Essay, Research Paper: US Culture: Melting Pot Or Mixed Salad?

I never got this back so its prolly a piece of shit. It works though. ~Suicide Angel~ of Montgomery, NJ

The Concept of the Melting Pot Vs The Mixed Salad

Culture of America in the 1900 is considered to be a "melting pot" because of the immigration of many cultures and their melding together to form one American culture. Today it is felt to be a "mixed salad" because even though we live together we can still be separated to our separate traits leading back to our origins. Contrary to popular belief, I feel we were and still are today a "mixed salad."
In the 1900 people never really blended. They grouped themselves and every aspect of their lives into racial groups. Their homes, schools, religious practices, and social associations revolved around their ethnic backgrounds. The language barrier was the biggest obstacle that prevented cultures to blend. Laws also prevented new immigrants from blending with "native" Americans. Ignorance and stereotypes caused many problems for melding such as interracial marriages being looked down upon. The only things one culture had in common with the next was their reasons for being here. They all came in hopes to escape the persecution in their home country and make money. When they came they found they escaped one persecution to find another and the money was there but not easily obtained.
Today we remain a mixed salad because people choose to keep themselves that way. Although today we are blended physically and interact with all different cultures, people make a point to remember their origins and in some groups choose to make it known and use it as a tool to gain sympathy and special treatment. People today live in the past and never look at the future. They bring up oppression from the past and expect to be treated special. By doing this they extract themselves form the general population. If you ask someone where they're from they wont tell you they were born in America and all the opportunities that await them yet they will tell you where their ancestors from 100 plus years ago lived and the turmoil that they went through to get here. It is hard to be an American because no one is sure what he or she is. America is a new country in a unique situation. Other countries have been around since time began. We just took the overflow from them and threw them all on the same rock and decided they can survive together. The question is, can they?
I believe that in order for the future of this country to be prosperous we must realize that we are American. We must learn to forget our past and melt together to form one American culture where our past starts today. People have to let go because even those countries they claim to be from came from somewhere else. According to history books we could all say we're Mesopotamian. Do we say that? No. Because of America's situation we can't have a culture with defined lines on what our culture is. We must continue with our freedoms of religion, speech, etc, but we should consider ourselves Americans. If we consider some other country our "home" then where are we living? In order to have strong feelings of nationalism we must consider America our home and in turn we are Americans. A countries success is usually measured by it citizens feelings of nationalism.
In conclusion, America was and continues to be a mixed salad. If it wants to develop it must let go of the strings that hold each individual to another geographical location and stand as its own homeland.