A Welcoming Nation Not Always Quite So Welcoming.
America: the land of opportunities, open to all who wish to succeed. America has been mythologized as a large country of many differing people. We have the famous phrase, "E pluribus Unum", meaning "from many, one". Our population is made of several groups of diverse peoples, all working together to create one safe, livable, and unified nation. But how true is this generalization? Is America as welcoming to outsiders as it claims to be? Although America has come to be known as a melting pot, evidence such as discrimination, limited opportunities for immigrants, and a widespread but erroneous belief that newcomers place a financial burden on Americans proves that, more often than not, newcomers are not welcome. .
Researchers and writers alike often present America today as a "melting pot". We are a nation of several ethnicities, all-intermixing to create one large American culture. Arthur Schlesinger points out in his essay, The Cult of Ethnicity, that "No other nation has so successfully combined people of different races and nations within a single culture (Schlesinger 121)." As Schlesinger has stated, America has managed to have a countless number of diverse groups that live peacefully with one another. In the same essay, Schlesinger also points out that "Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men (Schlesinger 121)." Like a stew, several different ingredients are mixed together to create a deliciously tasteful meal. .
While it is nice to dream of a world where everyone gets along and everybody lives in a peaceful existence, the reality is that this so called melting pot does not exist. Unfortunately for those non-native Americans looking to start a new life here, we do not always welcome them with open arms. Because of our "hostility", Newcomers face many problems and hardships upon entering America.