Divided Politics
We are a divided nation. Perhaps that’s not the right characterization: we are actually a fragmented nation. Politically there are Republicans and Democrats. But the Republican Party is splintering over whether to continue the path of Trumpism. There are the “Lincoln Project” types, no longer officially Republican at all, who are trying to become the core of a “New Republican” Party. There are the “old school” Republicans, like Ohio Governor Mike DeWine or Senator Rob Portman, who seem adrift in a sea of Trumpist action. And then there are the Trump followers, not just his family, but those opportunistic politicians who have found a band wagon to ride. And, of course, there are the “crazies”, from Proud Boys to QAnon remnants, who really aren’t Republican at all.
Then there are the Democrats. Being a Democrat means being divided almost by definition. Need an example: The Mayor of Chicago, a Democrat, elected with the support of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, was at war with that same Union about opening the schools. The “progressive” Democrats are scared to death that President Biden will somehow be too “moderate”, even though he was elected specifically because he was a moderate. And then the “blue dog” Democrats, the more “conservative” Democrats are searching for a place in their own Party. Well, they are fewer and far between.
Divided Origins
We are also a nation divided by race and origin. But even that question is changing. Within only a decade or so, there will be no majority race in America. We will be a nation of minorities, including the “White” minority. And while we’re at that, even the minorities are splitting. What was once considered the “Hispanic” minority, is now seen in more appropriate terms. Some are of Cuban origin, some Puerto Rican, some Mexican, some Central American, some are more American than most other Americans.
We grew up with a “School House Rock” view of America – The Great American Melting Pot (bring back some memories – and watch it again). We came from “wherever” (old World) and jumped into the pot – and all became American. But we know that’s not really what happens – at least not now. And it’s hard to pick out a dark face in the “School House Rock” version though the Indian kid on a bed of nails does make an impression. Maybe we should view America as a “tossed salad”. Instead of a “melting pot” or “stew”, where everything becomes alike, we are a salad where each carrot or onion or tomato remains individual, but contributes to the “salad whole”.
Multi-Culturalism
That, by the way, is the essential difference described as “multi-culturalism”. Instead of cultures being subsumed by “American”, American is enhanced by different cultures. They all maintain their relevance in an America that is greater than its parts. But multi-culturalism is a direct challenge to the “melting pot” where all were one. In a more racially focused view: the melting pot made everyone either “White” or “subservient” to White. And of course, that’s why the “melting pot” didn’t work. If you were a person of color, you could never “melt” into a White society. The “tossed salad” allows everyone to keep their culture. And while “lettuce” may make up more of the salad than any other part, it’s all the other constituent parts that make a salad actually “taste” good.
The German could lose her accent. The Irishman could drop his brogue and Catholicism. The Italian could do the same. All found ways to “melt” and immerse themselves into the American “melting pot” of the 1800’s. But when the great migration of Black people from the old South to the North and Midwest occurred around World War I, there was no way for them to “melt in”. No matter what else they did – they remained Black.
Education
So when you look back with nostalgia at the “School House Rock” version of history (so much more exciting than good old Mrs. Ralston) remember it not only simplified, but ignored many Americans. It was 1977. While there were a few faces of color, there was no mention of slavery, or Hispanic immigration, and their impact on the “American Melting Pot”. It wasn’t taught in school then either (full disclosure: I was soon to be one of those teachers, and it took years to get over just “teaching what I learned”).
Part of the “dissonance,” the discomfort many Americans feel today is because of this. We were taught one thing, now we are being told we weren’t told the truth. No, Mrs. Ralston or even Mr. Dahlman weren’t LIARS, but they were “victims” of their own education. They taught what they knew, and they taught their own experiences. But that knowledge and experience didn’t include much about those who couldn’t climb into the “melting pot”.
This week (in this year, 2021) a group of parents of North Ogden Charter School in Utah, decided they didn’t want their kids to “participate” in Black History Month. That’s not the “bad” news. The bad news: the school went ahead and allowed them to “opt out”, like it was religious or sex education. The public uproar changed the school’s and even the parents’ minds, but that’s the discomfort America feels with our unlearned, unspoken past and present (KUTV).
Acceptance
All of that dissonance flows right back into America’s political fragmentation. It’s why working-class White men with high school educations think that the Republican Party represents their interests. It’s why there is so much political “reward” in packaging campaigns in “us versus them” terms, and in playing to victimhood. And it’s why there is hope for the Republic.
Hope?
In the next decades, as we become a minority-majority nation, we also will see the passing of what my son calls “the old White dudes”. And with them, goes generations of entitlement and false historical memories. It’s not that the younger generation has it “all right”. They are too addicted to their screens and podcasts, too susceptible to the “voice” in their EarPods that seems to know the answer to every riddle. But they are different, they have experiences that cross the boundary lines that restricted their parents and grandparents. So I believe that at least when it comes to this form of single-culturalism – they may well save us.
No pressure – of course.
