The Myth of the Melting Pot (Huntington Herald Letter to Editor)

The Myth of the Melting Pot (Huntington Herald Letter to Editor)

by chris lahr

4/18/07

Over that past seven years I have lived in inner city Philadelphia. Though I live several hours away from Huntington, I am still very connected to your city. I was born and raised in Huntington, worked at Penguin Point (which is sadly no longer there), attended the Nazarene Church, and was even the Homecoming King at the High School in 1991! My parents still live in Huntington, which allows me to pilgrimage back a couple of times a year.

During my last visit “home,” my mom informed me that Huntington University (which is where she is employed) was in talks with the City to become an “inclusive city.” I was thrilled to hear the news. Having lived outside of Huntington now for sixteen years, I have made friends with many people of color. I have learned many things from them. One important lesson I have learned is that there is a myth of the melting pot in our society.

On Tuesday, April 17, it was written in the “Opinion Section” of the Herald-Press that “The dream of America is not to separate us by any and every means but to put us into a melting pot so that our national identity is strengthened not weakened. This is not a nation that should have hyphenated citizens.”

The phrase, “melting pot,” originated from a 1908 play of the same name, written by Israel Zangwill (an English Jew). One of the lines of the play stated, “America is God’s Crucible, the great Melting Pot where all the races of Europe are melting and reforming!…German and Frenchman, Irishman and Englishman, Jews and Russians…” If you notice there is no mention of African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Chinese, etc. The play depicted how America was transforming the different “races” in Europe into one white American race.

I don’t like to view America as a melting pot. Rather I tend to look at her as a big tossed salad! To make a great salad you need a lot of diversity, lots of color and many flavors. I believe that all people have equal value as human beings. But I have also learned that my African-American, Cambodian-American, Chinese-American, Korean-American, Indian-American, Native- American, and Puerto Rican friends are all different. They have different ways of doing things. They have different traditions, talents, dreams; but they are all a part of this great nation.

Huntington is a great city, but I think she can become even greater by embracing a diverse community and setting an example to the rest of the nation that reconciliation is possible.