And the Irish are just one example. Yet slowly, each group in its way, became part of America's fabric. But their social and economic ascent, which we now take as a given, was certainly not something the immigrants themselves could foresee at the time. Yet, ultimately, the cheap labor and abundant numbers helped to create a new industrialism in Boston. Similarly, the prejudice against the Irish, which even erupted in mob violence and the burning down of a Charlestown, Massachusetts convent, has mostly disappeared.
Difference is, in part, a matter of perception and perceptions can change.
Education, Great Divider Looking at history reminds us that fears over the assimilation of immigrants have been aroused in the past, yet have subsided with time. But the extent to which we can infer from the past is limited because there are some factors that have changed. Given the shift in economic structure, education is perhaps the most important factor today contributing to successful assimilation. The most educated half of the immigrant population has been, and continues to be, at least as highly educated as the upper half of Americans, and the evidence is that their absorption will be relatively trouble-free. But the disparity in years of schooling between the lower quarter of immigrants and the lower quarter of Americans is troubling, having gone from one to three years between 1970 and 1990.