Is assimilation a fancy word for ethnic cleansing?

Question

And ethnic cleansing a fancy term for genocide?

Answer 1

no assimilation is to absorb into the culture or mores of a population or group
and ethnic cleansing is the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity
and genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group
so ethnic cleansing and genocide are similar but not the same, but assimilation has nothing to do with either of them

Answer 2

Interesting question. The answer is no.

Assimilation just means that you absorb someone elses culture into your own. You never really truly lose your own culture. You just incorporate the culture you are involved with on a daily basis into your own.

My grandparents (immigrants from Germany) assimilated to the US culture (such as it is). They learned to speak English. They no longer dressed in anything remotely native. NONE of their kids could speak German, which makes those of us in the later generations quite mad, The only thing remaining of their culture that passed onto their descendants is food, and nothing else.

Now ethnic cleansing, genocide, mass murder...completely different. You are talking about the extinction of an entire cultural group by killing them. Asking people to adopt the practices of their stepmotherland isn't at all a bad thing.

Answer 3

"Assimiliation" is NOT a fancy word for "Ethnic Cleansing".

"Ethnic Cleansing" IS a fancy word for "Genocide".

Assimilation means that outsiders adopt your ways and become part of your society.

Ethnic Cleansing mean that the outsiders are eliminated.

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Answer 4

No ethnic cleansing means to forcibly move or eliminate a certain ethnicity from an area, such as when the Serbs were trying to remove the Albanian Kosovans.

Assimilation means to bring other peoples and ethnicities into a society or culture. Complete opposite.

Answer 5

assimilate: to be or become absorbed

ethnic cleansing: the elimination of an unwanted ethnic group or groups from a society, as by genocide or forced emigration

genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group



Based on these definitions I guess if you stretch the word to be the same meaning as the BORG use it then yeah - they are all fancy words for each other.

The BORG used forced emigration to systematically eliminate races (human or otherwise) and absorb everyone into their own collective.

Answer 6

The definition of assimilate isn't a fancy word for anything. It just means to "take in and to absorb into a system". I don't know where you get the word "genocide" from that.

Answer 7

Not really, Jose. Assimilation is the positive spin version of cultural repression, where basically the traditions, beliefs and values of minorities become secondary to the quest for cultural unity. The culture of the dominant tribe - whether they are blatant conquerors, like the ancient Romans, or placed in a position of dominance by the creation of artificial countries, such as Rwanda or the former Yugoslavia - becomes the norm for everyone to aspire to.
Some would argue it is a necessary evil to prevent in-fighting and the creation of cultural second-class citizens.

Answer 8

Assimilation does not equal genocide but the product is still the same mainly "Erasure of the ethnic identity"

Answer 9

I think assimilation is the opposite of ethnic cleansing. The former is inclusive and brings people into our society. The latter is about getting rid of folks.

Answer 10

No, and yes.