The American Kaleidoscope

"I have a dream." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Can't we all just get along?" -- Rodney King

   America has been called a "Great Melting Pot," which suggests that all newcomers eventually blend with all others to become part of one nation and one culture.
   That, however, is a 19th Century notion by those who expected newcomers to adopt and conform to all the characteristics of those already here, predominantly those of the WASP persuasion -- White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.
   The truth, however, is that the WASP has always been a minority in America, so the country is better described as a kaleidoscope.
   In a melting pot, every element loses any distinctive characteristics and blends to a sameness of color and texture. In a kaleidoscope, however, the elements retain their individuality even as they become part of a beautiful, ever-changing pattern.
   Is America a cultural melting pot? Consider: Of the total 308 million Americans, according to the 2010 Census, 72 percent said they were solely of the White race, 13 percent reported they were Black or African-American, 5 percent identified their race as Asian, and 1 percent indicated American Indian or Alaska Native alone. "The remainder of respondents who reported only one race (6 percent) were classified as Some Other Race alone," according to the Census Bureau. Finally, people who reported more than one race made up about 3 percent of the total population, the Census reported.
   Some insist that America is "a Christian nation," but that claim ignores the estimated 7 million Jews, 4 million Buddhists, 2.5 million Muslims, 1.5 million Hindus, 525,000 members of the Baha'i faith and, of course, 37 million Agnostics and 1.3 million Atheists, as well as those who report no spiritual or religious affiliation of any kind.
   As for country of origin, despite the tendency to identify England as "the Mother Country," only 27 million U.S. residents chose that as the ancestral source, compared to 50 million who selected Germany, 36 million identified themselves as Irish, 18 million as Italian, 10 million Polish, 6 million Scots, 9 million French, and nearly 3 million African. This last, of course, refers only to recent arrivals  from Sub-Saharan Africa, and does not  include the millions who claim Egyptian or Arab origin, nor the 13 percent of Americans (40 million) who identified their race as Black or African American. In addition, there are 16 million people claiming Asian ancestry. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

   But enough with the numbers. It is an accident of history that English is the dominant language spoken in America. Certainly it was not the first, nor is it now the only. In fact, the settlements sponsored by English entrepreneurs were latecomers to America. Viking adventurers were here long before Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator sponsored by Spain, arrived in 1492, reportedly using a map drawn by the Irish monks who traveled with St. Brendan. Later came the Swedes, the Dutch, the French and others, including Russians who moved into Alaska.

   Finally, there were the many tribes of people who populated America many hundreds of years before the European invaders, whose descendants remain, speaking many languages and practicing a variety of cultures.

   All these human elements come together to form the American kaleidoscope, a set of many languages, cultures, colors, races, creeds and national origins.