As many have stated previously, America isn’t necessarily restricted to being described solely as a salad bowl or melting pot. True, immigrants may come here in search of new opportunity, culture, and life but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will completely abandon the beliefs, traditions and values they held prior to immigrating. And the opposite is just as valid: immigrants living in America most likely do not live exactly as the way they did in their home country. American culture permeates the home of every type of immigrant, be it American cuisine, entertainment, technology, literature, and even morals. ( Just as you might see an American family sitting in front of the television screen while eating Chinese take-out or the Chinese teenager a few blocks down immersing herself into one of Dicken’s novels.) It is inevitable that some type of “diffusion” will occur, both ways.

Michael Walzer in his essay “What does it mean to be American” delves into the meaning of the adjective American. He states “[it] provides no reliable information about the origins, histories, connections, or cultures of those whom it designates.” In a way, I think that is something truly special about being American. For people who are coming to America to start out with a fresh identity, all they have to do is say “I’m American.” But even though the only binding force between Americans may be that we live in the same country and that we all value the fundamental principles serving as the foundation for this country, I think that is enough of connection; that is an adequate amount of unity that we can call both the fellow next door and ourselves American, in spite of our completely different backgrounds.

Building on Praveena’s analogy (which I liked!) I think that America is sort of like a tossed salad whose incredibly varied vegetables release flavor to one another. Although each one may have began as a rigid, perfectly sliced article, they loosen up over time and give off color to their surroundings. There is something uniform about this image: though all the parts seem so different, they essentially make up a whole. And, as Walzer remarks, “perhaps this adjective of ‘American’ describes this kind of oneness.”

A lot of responsibility is laid onto the term American. There really is no clear definition on who an American is or what the culture of America encompasses. Just like the articles discuss, unless you were settled here from the beginning, and are from Native American descent, you are an immigrant/foreigner to this country. Now this “definition” is sometimes overlooked and some people may claim to be the “natives” of this country when their ancestors were actually intruders to those already living here. Many new immigrants to this country are looked down upon and treated with obvious bias. However, the way America was constructed was through the various immigrants that came from all around the world. If we want to stand upon those principles and not be hypocritical, then new immigrants should not be criticized but rather welcomed. They should be welcomed into the land of the free and nation of unity, which has been the case during the settling of the colonies. In today’s time, the United States has indeed become something similar to a salad bowl. To refer everyone located in a melting pot would be accurate to some degree. People learn from each other’s cultures, and backgrounds, and appreciate the diversity of the world in this way. Although this mix may seem pleasing at first, one may be quick to judge another’s way of life very easily. We might also assume that our way is the right way to live, and the only one. However, there are eccentric backgrounds all over the world that cannot/should not be judged for their own individualistic style of living. We can see that defining the word American can sometimes be problematic in itself.

It also becomes even more difficult for people who are second generation living in the United States, such as me. If I go back to Pakistan, I am considered an American and over here, I’m Pakistani, or just Muslim which is usually the first impression. It seems to me that many young people have an identity issue as they grow older. From these articles I get a sense that being American means to define that word for yourself, and make it part of your own life. This definition may contain your experiences from other cultures or maybe your life in America since you were born. Whatever it may be, it becomes a crucial part of one’s life to define oneself in American in this day and age.

The two concepts that Ashley mentions- the melting pot and the salad bowl- regarding America, I believe, both hold true. There are many people who claim they are strictly “American” in terms of ideals, personality, culture etc. while others who say they are from whichever country their parents/ancestors are from. I agree with Elizabeth that America can actually be considered as mix of the two.

However, if I had to choose one, it would be the idea of the salad bowl.  Because think about it, when you meet someone new in school, at work, anywhere one of you first few questions would be where are you from? – usually the answer would the country that their parents are from –their origin; but it is rare that one of the responses would be America. One might say that I was born here (I’m American) but I’m from _______. One more thing regarding this topic that I find interesting is people assume that one is born in America. For example, when I’m asked where I’m from, my response is India and many assume that I was born here.  Later when they do realize that I was born in India they say- “Oh, I thought you were born here.”

As of now, I consider myself Indian because I was born in India and have lived in the US for about 6 years; however maybe as the years come by I might being to consider myself an Indian-American. Thus, here comes the concept of a hyphenated-American. This I consider a huge part of “American culture” which also goes to agree with the mix concept of America (salad bowl and melting pot). While you are an American, you still hold on to your roots, making yourself identifiable as the “left part of the hyphen”.

Another thing that I find interesting is that when in America your asked where are you form the reply is his/her origin, but when asked the same question in the country of origin the answer tends to be America (that is if one considers him/herself American).

Anyways, to sum it all up- in the end it comes out to be that it is actually a mix of both- being American and your country of origin.

It seems that mentioning how much I agree with the tossed salad statement would be redundant at this point. Oh well.

Though in response to Elizabeth; I hope this doesn’t sound unprofessional and childish, but maybe we’re a bowl of tossed salad with dressing sizzled on top of us? We do maintain our homeland traditions to a great extent, but upon living in the states, we’ve got American culture sizzled on top of us, and after a while, it soaks in and dries into our veins? We’re still a tossed salad, but each of us now shares a key similar ingredient, some of us more than others?

That’s my cheesy, poorly thought out way of seeing it.

Though this does bring me to Kasinitz’s article. At the very end of it, it is stated that “many respondents sidestepped [the] ambivalent understand of the term  “American” by describing themselves as “New Yorkers” (16). I identified with this statement so well. For my art class, we recently had to do a project that had us focus on what had culturally and ethnically shaped us, and no matter what, I could not associate myself with the American flag. I couldn’t even associate myself with the New York flag. I’ve always considered myself a “New Yorker.” I was born and raised in Queens, the most diverse location in the United States, and arguably the world. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this tossed salad?

Walzer’s “What does it mean to be an American?” delves further into the question of being American. In fact, I think he hits the nail on the head when he says “Similarly, the United States isn’t a homeland (where a national family might dwell)… it is a country of immigrants who, however grateful they are for this new place, still remember the old places” (634). I think this may just go back to that horrible analogy I made earlier with the salad dressing being on top of the salad. There’s still groups out there that stick together in a group like a nice round tomato, and there are smaller groups that bunch together like little croutons. However, we all have salad dressi- I mean this “American” culture slowing pulling us together, so that although we hold on to our old, unique traditions, we still are more than just random assortments in a salad bowl.

I’m sorry that this entire response was based off such an analogy. It was hardly intended!

Living in America, especially in New York City, we are exposed to many different cultures. Like Greg mentioned, New York City is very diverse, with only a small percentage claiming to be natives. Kasinitz described New York City as “overwhelmingly a city of minorities and immigrants,” which makes this city unlike others because of how inclusive it is of different cultures. I think about how, during the summer, people have their car and home windows open and music is blaring out. On one block, I can hear not only pop songs but also Indian, reggae, hip-hop, and Spanish songs as well, and this is only a sample. Also, here it’s normal to like things outside your culture while also embracing your own.

I agree with Ashley and everyone else that believed America is more like a salad bowl. I always grew up hearing that New York was like a melting pot because of how diverse it is, but I think the salad bowl concept is more accurate. Immigrants came to America to live, work, and learn, but they also wanted to keep their old customs as well, which contributes to the “hyphenated American” idea. Every culture is distinct and stands out, and while we live together, we keep our uniqueness as well. There is no one definition for “American” because America is not just one culture or one nationality, but it embodies pretty much the entire world. As Waltzer said, anyone can live here because the country deosn’t belong to one particular group but to everyone here.  Waltzer summarizes what he believes “American” stands for by repeating the country’s motto, e pluribus unum. We are many people, but we all live together.

I agree with everyone else who posted that America is definitely not a melting pot because clearly, as everyone has been saying, there isn’t one uniform “American” culture.  But I also wouldn’t say America was totally a salad bowl either because that would imply that the various cultures present in America stayed exactly the same and neither influenced or became influenced by each other and by being in America.  I think that it is impossible to say that cultures were not affected by immigration, because of course they would be influenced by the new things they are exposed to in their new environment (America), so I think America is neither a salad bowl or a melting pot, its just kind of a mix.  I can’t really explain it in a good analogy.  Like, there have been so many times that I’ve been walking down the street and someone walking in front of me is having an interesting phone conversation in English so I listen in, and right when we get to the good part they switch back to their native language and I can’t understand anymore.  But the point of that story is that they retain aspects of both American culture and their unique culture and language-they aren’t totally American (melting pot) or totally their own culture (salad bowl).

Also, another thing that everyone keeps mentioning is the definition of America and American culture.  Again, I agree that there is no set definition or category that is strictly “American”, but at the same time there are some things that ARE considered American.  For example, freedom is a huge American ideal- freedom of religion, freedom of speech and expression- this is the American value that even allows all its inhabitants to be so unique and diverse and hold on to their original cultures, which I think they do.  I disagree with Park who says that immigrants come to America in order to leave behind their cultures and ethnicity.  Quite the contrary, I think when they come to America for whatever reasons they come (freedom, more opportunities, education) they actually make an effort to maintain their cultural heritage. Just think of all the ethnic neighborhoods in America- Chinatown, Little Italy, Harlem-clearly these are neighborhoods struggling to hold on to their identity, not lose it in a mad dash to America.

Also, we have to keep in mind that coming to America isn’t such a big deal anymore.  I mean, it is, but right now we are heading towards globalization and uniformity among countries and we are losing our diversity.  For example, I went to Israel over winter break, and aside from the Old City, a lot of cities in Israel look very similar to New York- its modern, there are buildings, side walks, the same stores… When I got home and showed my siblings pictures, they were surprised that Israel looked so similar to America (not all parts, but some). There is just so much cultural diffusion, for example, with McDonald’s.  McDonald’s was an American fast food restaurant, and now it has become part of global culture and can be found in Israel, Japan and all over!  So I think that while immigrating to America will present a struggle in preserving your cultural identity, that struggle is being forced upon many people of many cultures who aren’t even immigrating or moving anywhere!  They’re not going to McDonald’s, McDonald’s is going to them, but they still need to confront these new influences and learn to reconcile moving forward and being present in our time, with staying true to their past and culture.  That struggle is even more forefront in America, but it is happening all over.  Fashion, food, phones, ipods, electronic devices- all of these things are becoming more and more similar among different countries.  I think it is SO important for everyone to hold on to their unique culture and individuality, or else we will all be homogeneous.  The same people, same places, same scenery- it would be a very boring world.

I agree with Ashley when she writes that being culturally anonymous isn’t necessarily being a better American. In the Kasinitz article, the author mentions that many of the respondents termed themselves as “New Yorkers” rather as “Americans”. This is because, like Greg says, many people still link the term “American” with the Caucasian population in America, especially the ones that they most commonly see on television. Yet, the concluding sentence of the Kasinitz article argues that being a “New Yorker” is essentially being an “American”. And in New York, many of the people are not culturally anonymous. A lot of New Yorkers are aware that they come from immigrants, no matter how far back, and they often identify themselves with their family background, hence all the hyphens mentioned in the posts below (i.e. Irish-American, Italian-America, etc.)

In fact, I think that the definition of being an American, like being a New Yorker, is interacting with the different cultures that exist in America, as well as identifying with your own. Like Ashley and many people mentioned, America is more of a salad bowl than a melting pot. Many of the immigrants who come retain their language and customs. A lot of them do not melt completely into one. As Walzer mentioned in the article, the oneness is political, but the many is cultural. Assimilating to American culture does not mean changing every custom and habit, because being American usually means having some ethnic.

From the English on the Mayflower to the immigrants today, all of America’s history has to do with immigrants. In contrast with earlier years, I think there is less pressure for more recent immigrants to assimilate, since the term “American” and American culture is changing to mean identifying with ancestral roots. I think this is especially true in New York City, where immigrants and their children make up the majority of the population. I find it very interesting how a new hybrid minority culture is forming, as mentioned in the Kasinitz article. The inevitable interaction between the different groups of the second generations created a new culture, or rather, it is acting to redefine American culture as it was seen a few decades ago. This interaction is essentially “American”.

It’s a strange thing to suddenly realize that I had never really bothered to define a word that I had so readily accepted as part of my identity, and it’s even stranger to find that word just about indefinable.  If one thing caught my attention about these readings on what it means to be American, it was how widely (and sometimes subtly) the answers to such a fundamental question varied.

There’s undoubtedly a temptation to shy away from uncomfortable ambiguities when identity-defining terms like American come into play, and I think that explains some of the historical interpretations described by Morrison and Horsman.  It would be convenient to define American in terms of something as (supposedly) neatly delineated as skin color or religion, but if either ever served as passable definitions they certainly no longer do.

To me, Walzer’s treatment is the most satisfying, as it makes no attempt to oversimplify what is necessarily an incredibly broad and complex question.  Walzer understands that a country with such a large and varied population of immigrants could never really act as the sort of all-assimilating melting pot envisioned by many of the nation’s early philosophers; he acknowledges that today’s Americans often hold on to much of the culture and tradition handed down to them from the countries of their ancestors.  And yet at the same time, he does not question that there is indeed a culture that is truly and distinctly “American.”  Tap-dancing and spaghetti westerns and hot-dogs aren’t just dismissed as Frankensteined amalgams of various foreign cultures. When, like the authors of several of the other readings, Walzer writes about “hyphenated Americans,” the hyphen doesn’t mean that they are somehow less American or that they have merely failed to Americanize out their ancestral cultures: it is a symbol of the whole broad spectrum of cultural symbioses that all help define what it means to be American.

Also: CAPTAIN AMERICA!!!!

Along with everyone else, I’m leaning towards the salad bowl idea of America. It’s actually a really interesting idea. Think of a salad…of how many parts there are in it. The lettuce, the cucumbers, the carrots, the tomatoes, the onions, the croutons, the dressing. Sounds like a good salad right? Well it’s a balance. Like most things. Ask anyone you meet what they are, and I bet not one of them will say “I’m American.” Instead you’ll get a long list of nationalities and backgrounds. Everyone thinks of  America as one large salad bowl, but in reality, the people are the salads. Each one a different type, with different ingredients. The United States may be a bowl, but the people are the salads.

The hyphen between two cultures such as Italian-American or Irish-American…it’s just like the salad bowl. The first part of the hyphen, as Walzer points out in his article, is the deeper-rooted, more dominant part of who people are (the salad). The right side of the hyphen signifies the later addition of something foreign, something new, that enhances the first part and makes it different (the dressing). Many people find it hard to separate from their culture, and rather than discard it, they merely pile another on top and add to it.

This idea of adding dressing to a salad can be different for different people. Some people like the dressing on the side, others like their salad drenched. Still, others prefer dry salad and don’t touch the dressing at all. This can be related to the amount of influence people allow the new American culture to have in their life.

The different articles discuss different amounts of dressing added to the original salad. Kasinitz speaks of the immigrants who enjoy the dressing very much and come into highly metropolitan areas such as NYC and LA in order to drown their salads in dressing. These people gain a larger sense of “being an American” than most other immigrants do.

In Walzer’s article, he introduces the idea of co-existance, or many-in-one. This is similar to the idea previously presented of the dressing on the side. These immigrants have the liberty to and make sure that they only add as much of the culture as they deem fit, and no more. They are in control, and most of the times, prefer to keep their native cultural salad more dominant in the mix. In this way, they never need or want to be fully committed to American nationality.

Finally, Gerstle introduces the idea of plain salad with no dressing at all. He argues that the majority of immigrants have no interest in moving to the United States with the intent of becoming an “American,” but instead, they merely come looking for work in order to make money. This idea is “the land of separated man,” the salad and the dressing never touch because there is no reason for them to.

Like Greg mentions in his post, a lot of immigrants were always taught to cover up and hide their original nationalities. But the United States…America, is supposed to be a land of opportunities and of freedom and of acceptane. If we were to force every immigrant to become an “American,” there would be no identity for anyone. Every immigrant, every child of an immigrant would have no sense of self-identity. Also as Greg mentions, only 18% of New Yorkers can be considered natives. What would America be without the immigrants? We’d be very small, and very meaningless. America would be pure lettuce, with no flavor to our salad at all.

Greg brings up a very good point in his blog post about America : “The cultures in America, while retaining connection to their roots, are unable to avoid mixing.” I believe that America today is indeed a mix. This idea is completely separate from the common belief that America is a “melting pot”. The phrase “melting pot” would imply a fusion or merging of heterogeneous things in order to form a cohesive and homogeneous end product. This, however, is not the case. Like what Ashley said, America is more of a salad bowl. The individual components, such as the tomatoes, lettuce and croutons, can be easily seen and picked out. Yet, although, the salad consists of parts; it still works.

These parts, on a more symbolic level, represent the different cultures and backgrounds that so vividly characterize America. I think the idea that ToniAnn focuses on about how there is “technically no ethnic group called ‘American'”, is very accurate in this case. When I hear the word American, there is no distinctive image that pops into my head of how an American should look like. This is why I also believe that immigrants never assimilate completely. If this were the case, America would easily be defined. There would not be a mix languages, styles, foods and cultures because there would be one general norm. This yet again goes back to the idea of a salad bowl.

Personally, I feel that I have assimilated well into American culture, but I still keep some of my Chinese heritage intact. I would consider myself Chinese-American. My older sister, however, probably sees herself in a different light since she was raised in China much longer than I was. If you asked her what ethnicity she is, she would also answer Chinese-American, but she definitely would consider herself more Chinese than American. The hyphen, I think allows us to not exactly put a label on what we are. It acts as sort of a spectrum. I would lean more toward the right side of the hyphen, while my sister would lean to the left. I think this is a unique characteristic of America that no other country can boast of having. The answer is not set in stone and so we can essentially chose what we want to be.