Melting pot

Alternate meaning: crucible (science)

The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which heterogenous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (iron, tin; people of different backgrounds and religions, etc.) are processed until they lose their discrete identities and yield a final product of uniform consistency and flavor, but which is quite different from the original inputs.

The metaphor of the melting pot comes from Englishman Israel Zangwill's play The Melting Pot, which was first performed in Washington, D.C. in 1908.

History

The melting pot theory is most strongly associated with the 19th century United States. It was believed that the floods of immigrants coming to America worked to shed their historic identities and adopt the American way. The use of the English language also strengthen the melting pot ideology.

Competing theories

The melting pot theory is sometimes described as amalgamation. Expansions of the melting pot theory include the ethnic stew theory and the tossed salad theory, in which each ingredient retains its integrity and flavors, while still yielding a successful final product. Other linked topics include assimilation and pluralism.

Multiculturalism is sometimes described as existing in contrast to the melting pot theory. This approach is to some extent used in Canada and Britain. Conversely, Canada has been referred to as a tossed salad culture.

Assimilation

Assimilation can have negative implications for minority or native cultures, in that after assimilation the distinctive features of the minority or native culture will be minimized and may disappear altogether. This is especially true in situations where institutions of the dominant culture initiate programs to assimilate or integrate minority cultures.

Assimiliation can result in a relatively homogenous society, with a strong sense of nationalism; however, where minorities are strongly urged to assimilate, there can arise groups which directly oppose integration. With assimilation, immigrants loose their original cultural (and often linguistic) identity and so do their children. Immigrants who fled persecusion or a country devastated by war were historically resiliant to abandoning their heritage once they had settled in a new country.

Forced assimilation

Perhaps the best known application of this term is in regards to the United States. In 1879, Army Captain Richard Pratt opened the United States Indian Training and Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The school integrated Indians into white society, and took "before and after" photographs.

Assimilation policy

Cultural assimilation is adhered to by many european countries such as France, which started granting citizenship to all without regards to origin or religion after the French revolution. However, it was always expected then that when immigrants demanded French citizenship, they wanted to become French nationals. The idea behind this way of thinking presupposed that one day all peoples of the Earth would free themselves from the monarchy and do what the people of France and the United States had done regarding citizenship. However, since not all peoples succeeded at overthrowing the monarchy in their home country and some (like the Jews or the Gypsies) no longer had a homeland, a clash of nationalisms occured inside countries that were very liberal.

Pop culture

The melting pot remains a stock phrase in American political and cultural dialogue. The general perception of its process and effects can be summed up in "The Great American Melting Pot" song from Schoolhouse Rock!

My grandmother came from Russia

A satchel on her knee,

My grandfather had his father's cap

He brought from Italy.

They'd heard about a country

Where life might let them win,

They paid the fare to America

And there they melted in.

Lovely Lady Liberty

With her book of recipes

And the finest one she's got

Is the great American melting pot

The great American melting pot.

America was founded by the English,

But also by the Germans, Dutch, and French.

The principle still sticks;

Our heritage is mixed.

So any kid could be the president.

You simply melt right in,

It doesn't matter what your skin,

It doesn't matter where you're from,

Or your religion, you jump right in

To the great American melting pot

The great American melting pot.

Ooh, what a stew, red, white, and blue.

America was the New World

And Europe was the Old.

America was the land of hope,

Or so the legend told.

On steamboats by the millions,

In search of honest pay,

Those nineteenth century immigrants sailed

To reach the U.S.A.

Lovely Lady Liberty

With her book of recipes

And the finest one she's got

Is the great American melting pot

The great American melting pot.

What good ingredients,

Liberty and immigrants.

They brought the country's customs,

Their language and their ways.

They filled the factories, tilled the soil,

Helped build the U.S.A.

Go on and ask your grandma,

Hear what she has to tell

How great to be American

And something else as well.

Lovely Lady Liberty

With her book of recipes

And the finest one she's got

Is the great American melting pot

The great American melting pot.

The great American melting pot.

The great American melting pot.

See also

• Americanization