Neither Melted nor Homogenized

We Americans like to proclaim that our country is a melting pot.  People come to us from all over the world and are assimilated with ease and are welcomed. The reality is that people come here and are swallowed up by factions. They don’t become part of the whole.

People come here and are forced to simply choose to hide under labels. There are Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Irish Americans, Chinese Americans, Italian Americans, and on and on. Most of my people came from England, but I don’t call myself English American. A few of them came from Germany, but I don’t call myself a “German American” or a “Mostly English American.” The label thing ruins the melting pot idea by adding different alignments in thoughts and beliefs. Why can’t we all just be “Americans?”  If you recall, we left our home countries looking for something better. Going back to the label business, one of the ugliest is “white supremacy.” Having white skin doesn’t make you better than anyone else. Intellect, character and tolerance don’t reside within the skin. They are functions of brain and soul. Think about it.

When it comes to the melting pot, we could all do a little better. It would be great if we could drop the labels from our vocabulary.

Dave Thomas

10/1/2026