America the Melting Pot
I have to admit, I haven't watched every single episode of Arthur especially the most recent ones and when I was searching for one with an American theme I came across "Citizen Cheikh" where one of D.W's classmates came from Senegal and his parents just passed the citizen test. They happily told him they would be sworn in as citizens and for the rest of the episode, Cheikh is sad because he thinks he has to give up everything from Senegal, but it ends up that he can enjoy both cultures.
At this point in time, almost all naturalization ceremonies are filled with diverse faces who are now "making America" but in the mid-1900s, Toni Morrison knew no "Melting Pot", all was solid and hardly mixing. A loss of hope and declaration of reality in the dialogue, "They don't put that kind of news in no white paper. Not unless he raped somebody." is something I believe can still, unfortunately, be applied today. But in trying to answer the question "What makes America?" I think of bad things like racism and good things like diversity, hence the intro. But if I were reading an opinion about racism I would prefer that the author has faced some form of it or come from a background of facing it which is just not me, and even speaking up in class on this topic feels almost unfair to those who could speak and say something actually useful.
I can, however, speak on the good things like diversity because I am privileged and blessed with basically only this first-hand perspective. Occasionally, I like to take breaks from criticizing the government, so to be optimistic, I'll switch the meaning of America to just the people who stand out. Americans make up more than just different colors of people but different cultures and personalities. If we pretend the immigration system is flawless for a second, what exactly is a naturalization ceremony? This occurs after taking a test about America and is attended by those who literally want to be Americans... is this not truly the most American thing to do ever?? And like I said before, its people from around the world who participate because they can see something good in this country and sometimes they must because wherever they came from is exponentially worse. So if these more marginalized people, like my mom who was sworn in last year, can find America a good place then in certain ways, so should we. Every time we accept and enjoy diversity, we add heat to the Pot.
At this point in time, almost all naturalization ceremonies are filled with diverse faces who are now "making America" but in the mid-1900s, Toni Morrison knew no "Melting Pot", all was solid and hardly mixing. A loss of hope and declaration of reality in the dialogue, "They don't put that kind of news in no white paper. Not unless he raped somebody." is something I believe can still, unfortunately, be applied today. But in trying to answer the question "What makes America?" I think of bad things like racism and good things like diversity, hence the intro. But if I were reading an opinion about racism I would prefer that the author has faced some form of it or come from a background of facing it which is just not me, and even speaking up in class on this topic feels almost unfair to those who could speak and say something actually useful.
I can, however, speak on the good things like diversity because I am privileged and blessed with basically only this first-hand perspective. Occasionally, I like to take breaks from criticizing the government, so to be optimistic, I'll switch the meaning of America to just the people who stand out. Americans make up more than just different colors of people but different cultures and personalities. If we pretend the immigration system is flawless for a second, what exactly is a naturalization ceremony? This occurs after taking a test about America and is attended by those who literally want to be Americans... is this not truly the most American thing to do ever?? And like I said before, its people from around the world who participate because they can see something good in this country and sometimes they must because wherever they came from is exponentially worse. So if these more marginalized people, like my mom who was sworn in last year, can find America a good place then in certain ways, so should we. Every time we accept and enjoy diversity, we add heat to the Pot.
Beautiful post Ridaa! America's diversity is truly the thing which I love most about this country and the cultures which come together are at the heart of it all.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the rich culture and diversity give our country some great characteristics. Especially living in Troy has given us a great advantage for the future.
ReplyDelete