The USA is not a melting pot...so stop saying it is?

Question

United States of America is a pluralistic cultural society.....many different cultures and ethnicities functioning in the broad society, but maintaining their cultural differences within their ethnic groups

A melting pot society is where the mean culture of the society is a mix of all the cultures/ethnicities in it...and all the people within the society share the all the mixed cultural ideals

There it is....just thought I'd clear that up

Question is: is anyone going to debate this?

Answer 1

Who gives a $#!T? read this, we are all AMERICANS!

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr.Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge
to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan.
They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of chose immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red white and blue bowl.
And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it
happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

(signed) Rosemary LaBonte

Answer 2

Everybody is different, and if we all had the same ideals, then we'd be clones and robots. But in general we have the same ideals here, and the freedom to express them. There are also so many different cultures in our world that it would be very hard to get some of every different culture/ethnic group. When we say that America is a melting pot, it doesn't mean literaly, just figurativitly in the sense that we have many cultures with rather common values.

Answer 3

No debate, just a comment. As people arrived in the US they usually went to a community where people were from the same country. They continued in language, dress, food and tradition.
No melting Now children arrive they learned English and went to school with people from other cultures, languages and even religions and something happened melting started. Today if you were to ask someone what their background is they would list many ethnic groups What about you? Today we look at someone and because of appearance we can often tell what their heritage is (Which by the way is not always from Africa) Comments ended

Answer 4

Omg i just a 90 minute discussion on this topic two days ago. And America is not A melting pot, its a salad bowl. Where all the ingredients are together but not mixed.

Answer 5

Your argument is too simplistic. Yes, some cultures and ethnicities do retain their differences, but that is mostly true of *recent* immigrants. We do tend to lose our unique cultural identities over time. How many Scots or Irish or Germans (for example) who emigrated here in the 1700s and 1800s retain their languages and culture? Not many, I'll bet. Most would identify themselves as American first. Even the children of immigrants, just one generation, lose a lot of their parents' cultural identity and blend into American culture a lot easier than their parents.

Answer 6

It's called the melting pot because it's where dreams USED to come true. We now have so many people coming over here, the ones who grew up here can't catch the melting pot, because our government will not provide its citizens with the funds and tax breaks it offers to the foreigners. Now debate that.

Answer 7

I think you really have to bring a little history into this question to have any understanding of it. A country that started out with 98% of one race, white protestant, and ends up (are we in fact at the end?)
with that dominant race being outnumbered by all the minorities together----and by one race in particular (hispanic)----cant be understood by any particular motto or goal. The goals have been changing all along, and the mottoes ("remember the Maine") also.In God we Trust is a good motto to me, but many wish to forget God, and have fun without him. Even democracy cannot exist when the govt. dictates what we should do and should not do. If I think the majority of a particular race are, in fact, *******, am I permitted to say so?

Answer 8

haven't heard that before. i just assumed the term melting pot was broad enough to cover this aspect of society

Answer 9

E Pluribus Unum

From many...ONE
a melting pot.

If everyone keeps their separate cultures, the society as we have known it for 250 years will fail.

Answer 10

I say we are a mosiac not a melting pot. I learned this freshman year in Civics.