Opinion: Immigration & U.S. ironies
The U.S. is known as the “Great American Melting Pot.” The term “melting pot” refers to the diversity surrounding the birth of America—many of the founding fathers, including Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Paine, were immigrants.
Today, immigration is a touchy subject for many Americans. The process is dangerous, takes a long time, and forces many immigrants to throw away tradition; when immigrants come to America, we don’t want them to be special, unique, or their own person that can do anything and be anyone — because America’s individualism says they can’t.
America’s individualism encourages young people to move out of their parents’ house, get a job and get married quickly in life so they can work hard and retire early — focusing solely on themselves. It’s not looked down upon if you never call or visit your parents and it may even be praised to live as far away from your family as possible, representing that you are completely free from your childhood or fully independent.
Though it may sound like our society wants what’s best for us, the path is laid out, entirely the same, for everybody — even immigrants who must conform or be crushed by stereotypes and stigmas about different cultures.
According to an article published by The Atlantic titled “These Are the Americans Who Live in a Bubble,” Emma Green, writes, “…a significant minority of Americans do not [experience diversity]. They seldom or never meet people of another race. They dislike interacting with people who don’t share their political beliefs. And when they imagine the life they want for their children, they prize sameness, not difference.”
If people are not exposed to difference, they have a harder time accepting it.
When Americans experience an act of terror by a group of people, that tiny percentage suddenly represents the entire religion or race. After the 9/11 attacks, the prejudice against Muslims, or really any people from the Middle East, increased, charging racial and religious bigotry.
Prejudice towards immigrants stems from the reason we should love them: individuality. We claim to love individuality and uniqueness, but when something or someone is too different, we don’t welcome them into our arms, contradicting the very values our country is built on. While America praises distinction, we seem to just want everyone to be like everybody else.
America is in denial about what the American Dream is supposed to be. We act self-righteous, thinking we know best when we are reinforcing discrimination and sameness as we ignore the contradictions to our value system. We should be embracing new cultures because that is what the real America is made of.
Megan Cowdell is a freshman opinion columnist studying for a bachelor’s in Communications. She loves music, reading and wants to write books for a living.
megan.cowdell@usu.edu