Why I don't Subscribe to the Idea that America is a Melting Pot

Being raised by Vietnamese immigrants, my parents solely spoke Vietnamese to me in the house, always reminded me to never forget where I came from, and would save money just so we could take trips back to Vietnam but when it came to school they always told me to be good, listen to my teachers, and don’t get in trouble. I didn’t realize the implications of this until I learned about the implications of assimilation and the “model minority” label much later in college. My parents wanted the best for me so they uplifted their lives to America so that I could have a “better future”. Talking about Maslow’s hierarchy last week in class, I remember being angry at my parents for not understanding why assimilation was bad. In that moment of frustration I failed to remind myself that they had gone through a war and had experienced starvation at levels that I could never understand. Coming to America and not having to worry as much about those basic needs made it seem like America was a better life, little did they know the negative consequences of being raised in a white society.

Reading these three articles. “Deculturalization” by Spring, J , “The Indian Boarding Schools” by Bollinger, M., and “Native Americans Left Out of US Coronavirus Data and Labelled as Other” by Nagle, R. really highlighted that this enforcement of white culture can be spotted in every moment in time. Past, present, and future if we don’t decide to do something about it. This idea of a “melting pot” is so wrong in so many ways. It puts pressure on minorities to assimilate into white culture and hides all the racial issues America has. These articles portray the brutal truth of what has happened to Native Americans and other minorities. From centering life on the accumulation of wealth to trying to establish a nuclear family structure where the father was in control, white supremacy was erasing Native American Culture(Spring). Then in current times, misclassifying Native Americans under other in healthcare records, we can see that there is forced assimilation through deculturalization and demonizing anything that did not fall in line with white culture. It is done so not with the intention of helping but with greed and power in mind. Constantly talking as if those that were not aligned with dominant culture wanted to be civilized and that white people were helping them. What is unheard is the stories of those that tried to fight back this dominant culture and how cruel those that did or didn’t assimilate were treated as seen in Bollinger's reading of how parents tried to pull their kids out of these school or urged them to runaway. Don’t be fooled though with the “progress” we have made, white dominant culture is as strong as ever, and it may be harder to spot. You can see it in today’s times in the lack of coronavirus data for Native Americans, the white saviorism mindsets that educators come in with when teaching black and brown kids, who is in power in our government, and who has the money in our country. 

Nonetheless, it is easy to place the blame on others, claiming  “that’s not me” and  “I’m not racist”. This includes white people but also people of color. Check your-self, I know I had to. Before you are defensive, really think about why you are defensive. Is it because you are feeling white fragility and are uncomfortable with the topic. Well if it is then continue to expose yourself to the truth, educate yourself and be an ally to those whose voices are actively ignored. Remember that with the current events of right now, this is nothing new, it just finally got caught on tape. 

P.S. In light of the current events, I have linked some places where you can donate your money below.

It is not enough to “not be racist”, put your money where your mouth is, protest, and continue to

educate yourself because no one is an expert and don’t expect people of color to educate you.

Look into donating to this organizations.

Black Visions Collective

Reclaim the Block

North Star Health Collective

Analyze this image below by @goodgoodgoodco on understanding white supremacy.