67 thoughts on “Blog #46 – Immigration theories”

1. Jenna Weed January 23, 2013 at 6:25 pm

   I can proudly state that America is a melting pot and a land of generations of immigrants. My neighbors are first generation immigrants from Iran, and my family ancestry is comprised of many different origins in Europe. My neighbors moved to America from Iran to get a better education and better opportunities for a good life. They met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, moved in on my street, and now send their children to International Academy. The mom and girls wear hijabs and the family practices the Muslim religion. The family will spend three to four months a year, usually in the summertime, in their second home in Iran with the rest of their family. They are a good example of cultural pluralism because they live in America, they are America citizens, and they speak fluent English, yet they still practice Iranian cultural traditions. Also, both sides of my family came to America for prosperity: my mom’s side in the automobile business and my dad’s side for agriculture in Canada. My mom’s grandpa was from Denmark and came to Detroit to work for Chrysler. He met my great-grandma, who was English and Scottish, and they got married and had my grandpa. My mom’s great-grandparents immigrated to America from Poland for better opportunities in America. My dad’s great-grandparents came to Canada for agriculture from Ireland. Later on, the relative my dad is named for, his great-uncle, moved to Detroit for even better opportunities in America rather than Canada. My family is a culmination of the melting pot and Anglo-conformity theories. I have Irish, Danish, English, Scottish, and Polish blood in me, thanks to the American melting pot. My ancestors did not keep to themselves like Horace Kallen believed, but rather embraced the lack of restraint of marrying within their country of origin’s descendents. My family is not a representation of the negative aspect of Anglo-conformity, but we did adopt the English language, culture, and customs. No one in my family speaks any of our ancestor’s languages except English, and we don’t practice any special cultural customs. My family is an American family, composed of many backgrounds and influenced by many different cultures.
2. Chris Coburn January 23, 2013 at 7:28 pm

   From my ancestral record and immigration pattern, I can draw conclusions of American immigration from the theories of cultural pluralism and the melting pot. On my mother’s side, my great-grandfather and his family emigrated from Ireland to Canada because it was cheaper to travel to Canada and then enter into the U.S. Instead of moving to Boston or the New England area like many other Irish families, my grand-father chose to move to Detroit. He chose to move there because it had a large Irish group and the economic opportunities from the auto industry. By settling in an Irish neighborhood, he represents the cultural pluralism theory of banding together in ethnic neighborhoods. Eventually, he would do well enough to join politics and run for state congress, still as a Canadian citizen. While he lost the race, it is interesting that there were no background checks on this kind of information. His children represent the melting pot theory. My Grandfather and his subsequent and large family were living in the Irish neighborhood, which had now grown to be part Irish, part Polish, and part Mexican. My great uncle, along with other donors, set up the Holy Trinity Church and Academy in the neighborhood there. The academy and church became the most prominent one in the neighborhood, and today still enrolls a majority of Irish, Polish, and Mexican students and their families, as well as a substantial African American portion. This represents the melting pot theory, along with numerous other examples from the city of Detroit, because it establishes a public service and community that is home to many different ethnic groups. The church united people over a common religion and education. They were also united over a common industry; the auto industry. This unification goes against the cultural pluralism that existed just a generation ago in the same area.
3. Kayla Sara Kapen January 23, 2013 at 7:53 pm

   I believe that during the immigration waves that America was very welcoming. I think that America is called the great melting pot because the country makes people feel comfortable where they are and as if they had been living there their whole lives. In the early 1920s, my great-grandmother (Bubbie Clara) moved to the U.S. from Russia with her mother and her two younger brothers to have a better life. Her father had already been in America for a while but the rest of the family had to wait until he sent money so they could afford the fares. Bubbie Clara and the family immigrated to New York City. I can remember her telling me about the experience of the boat arriving on Ellis Island and how it was so different from anything that she had ever seen in her life. Once the family began their journey into their new life, it was very difficult. They lived in a very small tenement in New York City and as a specific example; they had to share the bathroom with everyone who lived on the floor which was probably about a dozen families. Bubbie Clara had to work during the day so it made it hard to receive an education but she did end up going to night classes. She did feel welcomed into the U.S. and felt much more grateful for things in the U.S. than she did in Russia. Her husband took great care for her because he knew what a tough life she had at first. I have never been to Russia but one day I would like to go there to see where Bubbie Clara spent her younger childhood and see what it was like for her. My Saba (grandfather) made Aliyah (immigration to Israel) to finish his residency for medical school in the late 1950s. When someone makes Aliyah, it is traditional for them to take an Ulpon class which is a conversational Hebrew class. My Savta (grandmother) was a teacher at the Ulpon. When my Saba first saw my Savta in the dining room, it was love at first sight. He introduced himself to her and he would never leave her side. Four months later they were married and within two years they had two sons together. Due to family reasons they moved to New York. My Savta had a personal English teacher by her side all the time since my Saba lived in America pretty much his whole life. My Savta says that she has missed Israel but that she loves America and feels at home here. My family is proud of our Jewish and Israeli identity. My father is a fluent Hebrew speaker and I would love to learn how to speak it fluently one day. We have adopted traditional Jewish customs and that has been our way of life ever since I can remember. I feel as if both America and Israel are my two homes because I feel welcome in both countries.
4. NOAH M. TURNER January 23, 2013 at 8:09 pm

   Out of the three immigration theories the one probably most evident in my own life, is the great melting pot this country has become. My background is diverse I have seen how immigrants well become Americans. My grandfather came to the USA from Columbia to finish his studies to become a doctor and when he was finished he decided to stay and practice here. My grandmother is from Spain and she immigrated here after she had married my grandfather. I can’t say how my grandfather accustomed to the USA because I have never met him he died when I was young but I can say how my grandmother did. She has an accent English being here second language and it is and it would be reasonable to conclude she is foreign on meeting for the first time. But she came here and learned are language, way of life, and made a home for herself, raised a family, and worked. That is why I see her as part of this melting pot, she definitely doesn’t fall into the other two theories, there is no community sharing her culture just her family, and she doesn’t she doesn’t look down on others to raise herself and become a ‘true’ American. I do think however we assimilated a little too much or too easily, my mom and my aunts all speak Spanish, however the language seems to abruptly stop at my generation and I wish I could speak it just because I feel it is still a part of me even if we are in America; my middle name is my grandfather’s last name, Muñoz, and I am proud of my immigrant background I just wish I had more to show for it, I have pretty much no culture whatsoever.
   I am even more of a mix though. On my other side is my other grandfather who is your typical white American whose ancestor emigrated from Great Britain before his time. And my other grandmother came from parents who emigrated from Lebanon. And I will use her life to very loosely apply it to the Cultural Pluralism. When her parents moved here they moved to an area were other Lebanese people were, and I don’t know if it’s like this with all Arabs but they all seem to know each other. Now it isn’t strictly in line with the theory they were over all more like the melting pot idea but for the purpose of the assignment it seems to fit enough.
5. Maria Roma January 23, 2013 at 8:45 pm

   One of the most amazing parts about America is that Americans have a defined culture of their own, but they are still (for the most part) accepting and open to many different foreign cultures. I remember doing a project in elementary school where each student was responsible for bringing in a food that is traditional in their family. I had a very tough decision to make! My family is a blending of a few different cultures. On my dad’s side of the family, his mother’s side is 100% Irish. His father’s (my grandfather’s) side is extremely, extremely Italian. I still identify with the Italian culture because my great-grandmother, who I still see very often, was the first generation of our family to be born in America. She cooks a lot of delicious Italian dishes and shares a lot of Italian and Roman Catholic traditions with me every time I visit her. My mother’s side is a blend of Irish/Belgian and Polish. The polish comes from my grandmother’s side. Her great grandfather, my great-great-grandfather, ended up leaving Poland around the time of World War I. He was sent to Canada to attain arms to arm Poland, but he knew to take his wife with him because Poland was not an Independent nation and was going through a very turbulent time. If he were to have gone back, he most likely would have been forced to fight for the German, Austrian or Russian armies. My grandmother still has a journal from my great-great-grandmother in which she sketched out things she saw for the first time when she entered the U.S. (she was an artist). My grandmother has also shared Polish food with me. Every Christmas, even though she is the only one who will eat it and enjoy it, my grandmother prepares the traditional red and white Polish meal consisting of pickled herring and barszcz (beet soup). Every year, I eat my one annual spoonful. My mother’s father’s side is a mix of Belgian and Irish. The Belgian culture and traditions are still carried on by my family when we gather every year around Christmas and make Lukken cookies and when we go feather bowling at Cadieux Café in Detroit. After much contemplation, I ended up bringing in Italian Pizelle cookies to my elementary school class. The difficulty of my decision shows how truly melted together different cultures have become; they were all so well blended and equally important that I had a hard time choosing! Although it may seem that every culture is equally distributed and mixed in throughout all of America, that’s not the case; Cultural Pluralism exists as well. I see many examples of cultural pluralism in the Groves community. I know many students who are first generation Americans from the Middle East. They practice Islam and speak fluent Arabic as well as English. They travel back to the Middle East during the summers to visit their family members who are still there. I would say that they tend to “clump” together. In fact, Dearborn, which is very close to here, is one of the cities with the highest Muslim population outside of the Middle East. There are a lot of Arabic markets in Dearborn and there are a lot of mosques there too, where the Muslims practice their religion. I think it’s very cool that they are able to be a part of two cultures at the same time and that they are able to share parts of each of their cultures with the other culture.
6. Marie Suehrer January 23, 2013 at 8:55 pm

   America has always been major destination for immigrants all over the world. I personally have many different ways to relate to the melting pot like greatly diverse land called America. My neighbors, who are jewish, have only been in America for three generations. The adults’ grandparents moved to the United States from Europe. The dad’s side ancestor came from Germany aswell are the mother side’s ancestors. They moved here, to find religious freedom and escape the fear of a possible death they faced almost every single day of their life. Especially since the adult’s grandparents were still kids their parents were worried a lot. These neighbors of mine are not the only people in my family’s social life who have an immigrant background. Almost anyone we meet or happen to talk to at a store or restaurant, after they have asked us what language we are speaking, can connect to our answer. We tell them, that we are german and moved here about four years ago to stay temporarily. Immediately they answer with something like “Oh my parents are from Europe too” or it is their grandparents. Usually everyone tells of some ancestor that has come from europe. Even in my own family I can distantly relate to the American melting pot that has been created by the many immigrations from Europe and other parts of the world. I moved here to Bloomfield Hills in sixth grade together with my parents. My dad came here to temporarily work for a company which hired him. Now we are thinking how much longer we will stay or if we will move back soon. Many other families in an alike situation live all over the United States and have been able to create foreign communities in this country, expanding the melting pot. An increasing trend of foreign immigration has been observed in the United States over the past years and it is still growing.
   It is interesting to think of what America will be like when our generation has grown up. How much of a melting pot will it be? Will there be more immigrants, or less? What tyoe of affects will this have on american communities?
7. Gabe Mann January 23, 2013 at 9:08 pm

   I am the first generation son of proud immigrant parents, who came in a late wave of immigration in the 1960’s. My mother was refugee from Cuba, trying to escape communism and seek a better life in America with my grandparents, they arrived in Miami in 1966. A native Transylvanian was the son of two holocaust survivors that were lucky enough to survive, because of Hungary’s late compliance with Nazis that saved my grandparents who entered the camps in late 1943 when Russian and allied troops were closing in on Germany. My father arrived in America in 1964 also seeking refuge from a communist Romania, both my mother and my father followed close relatives who had moved to Detroit, Michigan There my father went to high school and later college where he worked hard and earned his law and engineering degree while my mother earned a doctorate in Latin American Literature. My parents gradually started assimilating themselves learning English and becoming US citizens while keeping their Jewish values intact they are another example of cultural pluralism. They were also clearly part of the melting pot with my mother’s roots that came from Poland and Israel and my dad’s tall family tree that goes back to the early 19th century in Romania. When my parents first arrived in the US it was a huge culture shock, my dad who had been very poor in his village saw how much Americans were wasting even mentioning how the lights were on in streets at night even though they were empty “If there’s no one working why are the lights on?!?” Seeing Americans waste as they did shocked my Dad and Mom as much as anything in America. Even my mother was astounded by how much food there was available in the grocery stores, In Cuba the markets couldn’t carry a quarter of what American Supermarket’s offered. After so many years from living in America my parents have never regretted coming to the USA, without the opportunities that were offered my parents would have been able to do what they did.
8. William Schwartz January 23, 2013 at 9:25 pm

   Both of my parents are immigrants from the U.K., my dad from Wales and my mom from England. I think their story was more like the theory of Anglo-Conformity because in Britain the culture is just so similar to the one here that they assimilated with the American society very easily. I think that they didn’t have to deal with the prejudice that many immigrants today and back then had to deal with, because I think Americans as a whole are very accepting of Britons and other Western Europeans, unlike they are to many people from third world countries. I think the common Anglo-Saxon heritage of the early Americans and the British attributes to the positive view of British Immigrants. I think that most American people like British people more than your average American just because of the accent (I just wish my parents could’ve passed that on to me!). I myself believe in the
   Melting pot theory just because almost everyone I know is of mixed heritage including myself. Even though my parents and I are British, my Grandpa is Austrian and my Great-Great grandparents were from Central Europe. I think that we all have some mixed blood in us and that is what makes this country and the whole world so diverse. Another example that I found of the Anglo-Saxon Conformation theory is with my Grandpa, although his story was immigrating to Britain, but I think it’s close enough to the American immigration story. My grandpa was born in Vienna, Austria in 1935 and was only 4 when he was lucky enough to get out of his country in 1939 before WWII and the Arian Nazi Regime. Him and his family lived in a Chinese refugee camp for the duration of the war. After that his family immigrated to London where he went straight to work with his father making handbags. He lost his childhood, didn’t get an education, and had to work his way through life. Now, he has a house in Stanmore (North London) and is still selling handbags. He never even got to learn his Austrian roots and had to become basically an Anglo-Saxon when he moved to England. This shows that he had to assimilate to the English way of life and had to forget his own roots.
9. geoffwickersham (Post author) January 23, 2013 at 10:13 pm

   I would definitely say that America is a melting pot filled with many ethnic groups. Both my family and my dad’s colleague are great examples that prove that this is true. My family moved to America a couple of years ago. My dad works in the automotive industry and so he came to Detroit for it as it is the motor city. We moved into a neighbor and adopted the American way of life. My family has learned the English language and has become accustomed to the American customs. My brother and I go to public schools, and my mum and dad work among American people. Even though we may happily live the way American people do, at home we speak both German and Italian and celebrate the German and Italian holidays. We still keep our native traditions alive at home. Even though we are not from here, we are accepted. We are not excluded from things. My family also goes to Europe once or twice a year to visit family and spend time in our home country. Everyone accepts us for who we are, and they do not hate us because we aren’t exactly the same as them. This goes against the Anglo-American idea that the American people would not accept those who are ethnically different. My dad’s colleague moved here from Iraq and they moved to Dearborn. They chose this area because it was close to the husband’s office, and because it is the largest Muslim community in the United States. They have always been around other Muslims, and so they feel most comfortable there. They have learned the English language and the American customs, but still practice their own traditions. They speak their own language for a majority of the time and celebrate all the Muslim holidays. The children in the family go to a school that is mainly comprised of other Muslim students and teachers. This school observes their holidays and plans vacations accordingly. This is a wonderful example of cultural pluralism.

   Sofia
10. Amanda Burcroff January 24, 2013 at 7:14 am

    Cultural pluralism and the melting pot have shaped many Americans’ lives, and they have been very prominent in my own family history. Maternally, I am descended from Irish Catholics who immigrated here early on in America’s timeline, with a little German and Polish mixed in. Despite controversy and anti-Catholicism, my mother’s family has remained Roman Catholic for hundreds of years. Although we came from a certain section of Europe, my family now includes French, Dutch, Guatemalan, and Scottish descendant, which would not be likely or even possible if America were not the melting pot it is. The abundance of different races, cultures, and lifestyles and the acceptance of (almost) all of them in America today allows our homogenous past to be cultured by diversity. However, on my father’s side another view of immigration is prevalent: cultural pluralism. My grandmother and my father emigrated from the Philippines to America when he was only seven years old. They were 100 percent Filipino, for the Philippines had nowhere near the diversity that America had. When they came here, they were forced to almost completely abandon their native language and lifestyle, but they found refuge in the numerous Filipino communities around. Throughout high school, my dad’s friend group consisted mainly of Filipinos because they shared the same customs as his family. Even today my father has a great many Filipino friends, but the diversity of people in America has allowed him to break away from the homogeny. He now considers America his home and has accepted the American language and lifestyle, so he no longer has to hide in the communities that tried to emulate his native land. After coming to America with almost nothing, both sides of my family have worked hard and gotten the opportunity to live in prosperity. The abundance of cultures in America allowed the two cultures of my family to meet together and learn to participate in and love each other.
11. Ethan Webster January 24, 2013 at 11:00 am

    None of my family still alive moved here, and as far as I know, the Websters have been in America since one of our ancestors commanded a regiment of British troops in the American Revolution. I personally have seen, however, that America is most definitely the melting pot of the world. This is evident in the way different cultures have influenced and changed even the most stalwart purist’s life into one filled with different cultures. Our restaurants, the way we dress, it is all affected by those immigrants who came here seeking a better life. Taco Bell, one of my favorite fast food places, could not have existed if not for Mexican immigrants who wanted to bring their food traditions with them as they moved to America. Italian suits, such as those that are sold in downtown Birmingham, could not have made it here in America if we weren’t a tolerant nation, capable of accepting and melding many different cultures into one. This goes against the idea of Anglo-Conformity because we obviously are accepting of other cultures; otherwise all of these great ideas from other countries wouldn’t have set in among us. I also believe that the melting pot idea is better than cultural pluralism in explaining because, even though people still celebrate their own traditions and holidays, many have come to adopt those of their parent country, the US. I personally know many people who are not Christian, yet celebrate Christmas and Easter as holidays simply because they get time off from school to do so. Some people even give up their traditions in favor of more modern US ideals, so this is why the cultural pluralism idea doesn’t sit right with me. Finally, there are many even today that still don’t speak English fluently enough to be thought of as American. The melting pot idea explains this because the older generations of immigrants will never be able to totally adjust to their new life, and many of the younger people will give up their traditions and ideals just to fit in with the rest of America. This is why the melting pot idea best explains how immigration operates within the US.
12. Cameron_S. January 24, 2013 at 4:05 pm

    America is made up of immigrants, including the Native Americans, who had to leave their nations and culture behind in order to become American. America still is the place where people move too. So many of these immigration theories are still largely in action, especially towards illegal immigrants from south America. An example of this is the Mexican immigrants who demonstrate to theory of Cultural Pluralism, who mostly locate in southern states close to Mexico, and also Cuban refugees display cultural pluralism as well they mostly locate around Miami. The Cuban immigrants also have to deal with Anglo-conformity from moving to a communist country to a democratic one. I suppose you could also tie in how refugees or illegal immigrants are often faced with a larger difficult to find a solid job, also you could say that another aspect of Anglo-Conformity is in action, deportation, which happens a lot to illegal immigrants, people are scared that these immigrants are taking their jobs and hurting the economy which sort of reminds me of thing like the Red Scare and makes me think of what we will think about illegal immigration in the future. Now onto me personally, I do not have one overpowering heritage or origin, spread out all over western Europe, my last name indicates that I have Scottish blood, which I do but surprisingly it isn’t my strongest heritage, their all fairly equal in percentage, Scottish, English, French, and German. So I guess I could say I myself am a great example of the Melting pot theory. Also knowing that my family immigrated to America very early in it lifetime, I can see that my relatives were at one point forced to conform to American culture. I also can infer that my family probably didn’t locate themselves with their ethnic heritage for a long time, knowing how I have so many origins. To sum it up all the theories affected my family and still affect immigrants today.
13. Alayna Brasch January 24, 2013 at 4:10 pm

    I would have to say that I, and many other people, probably experience the melting pot theory almost every day, whether I’m in a different state, city, or even at school. But I think I experience this theory the most when I’m at camp. When I am there, I meet people everywhere from Israel, to Britain, to Australia. These people have family ties from all over the world. And even though our family backgrounds may be total opposites, we all have one thing in common, we are all American. In my family, my great grandparents on my dad’s side fled to Canada from Poland to escape harsh anti-Semitism. When my Grandma was born and grew up, she moved to America and met my Grandpa. On my mom’s side, my grandma’s parents went to Canada from Britain. In school, my Grandma met my Grandpa and together they moved to America. It is interesting to think that almost everyone has ancestors from all over the world, and yet, today we are all Americans.
    In my family, the only cultural of religious traditions we do that our ancestors did is celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, and occasionally Passover. So cultural pluralism doesn’t really exist in my family, and I don’t think it is very common in other families. But in the late 1840s and early 1900s, cultural pluralism was very popular. Immigrants during this time period clung on to their culture and traditions because it was the only thing they had that connected them to their home country. Today, I think people that come to America from other countries have already lost some of the traditions that their ancestors had because of the type of society we have.
14. Safia Sayed January 24, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    My family has experienced both Anglo-Conformity and Cultural Pluralism here in America. My grandparents moved from India to America when my mom was two. At this time, there were not very many Indians living in the United States. My grandparents felt pressured to assimilate to American ways. For this reason, my grandparents never spoke Hindi to my mom while she was growing up. My grandparents wanted my mom to learn English so she could blend in with all the other English-speaking kids at her school. Unfortunately, my mom never re-learned Hindi, and could not pass on the language to me and my brother. In recent years, immigration, including immigration from India, has increased a lot. Americans today are a lot more accepting of other cultures than they were a generation ago, since there are a lot more immigrants around. Pressures of Anglo-Conformity have decreased. This more accepting attitude supports Cultural Pluralism. Without Anglo-Conformity, my family can embrace both our old Indian traditions and new ways of American living. For example, in my house we sometimes eat American food, and other times my mom will cook Indian food. The majority of our wardrobes consist of typical American clothing, but we each own a few fancy Indian outfits for the occasional Indian wedding or get-together. Our iPods are a mix of songs popular in the U.S. and a few Bollywood hits. With my family, I have visited India twice. While we’re there, we get to experience the food, music, and culture we love; visit family; and listen to a language we wish we could speak. But we also realize how lucky we are to live in a much more prosperous and safe country. Cultural pluralism is a blessing for American immigrants, allowing families like mine to celebrate our heritage in the comforts of American living.
15. Katherine Voigt January 24, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    The melting pot theory is truer than anything. In my neighborhood, we have Italian Thai, and Irish just on my block. Even in my friend circle, we all come from different families who have strong roots in Europe, Russia, and even India. We all belong to this pot of everybody. My roots are just as deep. My great grandmother, Pauline, went through Ellis Island with her father, we actually found the document recently that showed the date and what boat they arrived on. On my families several trips to Ellis Island, we found my dads mothers and fathers names on the recently updated grey granite walls along the outside of the landmark itself in New York, both Dora and Nathan Blume were listed, and we even found out a secret long distance relation to a fellow orchestra kid, who has now graduated. My Grandma Joan tells me a story every time the subject of Immigration comes up: “A woman was filling out a required questionnaire before entering the United States, and one of the questions was ‘Do you scrub stairs from the bottom up or the top down?’ She answered with ‘I did not come to the united states to scrub stairs’ “. Another one she told was: “When you were checked by a doctor, if you were found to be sick, your coat was marked with chalk. A little girl had been separated because of said chalk mark, and was very scared. A man came up to her and said ‘Turn your coat inside out and join your family.’ “. Although I did not get to experience this for myself, I can imagine being an immigrant would be very difficult, leaving everything behind for a cramped boat ride to an unfamiliar place. Transitions are hard for people, and one in which you leave home, possibly forever, seems strenuous.
16. Carley Salerno January 24, 2013 at 5:46 pm

    “Lovely Lady Liberty
    With her book of recipes.
    And the finest one she’s got
    Is the Great American Melting Pot.
    What good ingredients,
    Liberty and immigrants.”
    – Schoolhouse Rock, “Great American Melting Pot”

    I love the Melting Pot theory- I always end up picturing the little cartoon in Schoolhouse Rock showing the Statue of Liberty with a little recipe book and a big pot with people jumping in and swimming around. My family is an example of the Melting Pot theory. My grandfather and his parents came from Vienna, Austria, and my grandmother’s parents came from Italy. My grandmother went back and forth between Italy and America. This also shows the Anglo-Conformity theory – my grandmother’s parents had to struggle to learn English, while my grandmother learned it much faster and much easier. My grandma still knows a little Italian but has spoken perfect English since she learned it, but her mother had forgotten most of the English she knew by the time she died. Same thing happened with my grandpa’s mother. I still have many relatives I’ve never met in Italy and Austria.
    Now that I think about it, the Melting Pot theory seems to be more in effect today than it did when immigration was really going on. There may not be as much immigration as there was during the immigration boom, but the ideals that they theory shows such as the religious and ethnic acceptance are extremely prominent today, especially in my generation. Unfortunately for back then, many places were not as accepting as it seemed. Although people weren’t exactly persecuted, there was still the segregation and the discontent of the “native” American people. It took a long time, but I think that America has finally become the Melting Pot that so many people pictured. I don’t think the Anglo-Conformity theory will ever completely go away – but it’s mostly for communication purposes. It’s not about religion conversion or culture assimilation anymore – an immigrant’s main concern (culture-wise) is to learn English and be able to communicate with others around them.
17. Maggie Davis January 24, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    Personally, I think America is the most unique in terms of racial blends. No where in the world will you find citizens with as much mixed heritage as in America, and I think that’s something to be proud of. The Melting Pot theory is a true representation of race in America, and can be proved by asking almost anyone around you. I don’t think I have ever heard of someone who was more than 2nd generation of their family in America and was not of at least 2 different races. I can relate to this, because my ancestors come from a large mix of many European countries. My family is of French, Irish, English, Scottish, German, Welsh, Polish, and Swedish descent. One of my best friends is of Italian, Polish, and Irish descent, and another of Serbian, Italian, Croatian and Canadian descent. All of these different races blend together to make Americans, and that’s something that you just won’t find in other countries.
    I also believe in cultural pluralism, or the idea that when a certain racial or ethnic group immigrates, they tend to clump together in the same place. This can be seen in many places around Michigan. Examples of this in the metro-Detroit area are the high populations of Muslims in Dearborn, Chaldeans in Detroit, African Americans in Detroit, Poles in Hamtramck, Irish in Corktown, Mexicans in Mexicantown, and Greeks in Greektown. Many of these groups preserve their culture as well, with a blend of values and traditions from their old country and their new country. This blend of cultures in cultural pluralism also circles back around and contributes to the Melting Pot theory, in that there are many different races living in one area, and although they are clumped together individually, they are bound to be mixed.
18. Seth Rosen January 24, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    America. Land of the free and opportunity; the reason why so many people wanted to leave their own mother land and start a new life. Actually getting to America and making a living was much easier said than done. Going through Ellis Island was a pain in tuches. You were basically given a new name if the person at customs could not pronounce your name, and you would most likely become sick after you passed your physical. Once you get through the hell known as Ellis Island, you enter the world’s largest melting pot, New York City. The place where minorities are the majority. There are countless stories of immigrants coming to New York such as; God Father part II, The Lost City, Angela’s Ashes, Coming to America, Gangs of New York, etc. All of these movies show how people came from the slums of hell to living in the big life (except for Coming to America), aka “The American Dream”. My family, however, did not come through Ellis Island. My family came through on the Gilded Lady, the 13 colonies biggest slave ship at the time. Roger Rosen was the slave name given to DaVoine Showerhandle. DaVoine was from a tribe located in present day Sierra Leone. DaVoine was the tribe leader along with his wife DeShawné Klondike. Months before the Revolutionary War, DaVoine was taken from the village late at night, only to wake up in chains on the Gilded Lady. DaVoine ended up being a slave on Henry Lee III’s plantation. Henry Lee was Robert E. Lee’s dad. Unfortunately, when DaVoine died so did all traces of our African heritage. DaVoine did remarry while on the Lee plantation and had five kids. He married Jennifer Lawrence and his kids were, Jalen, Chris, Juwan, Jimmy, and Ray. I come from the Juwan side of the family. All I know is that Jalen and Chris ran away, while Jimmy and Ray were sold at auction. Juwan was sold to a family in New York. The family would try to make Juwan as “white” as possible and try to get him as far away from his African roots. Juwan ended up marrying a Jew by the name of Barbra Streisand. Juwan from then on raised his kids in a white Jewish manner, leaving no trace of Africa what so ever.
    America is a great big melting pot. Some people like it while others try to change it by making everyone the same. My family ended up getting losing their native ties, while most just spice theirs up by jumping into the pot.
19. Kelsey Nowak January 24, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    America is most certainly the melting pot. When tracing back my family tree, I can find all sorts of different backgrounds. I know my grandma on my mother’s side used to live in West Virginia with her coal mining family and when you trace back her family, you can find English and Irish in there. I know my mother’s side of the family has been here for a while so it’s hard to tell when and where they first came to America. I know for a fact that they have integrated themselves into American culture well and that can kind of go along with the Anglo-Conformity idea. Not knowing for sure when your family came to America is kind of a weird concept for me. I also don’t have any idea from where and when my dad’s family came here because he doesn’t really know himself. It is sort of weird for me to think about just because as I grew up, I seemed to realize that almost everyone else had some story of how their grandparents or great grandparents came to the United States. Comparatively, I know for a fact that some of my friends are first generation children in America. I feel as if they kind of fit in with the cultural pluralism idea in the fact that they and their families have learned English while still retaining their culture. They learned their English along with the language their family came from and speak it often. Some of them eat foods that are special to their culture and they enjoy both American culture while keeping true to their own. It’s interesting to hear some of my friends speak in another language or here an accent from their parents because while it is totally different from what my lifestyle is like, I know that they are completely American. Just in a different way.
20. Sherami Fernando January 24, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    People want to fit in, they want to feel as though they belong somewhere, and it’s a given to think that immigrants would group together as well. We have religious and cultural communities that meet together and live by each other, and we see it every day as Cultural Pluralism. My family moved from country to country once I was born, eventually settling in America. We chose to live in Michigan because of the already existing connections to friends that live around this area, as well as a temple that was near-by where we knew many of our other friends attended. Another characteristic of Cultural Pluralism that I can vouch for is how the newer generations inch by inch, abandon their traditional roots and blend into the American culture.

    I can whole heartedly agree on this because truthfully, I have done this myself and hadn’t even realized it yet until I read this passage. I was not born in America but I’ve lived here for the majority of my life and I feel that there is no difference in saying if I was “born” here or not. For me, America is and always will be home. Jane Addams had said in her biography that children of the newer immigrants had looked down upon their parents who maybe couldn’t speak English as well as their children could, and couldn’t adapt as quickly and merge into the melting-pot of American culture, causing the children to alienate their generations from the older. Jane Addams also said however, that by teaching and showing the younger generation prized points in their ancestral culture and practices, the children slowly but surely restored the sense of pride they originally had in their culture and religion.

    This blog ties in with things that are happening in my life right now that I never thought twice about before. I realized, and am ashamed to say that I have looked down upon my culture and country. Just as Jane Addams showed the younger generation the prized traditions of the older community, my family is planning a trip back to my home country over the summer to try and restore that same sense of pride in me that seems to be lost forever.

    I want to and do believe that America is a kaleidoscope of different cultures and religions as well as a melting pot. I believe that America is accepting of the differences brought into its borders though we cannot, and should not, ignore the fact that America has not yet reached complete equality and cannot be dubbed as an undivided safe haven of refuge and security. But it is unfair to now redub America as a country of un-acceptance. The melting pot theory is blatantly obvious even when considering someplace as simple as our school. The people themselves are a melting pot and entire books could be written solely on their past and family trees. To be honest I can see all three of these theories as plausible arguments, which is probably why they are called theories. Of the three, Cultural Pluralism and the Melting Pot seemed the most up front to me though Anglo-Conformity is very plausible to me as well.
21. Tamia W January 24, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    I believe that cultural pluralism is a substitute to the melting pot. Cultural pluralism is the idea that specific ethnic groups have the rights to exist on their own terms within the larger society while retaining their unique cultural heritages. One example is the United States itself. America has a relatively strong prevailing culture which includes strong origins of nationalism or cultures. In cultural pluralism, groups of many kinds not only co-exist side by side, but also contemplate talents of other groups as behaviors worth having in their own culture. While visiting a college with my cousin this past fall for example, I could help but notice all of the different nationalities that existed with the campus. It made me realized that mostly all colleges welcome many international students each year. Diversity in a campus allows students to meet people through classes, in the dorms, or through friends and it happens naturally. If the student body is diverse, then mingling between groups occurs naturally, as it should, but still allows students to follow any religion they please and learn from different ethnicities while doing so, thus allowing cultural pluralism to take place. Different ethnic groups have learned from one another, thereby broadening their views on art, cuisine, education, history, music, and other aspects of life. On another note, America was described as the melting pot because of that the different people from all over “melting together” into a whole. It describes the merging of different nationalities, ethnicities and cultures. It also deals with immigration and colonization by which different nationalities, cultures and races were to blend into a new, righteous community and it was connected to the visions of the rise of an American new man. This reminds me of all of my brother’s high school stories. As only one of the many students attending his school, there were obviously different mixtures of races and nationalities. He recalled that a friend, who in which was Mexican, parents where extremely serious about their religion. His friend however, wasn’t really too concerned or into his religion. He had basically lived in America his whole life because he was too young to remember his time spent in Mexico, so he was more accustomed to the average American’s beliefs and practices. This represents the idea of the melting pot because it followed the belief that the view that immigrants should assimilate to American culture by abandoning their own cultures, languages, and other traditions.
22. Daniel Oleynik January 24, 2013 at 7:49 pm

    One example I’ve seen is cultural pluralism. The biggest example you can find is in New York. There are different sections based on ethnicities. There’s Chinatown, Brooklyn, and Queens. Each city has their ethnic population. Chinatown consists of the Chinese culture. Brooklyn has a Russian ethnicity background and Queens has a mostly Italian background. The only difference is that I don’t believe that the children of the new generation looked down on their parents. I believe that they may not have understood them, but I believe that is normal in any teenage relationship with their parents. I especially saw cultural pluralism when I went down to Brooklyn myself about 2 years ago. From what I saw, most everyone spoke Russian, there were Russian stores everywhere and it was hard not to see a Russian store as you looked around.
    At the same time, I believe that our country is a huge melting pot. In no other country will you find such a huge diversity of race, religion and ethnicity. Nowhere else will you find such acceptance for other races and find as much outcries against discrimination. Even if populations are concentrated in certain areas, these areas combine into on great pot of diversity. Once you take an example of the ships most immigrants came in, this idea is even more understandable. Immigrants resided in ships with other immigrants from other countries, who spoke other languages and had only one major thing in common, they were going to America. Ask any high-schooler with ancestors who came during the 1700s -1900s and you will find a great amount of ethnicity in their blood.
    America is a country not of people, but of immigrants. Immigrants came from the country in the 1700s and established all the way into the 2000s to make it what it is today. Even though they do settle in their clumps in different sections of America, the country lives on as a huge melting pot.
23. Sarah F January 24, 2013 at 8:13 pm

    America is indeed a massive melting pot of many different race and cultures. My own family contains a large mixture in itself. When my mother was a 14 year old girl living in Taipei, Taiwan, her father decided one day that they were going to move halfway across the world to America. This move was due to the failing economic and political government in Taiwan. My mom and her family didn’t know a single word of English when they first arrived and it was very difficult to learn a new language then without the ESL school programs we have today. My grandpa was offered a hotel to own, and he took it while his 6 sons and daughters learned a new language in a new country. Two of my uncles ended up being Valedictorians’ in high school and all six of them graduated from either MSU or U of M to become successful in life. On my dad’s side, there are many different stories of immigration, but the one I know best is how my great-great grandparents came to live in America. Molly Burstein was 16 years old when her family was persecuted for being Jews. Her parents were unable to escape their small town outside of Kiev, Russia, but they knew that their daughter would be able to get away. They gave Molly a small amount of money to travel across the continent to get to the Atlantic Ocean, where she boarded a ship that would take her to America. Once Molly arrived in the states, she was taken through Ellis Island where she was processed and let in as an American immigrant. While in America, she met a man named Harry, who was also a jewish immigrant from Europe, and they got married and had my great grandmother at the age of 20. Without immigration I would very likely not be here today, America would not be America without the many different cultures from across the world.
24. Ethan Carrick January 24, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    The two theories that I have seen are Anglo-Conformity and Cultural Pluralism. I have seen Anglo-Conformity at church and everywhere I go. Many churches are orthodox or non-orthodox, but I have seen many different types of those churches such as the Korean Lutheran Church on 14 mile, or the many Arabic churches, or even the occasional mosque. These churches haven’t conformed to the English language or American style churches. I see more Anglo-Conformity wherever I go because at many places I will hear many accents from foreign looking people speaking English. There’s one thing that I’ve noticed and it’s that no matter who you talk to the other person will always have a different speaking style and accent making them recognizable by a single word. The thought of making every person in America have the same accent is weird to me because their voice won’t match their appearance. The second theory of Cultural Pluralism is seen in America even today. One of the main barriers is language and I’ve noticed that at groves I will hear and see clicks of people who speak the same language stick together and not converse with anybody else. Maybe that’s why every American should try to learn another language, so that the language barrier between people will be shortened allowing not only foreign people to be comfortable in America, but allowing Americans to be comfortable around foreign people. The way people look also makes clicks. As everyone knows there is the African-American click and the White click. I also have seen the Buddhist community on 12 mile where Buddhists can live in their own cultural communities. Personally my family is the perfect melting pot because we are all European. My mom’s mom is Slovakian, her dad is German, my dad’s mom is Dutch, and his dad is Irish and Scottish. All of my great-grandparents moved to America from foreign countries so all of my grandparents are 100% their nationality. The speaking barrier has been removed because all of my grandparents speak fluent English and they therefore don’t have an accent. You could never guess where they’re from by their voice. When it comes down to the kids of our generation, I’ve found that everyone is mixed, we’re all part of the American Melting Pot.
25. Michael Shi January 24, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    Both of my parents are immigrants from China, part of the current wave of immigrants coming to America from Asia and Eastern Europe. Cultural pluralism and the idea of America being a melting pot are the two theories that I have seen in my family. When they first came to America, my parents faced many challenges, the most prominent being their lack of mastery of the English language. It was more difficult and uncomfortable for them to communicate in English, so they decided to keep to their own ethnic group. My parents banded together with exclusively other Chinese immigrants to create a community that consisted of all Chinese immigrants and their children, which is exactly what the theory of cultural pluralism predicts will happen. Immigrants from the same region share the same culture, history, and most importantly, the same language. The language barrier that almost all immigrants have unite them and separate them from their surroundings. However, the children of these immigrants grow up with a mastery of English and do not face the same challenges that their parents did. These children grow up surrounded by the culture of the United States and are influenced only slightly by their parents’ background and therefore are able to assimilate into American society much more easily and break free of the ethnic groups that their parents had created, thus adding to the “melting pot” that America contains. These immigrants all bring something different to this “melting pot” from their own cultures and these elements are integrated into American pop culture. Common American food, for example, contains foods from all over the world. Pizza, tacos, and pasta are all extremely common foods found in America borrowed from other parts of the world and brought to America by immigrants. Immigrants brought many of the things we use every day to America and are an integral part of America.
26. Eleni Kondak January 24, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    In my family, I am the third generation of American born kids on my mother’s side, and the second on my dad’s. My mom’s grandfather came from Scotland when he was 19, living first in southern Canada before moving to Detroit a few years later. He met my great grandmother, who had moved from Germany with her family when she was young, after less than one year in the city. My dad’s mother was younger than ten when she, her parents, and her four siblings moved to the States from a small village in Greece. They owned a grocery store, worked by the family that they later gave up due to the overwhelming competition of a larger store coupled with the death of my great grandmother, who was the bones (and the financial head) of the store.
    As for the theories about immigrants and immigration as a whole, I think the idea of Anglo-Conformity is an idea that is widely used still in common day. The very one sided opinion (most often from people criticizing immigrants without realizing that more likely than not, they themselves are the children of immigrants) that people who immigrate from their home country should like it as it is, no opinion, no input, nothing. Furthermore, that if they don’t like it, they should go back to where they came from. This state of mind says that if you want something that you don’t have, don’t bother, we won’t give it to you, and we don’t want your ideas either, so get.
    But I’ve also seen the concept of Cultural Pluralism. My cousin’s girlfriend, Ashley, is first generation American. Both of her parents were born in Thailand, and moved to the states shortly before the birth of her older brother. She and her brother – despite the ordeal of “No, we’re not Chinese” – fit into the life of an (albeit poor) American child hood. Their parents, not as much. While their children were quickly picking up fluent English, they were struggling to communicate with the others in their community. Ashley remembers from her early teens fighting with her mother about adopting American culture, instead of the traditional Thai rituals her parents still used. Now she says she wishes she had learned more of the language and culture when she was a kid. She’s been fit into the Anglo mould, and she can’t quite break out.
27. Cooper Peters-Wood January 24, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    As I was reading through this prompt, the immigration theory that instantly made me think of examples of where I see it in action is Cultural Pluralism Theory. The first think I thought of was China Town in California, and then places more close to home. Look at Detroit for example, it contains many distinctly different cultural sections that are dominantly settled by the immigrants or descendents of immigrants that are all from one unique country or region. Examples include Mexican Town (Dominantly Mexican), Greek Town (Also self explanatory), and Hamtramck (Which was originally settled by mainly Polish immigrants, but now a large population of Islamic people have moved in.) Dearborn, which is very close to Detroit, has the highest population of Muslims outside of the Middle East and Africa, which is very surprising. And going off of the fact from the prompt that said Irish people who settled in the Boston area, Boston’s basketball team just happens to be named the Celtics. It is easily seen that my mind had a field day when I read this theory, and as I kept writing down my ideas more and more kept coming to me. The second theory that really produced some examples (Although not as many as Cultural Pluralism) was the Melting Pot theory. My Family has an interesting History, I’m 1/8 English, 1/8 English, ¼ Polish, and ¼ German. This basically illustrates the incredibly diverse people that came to our country over the years, and eventually assimilated into the “American Breed”. My Grandfather’s family came from Poland in the early 1900’s. His father was born in Poland and grew up in America. His family has a very typical story, with a very typical goal to try to become “as American as possible”. My Grandpa, with his father’s permission, changed his last name from Piotrowski to just Peters in the seventies. My father was in kindergarten and remembers the struggle of having to remember that his named had changed. My Grandpa, who was American born made the decision to change his Polish name, and “completely Americanize himself.” That is my interesting Family assimilation, semi-melting pot theory story and history
28. Monique Hakam January 24, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    America has many immigrants. No one is truly American, unless they are completely Native American. All “Americans” initially immigrated from Europe or another country to America, hoping to seek perhaps a better life with new/other opportunities.
    My family is made up of many immigrants. My father was not born in America, and my grandparents on my mother’s side were also immigrants as well. So therefore, I have experienced the melting pot theory. Not everyone is purely American, and even though some are American-born citizens, they are, in fact, European is some way or another.
    I have also experience cultural provisions. Much of my family on my father’s side came from another country, and so when they came to America they didn’t know much of what to do. Naturally, they all stuck together at first because they didn’t really know where to begin. And it’s hard beginning all by yourself in a new country. But eventually, they got used to American life and began to join in on American things, but they still stick together with other people they have met from their country. I feel that they are most comfortable with people from their country, and this is probably to be expected with most people. In a land that’s foreign and new, it’s good to have some of the old to fall back on.
    In every American, there is a European (going back to the melting pot theory). No matter how many generations between them there is, somewhere in there, there is a European (or another nationality). Not everyone’s culture is the same, and that’s why I think America is such a good melting pot. Not everyone is completely equal yet, but I feel like we’re getting there. After all, we all came to America with a hope and a dream, so there’s really no difference between a new immigrant and an old American.
29. Becky Simonov January 24, 2013 at 9:58 pm

    As a first generation Jewish Russian American, I have had the privilege of growing up with two parallel cultures. My parents were both born in the capital of the Soviet Union, Moscow. The Soviet Union was a nation that, while promoting atheism, had rather prominent intolerance and anti-Semitism. In 1991, fearing future prosecution, my parents left Russia for America along with my brother and my grandmother. Arriving in Detroit could definitely be described as one of culture shock – suddenly there were stores with huge quantities of food and a completely new sense of the freedom to start life anew. My parents embraced the American culture and worked to learn English and gain employment. While this could be described as Anglo-Conformity, this was really more of American-Conformity, as they adapted to a world where there was religious freedom and a very different culture. Jewish holidays such as Passover only began to be celebrated by my family once they immigrated to the United States. Today, my family does not eat all Russian food, quite the contrary, we eat foods from a mix of cultures and partake in activities that would not be done in Russia. If embracing a new life that is better than the old can be considered conformity, then my family has conformed to America. However, despite our Americanization, there are definite traces of Cultural Pluralism right here in the Metro Detroit area. There is a reason that my family settled in Detroit, and that is because there is a very large Russian-Jewish population here. My family was helped in starting out their new lives by the Jewish Federation, which helped them get a temporary apartment as well as providing counseling and organizing English classes. This is not entirely unlike the third wave of immigration that occurred in America between 1880-1924. Even today, our closest family friends are fellow Russians and my Grandma socializes primarily with people of her age who also moved to America. In this way, I suppose it could be said that ethnic groups do have a way of clumping together.
30. Laine Boitos January 24, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    I believe that America’s experiences with immigration, and all of the factors surrounding it, have greatly helped our nation to become a more tolerant place. My own cultural background does not really lend itself to any particular immigration theories, because my family is comprised of a big mix of nationalities. However, in my daily life, and especially at school, I notice a lot of cultural pluralism. I have a lot of Jewish friends, and over the years I have seen that they tend to group together a lot. Many clubs and out of school activities are geared to mainly Jewish people, and I think it’s great! One of these groups that I have been able to participate in is Friendship Circle. It’s headed out of a temple in West Bloomfield, and students and adults are able to help out with special needs children. Some of my friends also attend camps that are mainly Jewish, where they are able to practice their faith. I enjoyed being integrated into the culture when I attended bat mitzvahs and also attending a lot of the Friendship Circle events. More than anything, the melting pot theory applies to almost any situation. I guess that my family would be seen as a melting pot, otherwise we wouldn’t have a variety of cultures. My Dad’s side of the family is 50% Romanian, and 50% French. I have never really learned about when my ancestors immigrated to America, but I do know that my great-grandfather on my dad’s side came from Romania when he was young. My Mom’s side, on the other hand, is almost a hundred percent Irish. She was raised as a strict Catholic, and always practiced and followed the traditional Irish beliefs. Society in itself can be seen as one big melting pot. Our nation should be proud to be home to so many different races and religions. Walking down the street, I can always hear at least one group of people speaking a different language, or another person dressed in their native garments. Being able to blend into our community as one group made up of so many different people is a feat in it’s own right. I am proud to live in a country where I am able to witness so many different cultures and ways of life.
31. geoffwickersham (Post author) January 24, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    I would agree that America is melting pot with many different cultures that operate as one. An example of the melting pot theory is my grandpa. He came to America as a young Jewish immigrant from Austria in November of 1939. For those who know their World War II history, getting to America from Austria as a Jew during this time was extremely difficult and rare. He and his parents got their visas the day before they were supposed to report to the train station to eventually be sent to concentration camp. Through a series of remarkable events, my grandpa and his parents were able to escape from the Nazis to a country where they would be safe. This country was America. Once they had arrived in America, my grandpa did not know any English, only German. He studied hard and was able to learn English fast and very well. Knowing him now, you would think that he has known English his whole life because of the eloquence with which he writes and speaks. He came to America when he was thirteen years old; however, by the time he was eighteen, he was able to get a full scholarship to Harvard. I do not believe that any random individual would be able to get into Harvard after speaking English for only five years, but his story shows you that the opportunities are there, and they are waiting to be taken. My grandfather is a living example of America as a melting pot, where many people from many places can make a better life and escape from the horrors from which they came.
    Cultural pluralism also goes hand in hand with America as a melting pot. For example, my dad’s brother’s wife, also known as my aunt, is Korean. Every Thanksgiving, my grandma makes some turkey, my uncle brings mash potatoes, and someone brings about five pumpkin pies (my family is huge). However, this is not the food that I look forward to at Thanksgiving. I look forward to the sushi and chap chae (a Korean noodle dish) every year. Although my aunt is American, she keeps her Korean background alive with cooking and language. Therefore, my cousin speaks fluent English and fluent Korean, and speaking different languages with the different sides of her family. Also, my aunt and my cousin travel together to Korea to visit my aunt’s family. My aunt and my cousin are prime examples of Americans who keep their heritage alive while also participating in typical American things.

    Julia B.
32. Elizabeth Lohr January 24, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    Upon reflection, I realized that Cultural Pluralism was actually something I had experienced fairly recently. I recall from my sixth grade science class, there were a few French kids that had recently moved from France. They seemed nice but were a little quiet among everyone else in the class who were speaking English. But when they were together, they were a chatty bunch. It’s not that they necessarily did not want to accept our language or culture, because if you think about it, if you traveled to a country where everyone was speaking a language foreign to your tongue, the smart choice would be to stick with people who spoke the language you were familiar with. But later in the school year, they became more comfortable with how things worked. This is where the melting pot theory comes in. Not that they did not talk to us English-as-a-first language people before, they just felt more comfortable using their native tongue formerly. English became more subconscious to them and you could tell they did not have to think about how to say things as much. They branched out and each found their own friend group. One of the French kids happened to be one of my best friends. I could definitely tell she was very accepting of all things American. She usually knew more of the top forty pop music than I did and fit in perfectly with all of us other pre-teens. I know the reason she traveled to America in the first place was because her dad’s job required it, which seems to be the case with a lot of people. Unfortunately his job asked him to move again, this time to Germany. Which makes you wonder; are other countries as accepting as America is? Or is it more difficult to assimilate into their culture?
33. Zach Van Faussien January 24, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    I think the most obvious theory to me is that America is a melting pot. I myself am 75% Irish and 25% Dutch, but I think it’s safe to say that a large majority of Americans can trace their ancestry back to many different places. My ancestors on my dad’s side came over in the early 1700’s from Holland settling in Pennsylvania (their last name back then was actually vanvossen, voss of foss meaning fox). They moved to Michigan in around the 1830s where they settled in Jackson County. While I was reading the Van Faussien family tree, dating back all the way to the 18th century, it is clear that when they came to America they certainly assimilated into society, as one descendant joined the state legislature. And also they weren’t afraid to marry outside of their same ethnic background. On my mother’s side, the O’Donnell’s(my grandmother’s maiden name), they came directly to Detroit from Kilarney, Ireland in 1854 and lived in Corktown. The Storen’s(my mother’s maiden name) came from Ireland in 1863 to Joliet, Illinois. They moved to Highland Park in 1910. And my great-great uncle Mark E Storen was the mayor of Highland Park in 1956. And my great-great grandpa was an All-American Football Player UofD. I disagree with the cultural pluralism theory because I think when immigrants come to America, they are looking for a fresh new start and they want to become a part of American culture. I also think that is what makes America so great that we can all set aside our ethnic/religious backgrounds and work together in this nation. The phrase “with liberty and justice for all” I think attracts many immigrants, because they can come here with virtually nothing to their name and become successful in life. O’Donnell’s came from Kilarney, Ireland came 1854 to Detroit lived in Corktown, Storen’s grandpas grandpa’s dad came in 1863 to Illinois, moved to Detroit in 1910 lived in Highland Park.
34. Will Briggs January 24, 2013 at 10:43 pm

    America is a melting pot in the large scale, for example in Groves, we have a diverse group of people, many foreign students, and we all mix our knowledge and culture. In the Country as a whole, we have such a diverse rich culture that we’ve created for ourselves. My personal favorite mix of cultures is Tex-Mex. ITS REALLY GOOD! Because of the immigration from Mexico into the southern border states have brought not just cheap labor, but also over time, it brought us food. Fajitas, chimichangas, and a heavy emphasis on cheese and beef, all originated out of Tex-Mex. The reason these foods became popular was actually because of the large amount of cattle farmers around the Rio Grande. But, while we’re looking at food to show us a melting pot, let’s use it to show us Cultural Pluralism. In Detroit, Chicago, and almost any major city in the US with a large amount of immigrants have little bits of the city named after them. China Town, Mexican Town, they all spring up because of these large groups of one ethnicity. However, in all these areas there is plenty of Anglo-Conformity to be found. For example, on my mom’s side of the family, my Great Uncle moved here from Hungary during in the early 1880s, to the Bronx, where he quickly had to learn English to work. This also turns into a bit of a mixing pot when we run into languages like Spanglish, where the old generation couldn’t or refused to completely learn English. In the end we have these little towns all very different, but still similar. So, even though we do have these separated little pieces of the Old World, they all culminate into this huge overall culture that we call America.
35. Melissa Hall January 24, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    From the experiences I have had and from hearing about my ancestors I have realized how much I connect to these immigrant theories. Anglo-Conformity and Cultural Pluralism were two theories that have taken place and witnessed either in the past by my ancestors or in present day with my very own eyes.
    Cultural Pluralism recognizes the fact that when new immigrant groups come to the United States, the groups tend to clump together in similar groups based on language, culture, and region. In present day we still see this happen with many different ethnic group and religions. I have seen this all over my community. I have many friends whose parents are Jewish, and their ancestors came from Russia to America as Russian Jews. Their ancestors carried on their traditions and culture, and it is continued on from this day. Some of the Jewish friends I have go to a Private Jewish school, which is very different from a normal public school. They are taught Hebrew and about the Jewish Culture along with normal academics. This shows Cultural Pluralism because they preserve a lifestyle in American society but still preserve their culture and traditions.
    I am also able to relate to the immigration theory called Anglo-Conformity. This theory concerns itself with the adoption of Anglo-American institutions like the English culture and customs. Also Anglo-Saxon Protestants preserve their religion. My ancestors were exposed to the negative attitudes this theory has towards other ethnic groups. My mom’s aunt married a man and they were both of Russian Jewish descent. They had gotten married in America and lived in a Jewish area in the Detroit area. They decided they wanted to move to Bloomfield Hills and build a new house. During this time, a large majority of Bloomfield Hills was Anglo-Saxon Protestant. They met with a realtor and when he was showing land for them to build on the first question that he asked was, “So, what church do you belong to?”. My mom’s aunt and uncle had to respond with the truth that they were Jewish, and did not belong to one. With that question answered, the deal for building their new home fell through because the owner was an Anglo-Saxon Protestant and refused to sell to Jews. This situation shows the negative side of the Anglo-Conformity, but proves how strongly they believed in the English language, culture and customs, and the Protestant religion.
    I learned many new things when trying to relate my family to these 3 theories. These 3 theories show the diversity of culture, religion and language all over the U.S.A. As my life progresses, I am starting to be exposed to more people of different cultures, and watching the immigration theories evolve around me.
36. Meredith Hawkins January 24, 2013 at 11:29 pm

    Through family stories and history, I can conclude that America is a melting pot of many different ethnicities which can naturally bring out examples our cultural pluralism. With so many people of different backgrounds living within the United States everyone has an opportunity to show their individuality and express their culture. Unfortunately though, with so many different heritages, sometimes it can be hard to relate to others and you just crave a sense of home with people like you. For example, a neighbor family of mine is from France and in France they don’t celebrate Halloween like we do here. For the adults and tweens of America it isn’t much of a holiday but the French families get all excited about it because they don’t get a chance to experience it back home. They throw a huge costume party and invite a bunch of other French families over. The costumes they wear are really elaborated and decorated because Halloween is almost a new experience for them. One of the main reasons I’m so proud of the country I live in is because of its diversity. Just look at groves, we have people from all over the world and of all different religions coexisting in one school and one society. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that it was always like this. People nowadays are much more accepting of others than people used to be. My mom’s grandpa was originally from Italy and came over to America through Ellis Island. When my mom was little her and her siblings wouldn’t tell anyone about their family history or speak Italian for fear that they might get made fun of. We still see some of this today, such as people blaming immigrants for taking jobs and things like that but I think that our community has grown to appreciate all of the diversity, as we should.
37. Darab Khan January 24, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    One of the most evident immigration theories in America is the melting pot theory. The outcome of America being such a huge melting pot is all around us. For example even if you look at our school, you will see many different racial and ethical backgrounds and that’s just in one building. I personally am not that ethnically mixed since both my parents are from Pakistan. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and yet everyone can get along. (Other than extremist groups) America was the place to go where you can keep your background and also be able to become “Americanized.” And that is what I believe America has become a blend of everything. You could come here without knowing any English and if you worked hard, and put your mind to the right stuff, you most likely made it somewhere in life. That’s what separated us from everyone else we were a land of equal opportunity. Another theme that is evident in American society is that of cultural pluralism. It can be easily identified throughout America. For example the many Chinatowns that are spread across the US. And then there are many examples here in Michigan, Mexicantown, Greektown, Dearborn (Muslims), and Hamtramck (used to be Polish but now is a lot more diverse like a melting pot) to name a few. I guess it kind of makes sense that this would happen too. Imagine that you move to a new place where everything is totally different than what you are used to. How would you feel? I would be pretty scared and cautious. So it makes sense to be around people from your own culture cause it makes you feel safe and more at home in a way. This is especially true for people who moved here at an older age and who were used to their own culture. That’s why I think cultural plurism occurs.
38. Sam January 24, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    As far as I have been informed, my family (extended) has experienced both the “melting pot” and “Cultural Pluralism”. However, the “melting pot” theory is a tad bit stretched to fit the situation. In 1999, my Aunt and Uncle brought home a healthy little Chinese baby to their home in Syracuse, New York. Her name was Hannah, and only being two years old she did not understand the physical differences she possessed than of her parents. Yet soon, as the years went by she became comfortable and natural with her new surroundings. Yes, I do understand that Hannah might not have been old enough to make a conscious effort to “mix” into society, yet she did so naturally, which I believe proves the “melting pot” theory even further. Another example is my new cousin, Kham. Kham is originally from Lois and moved hear when she was 7 years old. She then began to grow up in a life far away from what she knew: South Carolina. She told us how she attend public school and was bullied as a child. Many years later she married into my family, and integrated perfectly.
    As for “Cultural Pluralism” my family experienced this a long time ago. My mom really enjoys genealogy, therefore she knows a lot about our family history. She discovered that in 1630, an immigrant came over to America to find religious peace. His name was Jonas Weed and he arrived on the Arabella, with the very first Puritan group. He traveled to Boston, Connecticut, before finally settling down in in Norwalk. Weed and his remaining followers slowly became acclimated into the environment of the city, yet still remained a strong bonded group. Interesting enough, Jonas Weed had seven sons that traveled to different corners of the United States. Jenna Weed and I are related because our grandfathers (a lot of greats) were brothers. In my family we have experienced both “melting pot” and “Cultural Pluralism” in both the past and present.
39. Oliver Hartzell January 24, 2013 at 11:41 pm

    It’s very evident that America is a land of immigrants. I tend to believe that America is a melting pot of all different cultures and nationalities that makes up the American culture of today. My family is a intense mix of a lot of different nationalities and none of my direct family that’s alive today were immigrants. Though I do have an aunt who immigrated to America from Poland when she was young, with her family, but that is all the information I know about that. her and My Uncle’s children are proof of cultural mixing though because they are half Polish, then half mix of everything else imaginable, maybe even African, though i doubt it. Back on topic, I believe America is a melting pot because almost everyone you meet nowadays that was born in America is a mix of many nationalities. For example, I am a mix of German, English, Polish, Slovakian, Italian, French, German, and Mexican. My great grandparent’s on my dad’s mom’s side were both immigrants. My great grandfather came from Italy, and my Great grandmother came from Poland. I’ve been told they met at a grocery store because my great grandmother’s father owned it and my great grandfather worked there. Then he asked her father if he could marry her and was given approval, so they got married. My great grandfather then built a house with his bare hands that is in Royal Oak today and being lived in still today, but not by my family.
    I also sort of agree with the Anglo-Conformity idea, but not completely. I think of it more as an American-Conformity ideal because the immigrants today don’t give up their whole heritage and culture for that of Anglo-American culture. They come here and decide what’s best for them, and try to become successful, thus filling out the American Dream. an example would again be my Aunt who came from Poland. She can speak English very well and she wears clothes that normal Americans would wear. She mixed in with an American family but, she still can speak Polish fluently and makes Polish dishes at parties and get-together s. This is proof of American assimilation or American- Conformity. booya.
40. Michael Trease January 25, 2013 at 12:52 am

    In my opinion, there is a combination of Cultural Pluralism, Anglo-Conformity, and the Melting Pot Theory in modern society. Although there is a much more ample presence of open-mindedness in today’s society, many people in the United States believe that the Anglo-American ways are the only ways to assimilate into our nation’s society. A great number of people in the United States believe that immigrants from Middle Eastern countries bring violence and hate with them into the United States as they assimilate into American society, rather than adapt the “moral” values of a “Christian nation”. On a personal note relating to the idea of Anglo-Conformity, my friend Arvan’s father immigrated to Australia (where I have previously lived, and a society somewhat comparable to the United States) from Iran to escape the irrational and even psychotic and delusional Islamic society as to enter a more rational and open-minded society. He had brought some Iranian culture with him to Australia that was neither harmful nor detrimental to society. The great numbers of people in the United States that desire Anglo-Conformity most likely have not been around many foreigners and have only been exposed to the terrible and delusional people of Middle Eastern societies through watching television. There is also an ample amount of Cultural Pluralism in modern society, as groups of different ethnicities still tend to clump together. Examples of this in metro Detroit include the large Arab-American population in Dearborn and the large Asian-American population in Sterling Heights. Immigrants desire to clump together in these various areas as they might feel overwhelmed being the minority in an area such as Birmingham or Fenton. However, as time passes, people of various ethnic groups begin to become less clumped together in certain communities and become more impacted by cultures of other ethnicities through various influences and interactions.
41. Aliyah McIlwain January 25, 2013 at 1:15 am

    Although I am a proud American, I am also a proud descendant of many other origins. My father’s side is composed of African slaves who I’m sure was mixed with a little Irish maybe Scottish and eventually Cherokee Indian. On my mother’s side is composed for the most part the same as my father’s side except my grandfather’s grand or great-grandparents are from Barbados. My family is the ultimate melting pot. Even with all of these nationalities and maybe more we still share one culture- American. Some traditions are still observed within my family, like my mother’s side is Roman Catholic and we still continue most Catholic traditions, like making your First Communion, Conformation and other 5/4 sacraments, Midnight mass on Christmas. And in general in my family there are things done or rather celebrate unique to, well, African- American culture in this country. Certain traditions in my family are observed because of a certain origin, but there are more traditions observed by just being an American family.
    I also believe cultural pluralism exist in American culture. In a way you could think of racism and segregation as an example of cultural pluralism. Like how sometimes Dearborn is associated with people of Middle- Eastern descent, or how most of the African- American kids in our own school cluster around each other. A form of cultural pluralism is also demonstrated in certain colleges (i.e. Historically Black College and Universities, Catholic Universities, Jewish Universities). Especially with HBCU’s most times people chose to go there for a sense of security in the fact that most if not all of the people look, act, and speak like them. Although America is a melting pot of immigrants, its people often find ways to relate to others with something unique to just one set of people.
42. connor P. January 25, 2013 at 7:52 am

    I believe that America is shaped by the melting pot theory and cultural populism. I am of many different European descents but I am 25% Italian and a little Irish. When my ancestors moved here they all ended up grouping together with other families and friends and making some kind of society in a way. I wouldn’t say that they were rejected by American society but they definitely were seen differently. They moved into these small groups to feel a part of their own culture (like Irish is a culture) and to be among others who think the same. Some felt left out while some tried to blend in with society but couldn’t do successfully. I believe that nowadays America is considered a melting pot society. I believe it is because there are few examples of a cultural populism idea nowadays and most immigrants blend in with a few examples. A good example of how I believe that America is a melting pot society is that my neighbors are from Germany. When they moved into America they felt different and insecure. They originally tried going for a cultural populist idea but eventually learned to blend in with the American society. As of today People can barely tell their German unless they actually ask them and also People don’t discriminate against them anymore for being German. I believe that it is constantly getting easier and easier for immigrants to blend into American society and discrimination is only used jokingly now. This makes a good example of the melting pot theory because it describes the assimilation of foreigners into our country and how easy it is to end up being a part of American society. Now I do also believe that there are still a select few who feel like they are discriminated against still but I believe that there will always be discrimination in American because it’s a part of living in a society and it won’t ever 100% go away.
43. Alex Cross January 25, 2013 at 8:12 am

    I have seen both of the theories anglo conformity and cultural plurism. Anglo conformity is all over the United States in all of the many different types of churches. There are orthodox, arabic, korean, non orthodox, and sometimes you will even see a mosque here or there. These churches are different from most churches in America because they havn’t converted to the American style church. All over this country you will see many different accents as well. Wherever you go you will always notice someone who has a different accent than you. If everybody had the same exact accent in the united States, then our country wouldnt be very diverse at all. Cultural Plurism is also a theory that is clearly seen in our modern day America. All over the United States there are regions where immigrants have settled because of who they are and where they came from. A main example would be detroit. Detroit has a lot of differnt regions where groups of immigrants have settled because of where they came from. Two examples are mexican town and greek town. Both of these regions have people that mainly came from mexian immigrants or chinese immigrants from the past. The city of Hamtramck is another example. People from this region are mostly Polish descendants. Even in all schools in our country, there is groups who group together only becuase of there cultural backrground. I see it in Seaholm as well. I have seen how the Jewish kids group together a lot. I have aslo seen how there are clubs or groups just for the jewish kids such as the friendship circle group. Not everybodys culture is the same. This is why America is such a great melting pot. Everybody isnt equal but our country as a whole is trying harder to treat everybody as equal. Everybody came to America looking for a new start or oppurtunities. So all immigrants are the same in a way.
44. Maggey Hammond January 25, 2013 at 8:18 am

    America is the land of freedom where people are able to come from all different parts of the world and embrace different cultures and costumes and come together in a melting pot of diversity. Here in the Groves community, I have the privilege of interacting and meeting people of all different backgrounds. I believe this is one of the most defining elements that makes me who I am. In my immediate friend group, there are African Americans, Chinese, Indians, Jews, French, Egyptian, and Hispanic people. We may all live in different communities and have various family traditions, but by living in a land of cultural freedom, we can all embrace our differences. My family also consists of a melting pot situation, where my mother’s side and father’s side consist of different cultures and backgrounds. My mother was born in Canada and raised by her German-Canadian father who had grown up on a small farm in western Ontario. My dad was raised by his Michigan born father and an England born mother in the same town I have grown up today. Both of my parent’s different cultures and traditions, Canadian and English-American, mix together to make me who I am. My life also demonstrates the Anglo-Conformity theory, and has ever sense my ancestors traveled to America. Some of my friends have gone through the Anglo-Conformity theory, and have had their parents travel to America and keep only some of their traditions, but still try to adapt to American culture by learning English and practicing some loved American holidays, like Independence day or Labor day. My mother, who also came from a different country, has adapted to American culture by celebrating classic American holidays like Memorial day, but still enjoys celebrating Remembrance day and wearing the iconic red poppy on her jacket. My family has adapted to the American ways while also practicing old traditions, like most of the population in the melting pot we call America.
45. Isabellla Gutierrez January 25, 2013 at 8:22 am

    I think that the most relvant theory for me and my family is anglo conformity. This is because My family is 50% finish and 50% mexican. However when my Grandpa came to America from Mexico he never made my dad learn Spainish. My did did practive in many parts of the mexican culture. He did eat lots of Spanish foods and practice in spanish holidays, but he stopped being much involved after he moved out and met my mom. and moved away from Mexican Town. Ancestors from mexico date back far, however when I try to ask my grandpa about it he doesnt remeber or doesnt understand because he is old and only knows mostly spanish. My mom’s side is quite similar. We have much finish decent becuase my grandmas grandma was from finland and only spoke fin. However by the time it got down to my mother, much of the finnish heritage was lost. They both developed American ways tried to fit in with the now white population. But there is still hope. I also believe there is a little bit of cultural pluralism. Our heritages came togther. We are proud to live in this country and we still go visit my grandpa often and keep up with the mexican roots (I had a qincerea!! I love learning about the mexican culture and going to Spanish American museum to discover the art and history of my ancestors. And on my mom’s side every single time my grandma comes over she teaches us a new finnish word so we will know a lot when we visit next summer! When we go to Minnesota(where much of my family lives) We visit the church were there is still much finnish culture alll around us. So overall the theory of the immigrants in AMerica for us is a mix starting with anglo conformity, but having a mix of cultural pluralism.
46. Michelle Confer January 25, 2013 at 8:41 am

    In my own life experiences the two theories in which I have experienced the most are probably the melting pot and cultural pluralism theory. I can relate the melting pot theory to my mom’s side of the family in many ways. Like many other immigrants, her parents came to America in search of a better life. Born in Colombia, they met and got married there a few years before they left. My grandpa graduated high school there at sixteen and then became a physician in his early twenties. After being a regular MD for a few years he decided that he wanted to specialize in pathology, but that area of expertise was not needed in Colombia. So in 1960 my grandparents left and came to Springfield, Massachusetts. When they arrived they had little money, knew no one, and spoke little English. After living in Massachusetts for about a year they decided to move to Detroit after my Grandpa got into Wayne State. After graduating from Wayne State with his new degree, my grandpa got a job as a pathologist in St. Clair Shores and at one point worked in the same practice as Jack Kevorkian (he even said he was crazy and obsessed with death). After having two daughters here, they later moved to Troy. Eventually my grandparents became better at speaking English and my grandma even learned by watching Sesame Street. This is a representation of how the melting pot has affected my mom’s life and mine. I think the reason they loved living here was because of the great amount of freedom and success they gained and the great people the met as well. Although my grandparents made many new friends of different ethnicities, they also tended to stick around Colombians. My mom and aunt had a Colombian nanny, a Colombian neighbor who was my grandpa’s best friend, and my grandparents became a host family for a few Colombian exchange students. Another example of cultural pluralism in my mom’s family was the fact that my mom and aunt became Americanized a lot faster than their parents and sometimes got frustrated when they weren’t allowed to do things they their parents didn’t understand. Although my mom, aunt, and grandpa still speak Spanish, my generation of our family does not. This shows how quickly families become assimilated into American culture and sometimes leave behind their own. I think part of the reason I take Spanish is because I want to stay connected to my old culture in some way.
47. Sara Keebler January 25, 2013 at 9:50 am

    My family was all born in Iraq. I was the first generation on my mom’s side of the family to be born in America. My mom has told me a lot of stories about when her family came to America and the things they had to go through even after being here for a while. My mom’s family 10 years after moving to America still had to deal with the struggles of not being born here. They were discriminated against and would be made fun of. A lot of their family had to be left behind because they couldn’t all afford to move to America. My grandma and grandpa always tell me how they came to America for a better life and for better opportunities but they ended up being disappointed. Eventually they moved to Michigan and it was like a giant melting pot, which seems like a silly theory to me. My family was one single culture but when they moved to America they were mixed with other cultures. Even though this theory may be true I think its kind of silly. Personally, I am a mix of Chaldean and German and it shows that cultures do mix. At first for my family, it was so much mixed as it was separated from other families and groups of people. Different people with different ethnicities were odd and new to my family. Also Cultural Pluralism, my family was always in a group with people just like them. The family and friends that they already had in America would always stick together and go out together. This new world filled with new people and that kind of scared them. They would go out together and would get looks and glares from other people, which was rude and made them sad.
48. Anna Daugherty January 25, 2013 at 10:05 am

    The melting pot theory and the cultural pluralism theory are most well known to my family background. I come from a Hungarian family, who moved to America for the countless unbelievable opportunities that it offers. My great-grandfather came to Ellis Island from Hungary as a young boy. His father had heard that the streets in America were paved with gold. So he packed up his family to move to America for a better life. Once they got to America they moved to Detroit. In Detroit they lived in Delray (this was the Hungarian part of the city.) This would be the example of cultural pluralism! My great-grandfathers mother was a seamstress and his father was a carpenter. He carved the alter piece for the Hungarian Lutheran Church in Delray. While in America they went through good and tough times, but they were always happy that they had the opportunities to work.
    My great-grandmother never learned English, so my grandma grew up speaking Hungarian at home. But, when my grandma went to school she was exposed to the American culture and language. Over the years she lost her Hungarian language. She is the first generation American on both her father and mothers side. This relates more to the melting pot theory, because my grandma was exposed to different cultures and people when she went to school. She didn’t just stick with other Hungarians, she branched out and even married an Irish man.
    America is such a melting pot, because it is basically guaranteed that everyone in America is mixed with many different nationalities. I think that it is amazing how everyone can come and work together and give each other such support even though everyone is different from one another. I believe that the melting pot theory is probably one of the most accurate ways to describe America.
49. geoffwickersham (Post author) January 25, 2013 at 10:27 am

    Cultural Plurism also happens a lot there are places here in Michigan were people from certain parts of the world clump up in area like Southwest Detroit where a lot Mexicans just happen to be or Detroit were a lot of black people seem to be clustered. My family sadly to say indulges in a lot of Cultural Plurism most of family friends our black and they talk like my family talks (they use our “slang” or what have you) they are the same religion and have the same customs and live in the same area when my mom was little she grew up in all black neighborhood where everyone did the same things. And even before my mom when my great great grandmother came up here from the south she lived in a densely black populated place where they engaged in cultural plurism. When my mom and I went to go visit my brother at college we couldn’t help but notice all the different kinds of people there. People from all around the world where sitting together and talking there seemed to be no prejudice like the melting pot theory everyone is different but because of the way America works we all kind of blend together. The people at his college where from all different types of places with all different types of backgrounds with all different types of stories the only thing they had in common with out a shadow of duoght was that their families all came here from one place or another. That’s is definitely the best thing about being a American we may have our differences but if you if you give us time enough we all start blending together no one is really European or African or Asian anymore your just American and your part of the melting pot.

    Lexa
50. Kacey arnold January 25, 2013 at 10:31 am

    The most relatable theory i have for the immigrant social life in america was the melting pot. My family and my self are a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. I am black, mexican , german, and italian and most of family is light with long hair so that just shows how the melting pot effects everybody. My grandmother was the only black girl to attend cass high school and she was so light that she was often mistake for white and her mother was lighter but even that shows a slight bit of anglo conformity. Even my mother and father had to deal with that even in the 80s. Even though the world has changed both myself and many of the mixed race people i know have all been subjected to the theories and social stigms that affect american culture and races.