The Myth of the Melting Pot

             The Melting Pot, which refers to the blending together of different races into a unified culture, has had limited results. People of minority races are encouraged to leave their culture behind to become "American" rather than to integrate their culture with the "American" culture. Furthermore, races remain segregated by their economic class. Economic improvement is contingent upon a person's assimilation into the dominant culture, assimilation that is often at the expense of his or her own culture.
             Racism exists in the form of segregation, where segregation among races is determined by economic class. Minority races of a lower class are presented with a situation in which a higher level of economic success is impossible to obtain because the quality of education in the area they live is so poor. When Dalton Conley's family made the decision to live in the projects of 1969, their neighbors didn't have that freedom. They were "largely unwelcome elsewhere for reasons of race and financial status" (11). Their social class was defined by racial identity more than individual ability, which in turn limited their financial potential. In this way, racial identity has the effect of determining one's economic class if one is of a minority race.
             Economic class prevents the integration of minority races into dominant white communities; should economic class improve, integration is achievable, but often at the expense of one's culture or ethnicity. For example, in "I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent?" Steele describes the black engineer, whose financial success in effect brought him further away from black communities and their culture. He is afraid that his daughter, who will be going to school with only three other black students, is going to lose touch with her blackness. Furthermore, in "Notes of a Native Speaker,&qu
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The Myth of the Melting Pot. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:31, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/9811.html