The United States has always prided itself in being a melting pot of multicultural inhabitants. In a way, we most definitely are. Some of our ancestors emigrated from Europe, some emigrated from Mexico and others emigrated from Africa. We all met somewhere in the “middle,” being the New World, being the US.
When filling out applications, forms or the like, we are always asked of our race or ethnic background. This is done for demographic data, to better-fit people’s needs and for simple inquiry. However, what special needs do African Americans need that Caucasians don’t? Or, what special needs do Mexican Americans need that Caucasians don’t? Or vice versa, what special needs do Caucasian’s need that the others don’t? What are these “needs” we are talking about?
The only one that comes to mind is translation. Language barriers are obstacles commonly faced, especially in California. These barriers are no catalyst to our “melting” objective. How can we possibly melt if we can’t even communicate with some of our population because we don’t speak one another’s language?
It’s a difficult thing to have to hold on to one culture, while trying to integrate ourselves into another one at the same time. It gets a little confusing. If we’re attempting to accept two different cultures into our lives, then when someone asks us what our race is, how do we answer? Either way, we’re never only going to be “American.” If a person of color — black, brown, whatever — is asked, “What are you?” And they respond, “American.” The other will respond, “No, but what else are you?” As in, no, you look ethnic, what are you because you’re not only American.
It’s a beautiful thing to be able to walk around and greet people with backgrounds from all over the world. We’re luckier than we realize, and I think that’s our problem. We don’t realize how lucky we are to live among people that are so different from one another. That’s why it’s important to avoid language barriers, so that we can all be a part of each other’s social lives. This isn’t to say we should all speak one language, but putting more effort into being bilingual wouldn’t hurt at all.
One thing we don’t realize is that we have become so accustomed to walking around and seeing different people. Not everyone has blonde hair and blue eyes. Everyone is so unique, and that we have become used to, which is a good thing. When foreigners visit the United States, one of the things that shock them the most is seeing so many different faces. So we should applaud ourselves for that.
We may not exactly be a “melting pot” right now, but we are on our way to becoming one. We shouldn’t have to be classified by race so that our “needs” are fulfilled. We should be able to be a body of multicultural people with the same needs because we have learned to live amongst each other as one, regardless of how different we look, act or speak.
To paint a picture for you, imagine this: We are all in a melting pot, but we are clumped by our given identity. Some of us have melted, but others are still very much clumped. It’s a domino effect. The longer one has been in the United States, the easier it is to melt. However, as long as people are still migrating to the U.S., we will still have clumps, because at first, it is intimidating to throw oneself into an entirely different culture and feel at home.
People are going to hold on to their comfort zone, which is respectable. As long as we all make the effort to melt together, the domino effect will continue.
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