Abstract
The salience of cultural diversity in contemporary North America has kindled the debate between assimilation and heritage culture maintenance. A review of theory and research in the social sciences shows that both ideological positions are based on the assumption that heritage culture maintenance involves a choice on the part of ethnic group members. Not fully appreciated in this debate is the role that discrimination by the host societal group might play in the integration process. The present study examined the effect of discrimination on heritage culture maintenance among Afro-American ( n = 187) and Hispanic-American ( n = 142) mothers. Two measures of discrimination (personal; group) in four social contexts (job market; public settings; housing; dealings with police), and two measures of heritage culture maintenance (home; ethnic community) were analyzed by means of structural equation modelling (SEM). Strong support was found for the role of the host group: the more personal experience respondents had with discrimination, the less importance they assigned to maintaining the heritage culture.
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