the US, even into the third generation and beyond. And indeed, there are more policies on the books protecting immigrant languages in Canada and Brazil than in the US, though it's nowhere near as robust as what you see with minority language protections in Europe. Though xenophobia cropped every once in a while in Brazil and Canada, it seems to have had much more currency in US politics throughout the era. In any case, openness to immigrant cultures strikes me as very wise policy, at least from an economic standpoint, if for no other reason. A multilingual/immigrant labor force facilitates foreign commerce in a way that's sort of hard to overstate, if you look at some of the data that's out there. Of course, on a "vibes" level, it's also just much more interesting to live in a multicultural setting like that. Though I suppose that's a matter of opinion.
Canada historically has liked to describe itself as a "tossed salad" form of integration in comparison to the U.S. melting pot (this is literally the term I heard as a kid growing up). So even today there is relatively high tolerance for immigrant communities maintaining their languages and you can even go to many suburbs and see street signs and banking services predominantly in Mandarin or Punjabi. It kind of helps that there is abundant land for people to spread out and many of the immigrants are highly educated to reduce the level of ethnic tension. This book is not bad but I'll review others in future that I think will be more helpful given your interests.
I'll have to look into this book. In university I did a few research papers about 19th-20th c. migration to the Americas---not just the US, but also Canada and Brazil, two countries that opened their doors to much of the world after America started to close theirs in the 1920s. From everything I read, it seemed to me that immigrants and their descendants were much more likely to retain their original language in Canada and Brazil than they were in the US, even into the third generation and beyond. And indeed, there are more policies on the books protecting immigrant languages in Canada and Brazil than in the US, though it's nowhere near as robust as what you see with minority language protections in Europe. Though xenophobia cropped every once in a while in Brazil and Canada, it seems to have had much more currency in US politics throughout the era. In any case, openness to immigrant cultures strikes me as very wise policy, at least from an economic standpoint, if for no other reason. A multilingual/immigrant labor force facilitates foreign commerce in a way that's sort of hard to overstate, if you look at some of the data that's out there. Of course, on a "vibes" level, it's also just much more interesting to live in a multicultural setting like that. Though I suppose that's a matter of opinion.
Canada historically has liked to describe itself as a "tossed salad" form of integration in comparison to the U.S. melting pot (this is literally the term I heard as a kid growing up). So even today there is relatively high tolerance for immigrant communities maintaining their languages and you can even go to many suburbs and see street signs and banking services predominantly in Mandarin or Punjabi. It kind of helps that there is abundant land for people to spread out and many of the immigrants are highly educated to reduce the level of ethnic tension. This book is not bad but I'll review others in future that I think will be more helpful given your interests.