英文エッセイ
Of melting pots, stewpots, and salad bowls
The metaphor of the melting pot was once used to refer to American culture. The idea was that all of the different cultures and races who came to America all melted together to become one. This melting did not truly happen though and over the years the metaphor of the stewpot replaced that of the melting pot. In the stewpot, there is the part of the stew that is the same and ties everything together. Yet, within the stew the different parts both melt into the whole stew and retain their own identity. Part of the potato, for example, remains the potato and part melts into the stew. With some people, however, the stewpot metaphor fell from favor and was replaced by the idea of the salad bowl, where everything is mixed together, yet retains its separate identity. Some people refer to this salad bowl as a mosaic.
None of these metaphors are perfect and there are problems with all of them for describing immigrants and how they become part of the American fabric. Looking at the changing metaphors provides us with a picture of how American culture is changing. America once demanded that immigrants learn English, forsaking their native languages and cultures. America still demands that immigrants learn English, but no longer demands that immigrants forsake their native languages and cultures. We have reached a state where many Americans look upon it as positive to be bilingual or bicultural. There are still many who do not, but as a percentage they are shrinking.
We have the same issues with race. Not that long ago, white-looking Americans with Native American or Afro-American ancestry would often try to hide their ancestry and join white America. Acknowledging that ancestry would exclude them from being part of White America. Today, we hear of Americans who look White acknowledging Afro-American grandparents or great-grandparents, telling Afro-Americans about this in an excited way, and seeking a common ground together. While this is probably not yet majority behavior, this does show a marked change.
America has finally realized and acknowledged that we will never all be identical. We will retain different degrees of ethnic, cultural, and linguistic differences, while still being Americans. Slowly but surely, although there are setbacks and people who have not yet joined the modern era, America is becoming a more understanding nation of diversity and difference.
And this is a good thing.
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