Deculturalization

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Deculturalization is when a dominant group tries to erase another group’s language, culture, and customs and replaces them with its own. It is different from assimilation or acculturation, which are related ideas but not the same thing.

Across history, many groups in the United States faced deculturalization. For African Americans, slavery involved taking away names, banning reading, and stopping use of languages and cultural practices. After the Civil War, segregation in schools continued, and textbooks often reflected a biased, Anglo-American view. Legal cases such as the Dred Scott decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, and the 14th Amendment shaped the fight over rights and education.

Latinos faced deculturalization tied to the Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Many Latinos lost land and were pushed to identify as Mexican, White, or Hispanic in changing ways. Schools often used English-only policies or biased materials and punished Spanish in classrooms. Although bilingual education emerged, English remained the primary language in many schools, and efforts sometimes targeted accents or cultural practices.

Asian Americans experienced restrictions as well. The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited citizenship to whites, and the Chinese Exclusion Act barred Asians from naturalizing in many periods. Education could be restricted, and some Asian groups faced internment or discrimination. Court cases like Ozawa v. United States highlighted battles over who could be considered “white.” Some efforts encouraged viewing Asians as a “model minority,” while others pushed assimilation and the loss of language and culture. Figures like Jade Snow Wong showed successful Asian American lives in the U.S., even as deculturalization persisted in policy and schooling.

Native Americans faced devaluing of their cultures from the earliest colonization. Since Jamestown in 1607, settlers promoted private property and Christian norms, often erasing Indigenous languages and beliefs. Missionaries learned Native languages to convert people, and policies pushed assimilation, sometimes through education and removal. This contributed to a broader pattern of cultural genocide, alongside dispossession of lands and exploitation of Indigenous designs and knowledge.

Deculturalization seeps into education and daily life even today, as dominant cultures influence curricula, language policies, and how history is taught. Understanding this history helps explain ongoing inequalities and the challenges many communities still face in preserving their languages and cultures.