process of Americanization by which ethnic groups of every origin submerged
the characteristics of these origins, were assimilated into the mainstream of
American society, and reappeared after a generation or so as more or less
homogenous Americans . . . (Thus] the evident rewards that full participation
in American life offered, have been the causes of the apparently rapid 'deethnicizing'
of immigrants. (1977, p. 261).