...The Great American Melting Pot

As a kid, I was an epic fan of School House Rock.  Every Saturday morning we were fed lessons not that dissimilar to the ones we'd been taught during the week in school.  The main difference...we didn't dread them or groan about them, we sang along with them.  I can't tell you how many times over the years that a School House Rock tune has popped into my head out of the blue.  I hear them like it was yesterday.  Conjunction Junction, Interplanet Janet, I'm Just a Bill, they all went beyond being merely catchy tunes and taught us different things about language, the solar system, and government. 

Most of the time I can remember them verbatim, partially because anything set to music seems to stick longer in my mind and partially because nothing I've learned since then (aside from Pluto no longer being considered a planet) has ever negated them.  They were fun and factual and timeless.  While going through a mental list of my favorites, I recalled there being one titled, "The Great American Melting Pot," but couldn't for the life of me remember anything but the hook.   So, being the type of person who can't let things rest, I went to You Tube and searched for it.

In watching it again after all of these years, I wondered why this one hadn't stuck out in my mind in the same way that "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly get your adverbs here" had. What hit me then was that all of the others have been reinforced in one way or the other over my lifetime, whereas the philosophy behind "The Great American Melting Pot" had been systematically dismantled over time.

America today has been driven headfirst into the divisive nature of multi-culturalism as opposed to the unifying nature found in a melting pot.  More focus is being put on a person's heritage than on where they are presently.  I'm not saying by any means that our heritage shouldn't be honored, and the video emphasized the importance of both as well.  The difference lies only in the priority of each, and back then we were taught that being an American was something in which we could take pride.  It was the great experiment that proved successful.  Industrious people looking for a better life could find it here. By blending the strengths of our previous cultures, we could build something better and stronger, the likes of which had not been seen before.

In the years since my youth, those are no longer the sentiments or the things we and the generations following us are being taught to believe.  Nowadays, heritage takes the top spot. We're no longer Americans, but now hyphenated Americans, and in some cases no longer even bothering to acknowledge the American portion at all.  I've seen people in interviews and read articles where they self identify solely by their country of birth as if they merely happen to reside here in the United States.  It's this type of mentality that is going to lead us to being simply the North American States or some such derivative and wiping the idea of unity cleanly off the map.

By focusing on what makes us different rather than our similarities, we segregate ourselves into smaller and smaller groups with less chances of finding any common ground or possibilities for compromise.  That will lead inevitably to isolationism among the groups, and war or at least perpetual conflict soon thereafter. Our traditions and history are important pieces of our fabric, but they aren't the entire tapestry or even the majority of who we are.  We need to take ownership of who we are in the present and also what type of country we're providing for the generations that follow.  If it's so great to be Italian, Irish, Mexican, or Indian...why can't it be great to be American?  Allowing ourselves to have pride as Americans will help to ensure the unity of the people which will in turn foster the unity of these great United States.



*For the nostalgic among you, here's the video link to "The Great American Melting Pot."  Maybe we can make it the new Rick-roll and put these ideas back into our children's consciousness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wakJdXzu3Y&feature=related