On Diversity

I've had some experiences lately where certain people are very gung-ho about their respective race. Not necessarily nationality, but rather a collective group that identifies themselves as a specific color; i.e. Asian, African/African-American, Latino, Caucasian, etc. I find it a paradox that some, in their zealous pursuit to declare themselves "true Americans", "true Britons", etc, do so while commemorating their racial identity. In my opinion, to hold onto a racial identity is to openly declare oneself as not part of a "whole", but rather a segregated instance of it.

I have heard of several groups that do this, but I will not name any because I also believe every group has agendas worth respecting, even if they are not agreeable to me. I still find it odd, though, that even while a group wants recognition as part of a whole, they also want recognition as part of something separate.

During the creation of the United States, there were two competing theories of how the U.S. should be "seen" multi-culturally. The first was a "salad", in which all the ingredients are different but work together as a whole. The second was a "melting pot", the more commonly heard one. This assumes that the groups are mixed with each other to form a unique identity based on the parts but understood as one entity; no one part is unique, but rather a contributor to the Greater Good.

The mill industry depends on melting down ore and mixing metals in certain proportions to create a stronger, lighter, better product called an "alloy". If we are going to build a national foundation, I personally would prefer an alloy to purity--purity has proven itself to be weak and undependable.