ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the assimilationist perspective and why it is the preferred model for race/ethnic relations among functionalists. It analyses the strengths and limitations of Robert E. Park's race relations cycle for understanding intergroup contact. The chapter examines the power-threat hypothesis for understanding lynching and race riots. Sociologist Robert E. Park provided one of the earliest and most influential assimilationist perspectives in sociology called the race relations cycle. Park's cycle was composed of four stages: contact, competition, accommodation, and assimilation. Milton Gordon expanded on Park's race relations cycle by identifying several subprocesses of assimilation. Complete assimilation requires structural assimilation, the merging of dominant and subordinate groups in interpersonal relationships as well. Structural assimilation involves integration in intimate relationships, such as families, friendship networks, social circles, and marriages. Gordan further analyzed three ways assimilation can occur: the melting pot, Anglo-conformity, and cultural pluralism.
