Is the US really a “melting pot” of cultures?
In one word: No. The founders of this great nation wanted to build a new world where people converge not only to start a new life but to be part of a common way of living. There is supposed to be a unique National Identity that is adopted, the sooner the better, by all immigrants. This ideal, however, is not simple to implement as people are not impersonal laborers: they carry their own cultural baggages with them. The “melting pot” metaphor comes from the 1908 play, The Melting Pot, by Israel Zangwill (1864-1926). It refers to the American assimilation experience of immigrants in the US by the expression “the Great Alchemist melts and fuses all nations and races.” The ingredients in the pot which represent people of different ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs are processed until their previous identities are melted away and blended into a uniform product. In American literature, an early use of the concept of immigrants “melting” into the receiving culture may be found in the w
