“As long as we thought
of Americanism as the “melting pot.” Our American cultural tradition lay in the
past. It was something to which the new
Americans were to be moulded. In the light of our changing ideal of Americanism,
we must perpetrate that our American cultural tradition lies in the
future. It will be what we all make out
of this incomparable opportunity of attacking the future with a new key.” - Trans-National America, Randolph Bourne
I chose this selection because I felt that in a very brief
manner it summed up the notion of what the founder’s thought American culture
was supposed to be while just as succinctly pointed out what it is, what
direction it is moving in, and what vast opportunities it holds for the future.
When Teddy Roosevelt stated, “We have room for but one
language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the
crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as
dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty
and that is loyalty to the American people.”
He said so much in so few words.
He believed in the concept of the “melting pot” a crucible that would “melt”
all incoming immigrants into an amalgam and pour them out into molds that would
form “Americans.” But one doesn’t have to dig too deep to see the absurdity of
this concept from its surface to its core.
It is contradictory to the very nature of this country and should be
seen as anathema to both native born “Americans” and to every immigrant that
has come to this country especially considering that every single person who
has or ever will enjoy the privilege of citizenship in this great nation was at
one time an immigrant.
First of all is it our language or our ideals, principals
and aspirations that make us Americans? If
we say that it is our language then we must admit failure as a nation. This country was founded by immigrants who only
by default spoke English, men and women who came to this land to break away
from the tyranny of the English monarchy and in forming this nation they
declared in our Declaration of Independence very eloquently what the basis of
this new nation was to be; the concept that all men are created equal and that
they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, the greatest
among these being life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some years later the Bill of Rights
guaranteed other rights that belong to every citizen of this land; the right to
speak freely, the right to freedom of religion, the right to assemble and
protest against their government and numerous others that are now deeply woven
into the fabric that is the basis of this country. These rights are also promises. They are promises to every future immigrant
coming to this country that these guarantees are something that they can look
forward to as citizens and that are the greatest reason that many, if not most
people immigrate to this country; the promise of a greater future.
Nowhere in the
framework of this land is there any legal delineation that states that if you
are to be an American you must forget your spoken language and now speak
English, belong to a certain Church, or in any other way meld into a
predetermined culture. This concept is
in fact the antithesis of the foundation of what this country is meant to be. This
was an idea that come into being by powerful, albeit narrow-minded men who men
who forgot that they themselves were immigrants coming to this country steeped
in their own ideals and traditions while still seeking the same freedoms and
that a great number of immigrants who migrated to this country both in
times long past and in even the most recent times risked their very lives to do
because they desired to share in these great truths of what it means to be an
American.
So America should not be a “melting pot” that turns out all citizens
to be the same. It must be that “polyglot
boarding house” that Roosevelt so feared. I agree with Randolph Bourne when he said, “…we
must perpetrate that our American cultural tradition lies in the future.”
Having people of different backgrounds and cultures coming together to share
ideas and thus continue to complete this work that the founding fathers began,
to form a new land where people have the freedom to hold onto and enjoy their
cultural heritage while contributing to the basic concept that this is a place
where everyone can come together and participate in their government, to form a
country and a culture that is unlike and superior to any other in the history
of civilization; this is what it truly means to be an American. Every person who has ever landed upon these shores has done so with the dream of improving their own lot in
life and to try to ensure that their children and their children’s children
will have an even better life than they do.
This is the true “American Dream” and we must all band together,
regardless of our differences and embrace our similarities as people to ensure
that this dream continues and see to it that this great, unfinished country
continues to grow and prosper and never forget that every citizen has their own
individual and unique contribution to make to what it truly means to be an
American and to what this country is and is to become.
