Answer to Question 1
Many societies regulate commensalism (who can dine together) as a means of establishing class relationships. Men may eat separately from women and children, or servants may eat in the kitchen, away from their employers. In India, the separate social castes did not traditionally dine together, nor were people of higher castes permitted to eat food prepared by someone of a lower caste. This class segregation was also seen in some U.S. restaurants that excluded blacks before civil rights legislation of the 1960s.
Answer to Question 2
When people from one ethnicity move to an area with different cultural norms, adaptation to the new majority society begins. This process is known as acculturation, and it takes place along a continuum of behavior patterns that can be very fluid, moving back and forth between traditional practices and adopted customs. Assimilation occurs when people from one cultural group shed their ethnic identity and fully merge into the majority culture. Although some first-generation immigrants strive toward assimilation, due perhaps to personal determination to survive in a foreign country or to take advantage of opportunities, most often assimilation takes place in subsequent generations.
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