Melting Pot Works, Invasions Fail
What RFK teaches us about our future and our past
The Melting Pot is the best way to describe America in the 20th Century. Millions came from all over the world, settled in America, and became part of the beef stew that is American life.
If you came from Ireland, you probably headed to St. Patrick parish. From Germany, maybe Holy Trinity Lutheran church. From Poland, perhaps Temple Beth El. And of course, from Italy to San Gennaro and the Monsignore. (More recently, it was Vietnamese, Bosnian, and Latin American immigrants….)
(Nota Bene: none of those old immigrants rushed down to the federal government offices for food stamps or other payouts….)
For those immigrants of the 20th century and their offspring, you probably continued to celebrate your faith and your holidays (St. Patrick’s Day Parade in my house!). You celebrated the 4th of July with real zeal and learned that George Washington was great - and so was George M. and Yankee Doodle Dandy. And you bought into our nation and her Constitution, rule of law and founding values.
Back to the melting pot: those immigrants who jumped into the American melting pot - I like to think it’s a beef stew - they became part of the great dish. Maybe they were carrots or potatoes or onions but they became part of the stew. It was a rich stew - not the sum of the parts but so much more.
Ok, enough with this metaphor.
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Today, some or all of the melting pot seems in jeopardy. Big time.
Some of this is the shift from relying on local institutions (Churches, Synagogues, Neighborhood Schools) and government payouts.
But some of it is also because our lives are being ripped apart by people who don’t want to assimilate into America. They want to stay separate, divided by race of ethnicity or sex or politics.
* * *
Which brings me to RFK. His speech - culminating in the line “We have to love our kids more than we hate each other” - lays bare the failure of one major political party to buy in to America. They Democrats are no longer worthy of support. They really are dividers, hate-mongers, and un-American. That’s the facts according to RFK.
Melting pots work. And invasions and divisions fail.
Listen her for more on this:
