Why was the United States a "salad bowl" rather than a "melting pot"?
"Salad bowl" means everybody is not the same and "melting pot" means everybody is the same.
I said The U.S. is a "salad bowl" because everyone is treated differently, they are judged differently, and they are different from everybody else. For example, the Chinese/Japanese couldn't migrate to the Americas for 30 years because of racism. Also, the fact that you can pick them out of a crowd quickly (due to how they look).
2 answers
Am I correct? If not please help me understand on why it the U.S. is a "salad bowl" and not a "melting pot".
I think you have gotten a rather negative interpretation of this concept. Melting pot or salad bowl, both are intended to describe the strengths of the US.
In the melting pot image, everyone would "melt" together, races and ethnicities would mix, and we would all be "Americans" -- and to a great extent, that's what has happened in earlier generations.
The salad bowl concept, though, is closer to what has been happening in our country when you consider immigrants in the most recent two or three generations. People immigrate from all over the world and most become citizens and share in and contribute to the American culture, but many do so without losing their ethnic or racial backgrounds.
Think of this: In a salad bowl, the different ingredients are yummy by themselves, but when you put them all together in a bowl and toss it, everything tastes better! How can you restate this aspect of the salad bowl concept?
In the melting pot image, everyone would "melt" together, races and ethnicities would mix, and we would all be "Americans" -- and to a great extent, that's what has happened in earlier generations.
The salad bowl concept, though, is closer to what has been happening in our country when you consider immigrants in the most recent two or three generations. People immigrate from all over the world and most become citizens and share in and contribute to the American culture, but many do so without losing their ethnic or racial backgrounds.
Think of this: In a salad bowl, the different ingredients are yummy by themselves, but when you put them all together in a bowl and toss it, everything tastes better! How can you restate this aspect of the salad bowl concept?
7 answers