Myth of the Melting Pot - Term Paper Example

? Topic: Myth of the Melting Pot The melting pot is a metaphor used to describe a society which is becoming increasingly homogeneous in terms of people of different societies blending together to form a common or unified culture. Elements of different cultures combine together, to create harmony in culture. It is a blend and union of different nationalities and ethnicities. Previously this term was more used for immigration and colonization of countries with different nationalities and races in the world. Now, mainly this metaphor is used for United States and its ever-increasing incorporation and integration towards the level of immigration in the country. This concept is criticized to quite an extent because of its components of multiculturalism. It is argued that one’s own significant and personal culture should be preserved and not get influenced or over-shadowed by an amalgamation of various different cultures. This cultural mix is bound to occur due to melting pot of societies. But it is also believed that this argument and opposition of melting pot is just a myth and United States gets unaffected by it regardless of the increase in different racial groups. The article, The Myth of the Melting Pot written by Michael A. Fletcher, in the Washington Post in 1998 supports this vies and continues to take a stand that there is still a racial and ethnic divide in America especially between Blacks and Whites or Africans or Americans (Fletcher, 1998). The article clearly illustrates that even if people of different races and cultures enter America, they are required to become a part of the American culture rather than fusing their own with the Americans. That person has to become an American to survive the growing racial perplexities. The immigrant’s culture is often left behind as they are a minority in America and they can’t do much about their position. Moreover, the racism divide is also subjected to segregation of economic class. The Americans are obviously of a higher economic class compared to those of people assimilating into their society. There is often very less chance for that person’s economic improvement or success, as they are not openly welcomed everywhere and by everyone. Whatever respect or position they seem to get is taken for granted and where they are accepted, they don’t usually benefit with good quality of education and experience discrimination in every field of life. There are bound to be gaps in income, education and poverty levels between Americans and other racial groups as they have little chance of upward social mobility. Cultural diversity and ethnic divide in America is also emphasized in the book by Juan L. Gonzales called, Racial and Ethnic Groups in America. The writer clearly helps us to understand that the history, day-to-day life, relationships, norms and cultures differ in all societies. So it is important to have the right education to tackle the issues of ethnic and racial diversity to solve as much problems as we can. This will help develop tolerance and acceptance of the cultural mix from societies all over the world (Juan, 2003). The ideology behind the metaphor, melting pot in the US is used to support the view that in the US, democracy is practiced which means everyone can vote and their vote counts regardless of any culture, race or nationality. United States has a large population with people of every ethnicity coming and settling in the country with many racial and ethnic groups but at the end of the day it is one country and a single entity. Melting pot has been regarded as a myth lately. There are some classifications that differentiate the citizens of a country and establish one’s position in the US socio-political system such as race, gender, religion and social views. It is normally believed that these classification determine whether a person fits into the American culture and society or not but I believe that these issues are very small and insignificant and creates a divide amongst people when it should not be like this. Then people do not stand united and fight among themselves. These issues may not be very significant in determining one’s place in multicultural society but are relevant to an extent. Because it only divides us further bringing forth differences amongst smaller segments of people. It distracts us from bigger issues which can have large-scale national impact on a population of a country. An example would be, when the election of 2008 was being held, there was much hype about the fact on who to vote: Hillary Clinton, a white or Barrack Obama, a black American citizen. As blacks are usually stereotyped, it was argued whether Obama was black enough to be voted as the president of United States or not. The growing rate of immigration has altered the power of whites. America’s population of 9.5 million is now 41 % Hispanic, 37 % white, 11 % Asian and 10 % black. The Latino and Asian populations have both doubled in figures changing the race dynamics over the last 20 years. Such peculiar race and gender issues propagate nothing but emotional agendas and reaction. In the Unites States racial divide is amongst the races of White, Latino, African American, Asians and Indians with Whites topping the rest with a population of 228 million compared to 37 million African American. People of religious differences include Christianity, Jewish, Buddhists, Jehovah’s and Muslims. If we classify them into groups then Whites form 75% of total US population and Christianity about 71%. The myth of the melting pot has some element of truth in it if we look into the situation deeply. Intellectuals have an all-encompassing and broad approach towards this concept. They like to oppose and contradict all the prejudices that come as a hurdle in way of this exciting land of opportunity. They believe that it is an old school of thought that Americanization influence and replace the ethnic history and class of those who were a part of assimilating into the American culture by creating an entirely new system of life. They are of the opinion that supporters of the melting pot overlook the facts that how Swedes of New Jersey chose to remain hardcore Swedes and how French Huguenots of New York detained to their culture and tradition or how the Dutch of Pennsylvania held on to their language, religion and norms of life with no discrimination or influence affecting them. The modern day practice treats Irish Catholics and Asians as equal at the table of the Great American Feast. In the United States, the term Americanization is widely used to describe the effects of the melting pot as a result of immigrants coming into the country. This cultural assimilation relates to the both blending of cultures and inter-marriages between people of different races but it can also be caused without intermarriages. Today, African-Americans in the United States are fully incorporated into the typical American culture although they have suffered as being treated as slaves for years. African-American marriages were banned in the United States until the year 1967. Years later, greater acceptance has been developed towards African-American intermarriages compared to white and other ethnicities of the world like Asians. When we look into history, African-American intermarriages were considered taboo and not acceptable for many years. Native Americans are those who gain US citizenship with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and only these people were welcomed openly in the American culture. Multiracial or mix breed children are born when there are inter marriages between blacks and whites. The term miscegenation is given to this situation. Anti-miscegenation laws were enforced by the state to ban intermarriages between blacks and whites. In the early 20th century there were many people opposing these marriages but still there were some percentage of people who, with time, accepted the fact that a lot of American culture was influenced by African-American culture and adjusted with this assimilation. Many African-American intellectuals have noted the fact even though this assimilation is widely accepted, yet African Americans are discriminated and regarded as second-class citizens (Juan, 2003). Americans are fond of stereotyping them as blacks. Even European immigrants started expressing themselves as blacks by mimicking their culture in minstrel shows, jazz and in Hollywood movies such as in The Jazz Singer in 1927. Since the Second World War, there has been a more broad minded approach towards the concept of melting pot with more acceptances towards black and white mix marriages. This was more notable in Hollywood movies where they showed unity and harmony between all races and people of all societies and showcased a multiracial America. After the American Civil Rights Movement and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, an extraordinary increase in the level of immigration from Asia and Latin America was observed. The taboo associated with interracial marriages especially between African-Americans also started minimizing leading to more number of black-white marriages. This increasing number was notably the most in the year 2000 and the rate increased compared to the Jewish-Gentile marriages, which is a marriage union between Jewish Americans and whites in 1940. Although Jews marrying into another religion be it Christianity or Muslim is a rare opportunity because people of other religions cannot be converted into Jewish which is why they are so limited in number. Since the last two decades, America has seen a massive influx of immigrants entering into the country. This can be seen as a demographic shift of the country. But what most people fear that the society will sooner or later become ‘Balkanized’, which has a mutual geography but no universal identity. President Clinton at his time of the rule appointed a commission to help America adjust to its multicultural society due to the onset of melting pot. These mounting fears are aroused further with the growing pressure and increasing growth of inter-racial marriages between people of all races and ethnicities. Most couples involved in such marriages are between blacks and whites or African and Americans. Since 1960, the rate of inter-racial marriages increased by ten-folds in the US. The amount reached to almost 1.6 million interracial couples including Hispanics. Studies show that these make up about 4% of total US marriages. This rate is expected to increase with an alarming rate over time. The present situation is strong evidence. Demographers believe American society is on the verge of a major transformation in terms of race. They are afraid that the race of whites will become extinct just like their meaning of ethnicity. In some contemporary societies of America or in the more broad-minded suburb areas especially those outside New York, mixed race couples are not a rare example. There are many mixed race couples who do not arouse much interest or opposition from Native Americans. Even the school system treats mixed-race children with equality and no biasness. Schools offer seminars to promote equal rights for these children. There are children born from mixed parents like an Indonesian mother and Dutch father. They have no race or religion of their own. They are born confused with no right track or role model to follow. Although inter-racial marriages and its products are less in number, but these children continue to be a sport in the society and are contributing in fading the boundaries of long-lasting ethnic and racial divide that has divided the nation for many years. In recent years changing attitudes have been observed towards inter-racial marriages in the society. The growing rate of mixed marriages has led to more complications regarding the prediction of the future racial set up of America. There is a rivalry between inter-racial marriage couples of minorities groups and between those second-generation immigrants whose parents came to America in the early 20th century. When these early immigrants got involved in intermarriages, they wiped out the once defined stereotypes of White Americans. When we look at history, we see that once these White Americans formed a major feature of the American life. But the census of 1990 discovered that only one in five white couples contribute to the same ethnic heritage and background. There is great opposition when any Black or his race is offended. In the 1992 presidential campaign in New Jersey, a Republican compared Blacks and mixed marriages to cross-breeding of animals. There was much opposition and propaganda against it. Similarly, back in 1967 the Supreme Court of America legitimated anti-miscegenation laws, prohibiting mixed marriages in many parts of the country. The emotions that gave way to these laws have also provided these marriages with an acceptable and tolerable attitude. This shift in attitude is also because more and more immigrants are entering into America over time. These immigrants are mainly from Asian or Hispanic background. This is a further influx of mixed traditions and cultures from completely different parts of the world. This cultural exchange has made the White Americans more open-minded towards inter-racial marriages. For example, in Latin America when a person marries another person of lighter skin color tone, then are assumed to have moved to a higher step of social class meaning an improvement in their status and position in society. And if that lighter skin tone person is an American White then there’s definitely an improvement in the other person’s social ladder as he has now become more respectable and prestigious in front of others, as quoted by Greta Gilbertson, a Fordham University professor. This situation can be called as color and race discrimination. A great number of Native Americans marry outside their community especially whites. Lately, around one-third of U.S-born Hispanics involve in the union of marriage with non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, almost 36% of Asian Pacific American US-born men get married to white women and 45% of Asian Pacific American US-born women marry white men, in the young generation. People of different races other than Whites like Japanese, also admit that they do not face a large amount of discrimination in terms of their race unless on some rare occasions when people call out names and insults on them, otherwise they live peacefully in a country of which there are not a national of. There is not a very offensive social or religious pressure from their white suburban neighbors. The federal government is now forced to alter the kinds of grouping and classifications in the census of 2000 because of the sprouting philosophy and ideology and the high rates of interracial marriages. The Census Bureau will have to change its policies because of the increasing pressure from mixed race Americans and their forefathers. They want themselves to be fit into one of the five official racial categories in the Census of 2000. As we saw that children born from mixed union of marriages are confused about which path to follow and has led them to lose their identity. So they want their racial identity to be clear, more defined and acknowledged by all. What usually happens is children born from white fathers and black mothers prefer to call themselves as whites. It was observed in the census statistics by Harvard University sociologist, Mary C. Waters that one in three children born from mixed marriages do this. This situation saw a 50% increase over 1980. This was quite astonishing as it was previously believed that even one drop of black blood would make someone Black and there was no point in categorizing that person as white even if looked like a White. Moreover, this increase was also observed because half of the children born from white fathers but Native American mothers were termed as white and likewise more than half of the children born from Japanese or Chinese mothers married to white husbands were identified as whites in 1990. It is argued that such parent play with thieir children’s identities. Comparatively, in the 1990 census, African-American marriages were seen to have an increasing but far lower rate than other minorities groups. Less than one in 10 black men and one in 25 black women got married to whites in the young lot. Later on it was observed that this possibility might further isolate blacks from not only whites but from people of all races living in America. Census Bureau demographers predict that that race problem in America might become a black problem in the near future. So it is important to modify the census classification of race as it can have serious consequences on racism as it is believed to be one of the biggest problems of America lately. The differences that we have seen in the rate of intermarriages between blacks and other minority groups, with whites demonstrate the underlying truth that a great number of Blacks have remained outside the American mainstream and will continue to be so. In a recent report of Nation’s Racial Dynamics, a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors concluded that blacks are again singled out and isolated from other racial groups in America when comes to housing and settlement. While Asians and Hispanics live in disperse neighborhoods of America, Black remain limited to neighborhoods that are already 60% black. The color-line of black and white is much stronger than any other racial or ethnic group. Whites seem to adjust with people of various ethnicities except for blacks. Black people still seem to find difficulty in integrating with the mechanism and system of whites. Whites do not give a warm welcome to the assimilation of black which is unjust. The racial and ethnic divide is further propagated rather than diminishing. The blacks themselves have become a little hesitant towards marrying whites. They restrict their activities to their own community and culture rather than mixing with the whites. Plus, an old belief of Native Black people is that when a black marry outside of their community they betray their race and their people. This attitude is less observant in Asian or Hispanic culture. Blacks are pressurized to stay aloof from the mainstream Americans because of their treatment as low caste citizens. The racial solidarity of blacks is possibly a reaction in offense to the ill-treatment done by the larger society. Still many whites oppose to interracial marriages especially with blacks and have little level of tolerance and resistance towards them. Montclair is a place in America where there are more acceptable attitudes towards people of different ethnicities and backgrounds. In fact, it provides a great place and unique social mix for inter-racial couples and their children to assimilate with the society on a larger scale. They happen to live peacefully without any opposition in terms of their freedom to vote, religion and speech. All they worry about is how their children will identify themselves racially. They don’t want their identities to get lost or hampered by larger and stronger influences. They see no point in their identities being torn in half, it is better to be one of the two. Mixed-race children have a problem fitting into the society, in schools or amongst friends. For example a Japanese family complains about still being discriminated because of the result of the World War 2 between Americans and Japanese. Hispanics, mainly Mexicans account for the most number of immigrants in the US population more than any other racial group. They could be redefining the melting pot. They have overtaken blacks being the largest minority sector as concluded by the Census Bureau. Hispanics have their own niche in society with separate and isolated neighborhoods and religious places. They are concentrated in certain parts of the country. Spanish also act likewise with their own patterns of life for generations. But their children tend to mix well with the society and its norms. Schools also exercise good assimilating influence. When there are contradictions regarding the levels of assimilation of the melting pot in America, there are also some positive aspects to it. Great intellectuals and scholars also believe that diversity in America is their greatest strength. Due to more and more immigrants coming and settling into America, the country has seen new business opportunities taking it to a global front. Immigrants come and settle into old and remote neighborhoods and renewed them. This has only helped to flourish America’s culture as a result of exploding diversity. But when people from different races and background settle into a single platform, there are bound to be conflicts degrading a society’s image in general, because each race has their own demands which need to be fulfilled. Further outrage in ethnic divide happens when people of various different races and nationalities refuse to cooperate and understand each other. They don’t want to come to terms with one another. This results in fewer compromises and more riots and fighting. All of them belong to different races so have their own norms and ways of life. Their language is not same. They do not have mutual interests. There is a visible amount of favoritism present. One race degrades the other over petty and meaningless issues. It becomes a personal matter then which is dealt emotionally leading to more battles. They argue that they don’t understand each other because there are language and cultural barriers. Besides English, Spanish, mandarin, Japanese and Korean is also widely spoken. The current increase in immigration levels has made great transformations and differences to the America’s melting pot myth. There is not only a demographic change but also issues regarding the faith of Americans are also challenged and put forth. It is believed that the melting pot is not transforming American society but the immigrants are. If assimilation is considered to be a learning process then all good and bad things are adopted and practiced by all. It cannot always necessarily be for the better. The important viewpoint is that we must stop this racial and ethnic discrimination amongst ourselves to avoid fights and riots over petty issues. The American society has become a fast-changing racial tapestry. So, we must act like one human race rather than any personal race. This is the need of the time. Eduardo-Bonilla Silva quoted that “Blacks, Chinese, Puerto Ricans, etcetera, could not melt into the pot. They could be used as wood to produce the fire for the pot, but they could not be used as material to be melted into the pot”. (Eduardo-Bonilla Silva Race: The Power of an Illusion). References: Michael, A. Fletcher. The Myth of the Melting Pot: America’s Racial and Ethnic Divide. 1998.  Eduardo-Bonilla Silva, Race: the Power of an Illusion ^ "Episode 3 the House We Live In (transcript)", Race: the Power of an Illusion, http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-about-03-01.htm, retrieved 17 May 2011.  Juan. L. Gonzales. Racial and Ethnic Groups in America. 5th edition published by Kendall Hunt Pub. 2003. Read More