The Myth of a Utopian Society: “The Melting Pot” The central theme of this essay is to analyze the metaphor used to describe the United States as a “Great Melting Pot.” Once, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed: ‘‘We Americans are the children of the crucible. It has been our boast that out of the crucible, the melting pot of life in this free land, all the men and women of all the nations who come hither emerge as Americans and as nothing else ...” The enthusiastic attitude showed in this quote by President Roosevelt is very strong and powerful in urging immigrants to transform into Americans. If you are not close to American history, you might think that this actually happened, but unfortunately there were issues concerning different points of view in relation to this and other matters as well such as racism and discrimination. The United States has been called the “Great Melting Pot,” a metaphor that indicates the blending or melting of different races, cultures, nationalities, …show more content…
This people, in turn, brought their culture and traditions with them. “No other place in the world has such a diverse population. It is this diversity that makes America what it is and, at the same time, creates the challenges it faces” (Millet). Diversity is what makes people even more American. This is part of the American identity and this is what makes them unique too. Since the beginning America has been seen as the land of the freedom and opportunity and this is one of the reasons why immigration is higher in the United States than in any other country. People come to the United States because they want a better life for them and for their children, but unfortunately, immigration has become one of the most important social and political issues in the
Gary Gerstle argues America followed a path both civic and racial nationalism throughout the 20th century in his book American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century, and that America is a melting pot of different cultures due to the accumulation of immigrants in the twentieth century. He uses Theodore Roosevelt as a support base for his arguments. Civic nationalism is the idealized understanding of America as an ethnic and cultural melting pot based on civil rights, and on the values of equality and liberty no matter the race and ethnicity of one another. Civic nationalism claims a nation can still grow stronger and better based solely on civil rights and citizenship.
“ In the case of the melting pot the aim is that all cultures become reflected in one common culture, however, this is generally the culture of the dominant group. - I thought this was mixed vegetable soup but I can only taste the tomato.” The greatest fault in the melting pot is that in reality, America is far too complex to meet the constraints of being socially dominated by one group due to the vast amount of cultures, religions, and ideologies that are very prominent and prevent any one culture to overshadow all of the others. We move further away from being a melting pot every day due to the freedom of expression and noncensorship becoming societal norms. However, if viewing America as a melting pot would be considered far right, then it would be far left to consider America as a salad
Since its creation, the United States of America has been labeled as a melting pot.
It is true that the more people from different cultures that are in a given area, the more the cultures are diversified. However, with all realities, some claim that immigrants dilute the American culture. Indeed, they cause some changes to the culture. Nevertheless, these changes can bring a wealth of attraction and a source of beauty for the country that everyone should be proud of. It is obvious that every single immigrant in the US has his own culture and way of life. When all these are added together, they form a very rich culture. In addition, they bring various interesting aspects such as food, music, literature, etc. That makes the Americans rich in cultural knowledge. The importance of cultural diversity is that it teaches the people to understand each other’s views, interests, and ideas and helps people view the world in different ways. This would finally lead the society to work towards each other’s interest, mutual goals, and objectives. Tamar Jacoby in his article “Are Today’s Immigrants Assimilating in U.S Society, Yes,” he said that, “Those who are coming now are people who understand cultural fluidity, understand intermarriage and find that a natural, easy thing. This maintains unity and balances in the society” (411). Once this stage is reached, all the problems would be solved. Then it can be said that America has reached a true democracy, echoed by
Perhaps, the “Melting Pot” myth gained strength during the Industrial Revolution. With millions of immigrants entering the United States, culture was changing within the United States. Americans set a high standard for there society and everyone wanted to be accepted. There was a social requirement to live in a civil society creating together the “American Dream,” which leads to prosperity. Many immigrants moving to the United States brought with them various traditions of their culture and after moving, they repressed such beliefs and forged ahead with a new way of “American Thinking.” The rituals and traditions of such societies should have brought diversity to this nation’s culture however, these ways would soon become a part of the past. The “Melting Pot” myth heavily influences American society and people believe that everyone no matter what skin color or religious belief is created equal. This belief of the American Way of life is idyllic to say the least. Unfortunately, this myth has been thwarted due to a high level of racial supremacy within the nations past and even present. There are two particular events in national history, which will forever hinder equality: slavery of African Americans and Japanese internment camps during World War II in America. These substantial events shape our society and are only the tip of the iceberg when it
In the first chapter “A new Race?”, the author affirmed that the beginning of America was viewed as an entry to a brand new life which interweaves separate ethnic strands into a new national design and liberates people from the terrible past. At the beginning, people would regard the America not so much as nation but as a world. For the society is one consists of people coming from all over the world. There were people who would depict the future of the society as without roots, without memories, without prejudices and all of people tend to have their happy time in it. There were also some people would deem the future of the society as one that would get everyone assimilated to a common customs, measures and laws, in which we will soon become one people. Also, the author mentioned that this kind of melting pot idea has an Anglocentric flavor. But such a metaphor raised a lot of doubts. ...
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and famine, and make a better life for themselves. Forgetting their origins as persecuted and excluded people, the older and more established immigrants became possessive about their country and tried to exclude and persecute the immigrant groups from non-western European backgrounds arriving in the U.S. This hostile, defensive, and xenophobic reaction to influxes of “new” immigrants known as Nativism was not far out of the mainstream. Nativism became a part of the American cultural and political landscape and helped to shape, through exclusion, the face of the United States for years to come.
Following the 1890’s, the world began to undergo the first stages of globalization. Countries and peoples, who, until now, were barely connected, now found themselves neighbors in a planet vastly resembling a global village. Despite the idealized image of camaraderie and brotherhood this may seem to suggest, the reality was only discrimination and distrust. Immigration to new lands became a far more difficult affair, as emigrants from different nations came to be viewed as increasingly foreign. In the white-dominated society of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the only way to truly count oneself as American was to become “white”. For this reason, the idea of race, a socially constructed issue with no real physical basis, has become one of the most defining factors which shape immigration and assimilation in the United States.
American families are becoming more diverse every day. The merging ethnic diversity in our country is becoming more apparent daily as we see different people of different cultures becoming involved with each other. America is a melting pot. The influx of immigrants and with their varied cultural backgrounds was essential in molding America’s identity. The United States became a refuge for all those suffering persecution for political or personal beliefs. America has become a shelter for a wide variety of faiths and beliefs.
America was widely known as a “melting pot” of sorts for many generations. The country earned its title by accepting immigrants of various cultures and molding, or melting, them into the American lifestyle. However, the “melting pot” idea of America is starting to dissipate. According to a Newsweek Poll on the public, “only 20 percent still think America is a melting pot” (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.4). As more Americans push away immigrants and create stereotypes against said immigrants, America continues to lose its title as a “melting pot.” There is ethnic friction in America and people have begun to have a hard time assimilating (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.18). .America is beginning to place a negative outlook on its culture. Authors Jack Shaheen, Richard Rodriguez, Peter Marin and Zora Neale Hurtson all shape American culture in a detrimental way.
In conclusion, America’s journey while not always easy and not without conflict is enriched by its immigrants. Immigrants choose to come to America because there is something in our culture that is missing in their own culture. Immigrants can blend in with American culture and retain their own cultural identity by passing along the best of both cultures.
I believe that there are many advantages to embracing the diversity America has within its borders. Members of different cultures within the borders of one nation can benefit from each other, for example, by learning more about themselves through their varieg...
United States usually known as the “melting pot” and it is a typical immigrant country. In the past 400 years, United States has become a mixture of more than 100 ethnic groups. Immigrants bring they own dream and come to this land, some of them looking for better life for themselves and some want to make some money to send back home or they want their children to grow up in better condition. Throughout the history there’s few times of large wave of immigration and it is no exaggeration to say that immigrants created United States. For this paper I interview my neighbor and his immigration story is pretty interesting.
The United States is a country with a diverse existing population today; this country is known as a melting pot of different cultures, each one unique in its own respect. Culture; differentiate one societal group from another by identification beliefs, behaviors, language, traditions, Art, fashion styles, food, religion, politics, and economic systems. Through lifelong, ever changing processes of learning, creativity, and sharing culture shapes our patterns of behavior as well thinking. The Culture’s significance is so intense that it touches almost every aspect of who and what we are. Culture becomes the telescope through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us. Trying to define the perplexing term of culture with varying component of distinguishable characteristics is difficult to restrict. Presenly, culture is viewed as consisting primarily of the symbolic, untouched and conception aspects of human societies.
Being the melting pot of the world is what made America the great country that it is today. In today’s America though, that phrase has been pushed out of its vocabulary. The country went from letting everyone one in to almost kicking its own citizens out. People are even leaving the country on their own free will now because they hate the political and economic systems we have in place. Steadily increasing amounts of regulations have torn apart families and made it extremely difficult to become an American citizen. Overall, things need to change so America can be seen as the melting pot of the world