Melting Pot Theory Essay

America today is thought to be the melting pot of the free, where people from far and wide can come to enjoy a life of ease. As what Jimmy Carter says “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dream”. Although it may seem nice to have a true melting pot society, times have drastically changed since this theory was coined together in the 1780’s. America still has a long way to go until it achieves the long sought for theory. In the text “White Privilege” by Peggy McIntosh, it says “I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.” Some parents are teaching their children to mistrust certain people of race or religion because of
Smaller towns such as Oneida, Tennessee, which is where I grew up, is one of the few rural towns I’ve seen that’s close to achieving melting pot status. With a population of around 3,800 from the time I was born (2000) till the time I left (2006), about 75% percent of the population was made up of Whites and the other 25% was a mix Blacks, Spanish, and Asians. Even though the town has a long history of being ran by white people and generations of families that stayed there since its founding in 1911, we 25% still were welcomed with open arms into their small community. Instead of being expected to drop our religion, ethics, and backgrounds, the community distinctly recognized us for being different instead of blending in. One thing that towns or even cities can learn from smaller communities is that being forced or forced to be open and actually getting to know people of different backgrounds helps people drop common stereotypes of