This topic reminds me of a discussion and activity I did in my Intercultural and Inequality Communications class. Our professor asked our team to come up with a metaphor to describe the diversity in our society. My team and I came up with the metaphor of a delicious combination pizza because it includes a multitude of toppings that come together to make a whole pie. A combination pizza can be different to a number of people, but the idea was that it retains its individuality while contributing to the completion of a recipe. While the metaphor may be unconventional, I think that it is similar in many ways to Jesse Jackson’s rainbow and quilt metaphor. All three emphasize the retaining of uniqueness and characteristics, but that it is also a part of a bigger picture. It can be put together in many different ways, leaving the possibilities endless.
While I think the metaphor of the melting pot worked for a time, I can see how it might be viewed negatively today. There have been discussions in school and even among my family and friends, how second-generation children seem out of touch with their roots and native culture, and they have become increasingly “Americanized”. The melting pot metaphor would certainly perpetuate this as it blends down cultures into one.
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