Melting-Pot Modernism

Chapter 1

14 q Chapter 1 The฀Melting฀Pot “Assimilation฀to฀One฀Another” In฀1915,฀the฀pragmatist฀philosopher฀John฀Dewey฀ wrote฀to฀Horace฀Kallen฀that,฀although฀he฀“never฀did฀care฀for฀the฀melting฀ ฀ pot฀metaphor,”฀he฀did฀feel฀that฀“genuine฀assimilation฀to฀one฀another฀not฀to฀ Anglo-฀ Saxondom—seems฀to฀be฀essential฀to฀an฀American.”1 ฀Dewey’s฀ambivalence ฀here฀is฀instructive.฀Despite฀his฀(and฀Kallen’s)฀distaste฀for฀the฀metaphor,฀he฀ uses฀the฀term฀“melting฀pot”฀to฀evoke฀“genuine฀assimilation,”฀an฀assimilation฀ distinctly฀“to฀one฀another”฀and฀“not฀to฀Anglo-Saxondom.”฀This฀understanding ฀of฀the฀term฀did฀not฀go฀without฀saying฀in฀the฀volatile฀teens:฀Dewey฀had฀to฀ spell฀it฀out.฀Kallen฀had฀just฀published฀his฀famous฀critique฀of฀the฀melting฀pot,฀ “Democracy฀Versus฀the฀Melting-Pot”;฀Dewey,฀for฀his฀part,฀was฀using฀the฀word฀ “assimilation”฀to฀articulate฀a฀vision฀of฀social฀being฀resistant฀to฀both฀the฀repressive ฀Americanization฀campaigns฀of฀the฀mid-teens฀and฀Kallen’s฀vision฀of฀the฀ ฀ separate฀“substance฀and฀form”฀of฀the฀“nationalities”฀making฀up฀the฀United฀ States.2 ฀As฀I฀show฀in฀this฀chapter,฀Dewey’s฀ambivalent฀attachment฀to฀the฀terms฀ “assimilation”฀and฀“melting฀pot”฀was฀very฀much฀of฀his฀era—as,฀indeed,฀was฀his฀ sense฀that฀the฀processes฀these฀terms฀denoted฀still฀required฀definition. The฀ melting฀ pot฀ does฀ not฀ seem฀ so฀ indefinite฀ today;฀ rather,฀ it฀ seems฀ a฀ closed฀story,฀an฀unfashionable฀concept,฀a฀version฀of฀repressive฀assimilation฀in฀ the฀service฀of฀cultural฀homogenization.3 ฀In฀accepting฀this฀narrative,฀we฀have฀ lost฀sight฀of฀both฀the฀reasons฀that฀compelled฀smart฀and฀sensitive฀thinkers฀like฀ Dewey฀to฀argue฀in฀favor฀of฀the฀melting฀pot,฀and฀the฀equally฀important฀and฀ THE MELTING POT 15 complicated฀problems฀that฀Dewey฀and฀other฀melting-pot฀proponents฀identified ฀(and฀sometimes฀missed)฀in฀the฀model.฀This฀chapter฀refuses฀the฀closed฀ story฀and,฀instead,฀tracks฀the฀melting฀pot฀in฀all฀of฀its฀original฀elasticity฀and฀ contradiction.฀The฀cluster฀of฀ideas฀that฀John฀Dewey฀defended฀as฀“genuine฀ assimilation฀to฀one฀another”฀are฀as฀relevant฀and฀contentious฀today฀as฀they฀ were฀in฀the฀teens;฀they฀have฀a฀great฀deal฀to฀teach฀us฀about฀the฀blind฀spots฀of฀ more฀recent฀thinking฀about฀identity฀and฀social฀change.฀When฀contemporary฀ literature฀depicts฀ethnicity฀in฀the฀United฀States฀as฀a฀complicated,฀never-pure฀ state;฀when฀it฀approaches฀the฀self฀as฀a฀construction,฀put฀together฀from฀bits฀and฀ pieces฀and฀exquisitely฀sensitive฀to฀environment;฀when฀it฀represents฀culture฀ as฀mobile฀and฀malleable,฀it฀bespeaks฀an฀occluded฀but฀indubitable฀meltingpot ฀lineage.฀Further,฀as฀scholars฀and฀critics฀increasingly฀seek฀to฀think฀across฀ boundaries฀(of฀nationality,฀race,฀class,฀and฀geography,฀to฀name฀just฀a฀few)฀ we฀would฀do฀well฀to฀reflect฀on฀the฀successes฀and฀failures฀of฀a฀much฀earlier฀ attempt฀to฀think฀across฀boundaries.฀For฀all฀of฀these฀reasons,฀it฀is฀time฀for฀a฀ nuanced฀and฀updated฀understanding฀of฀the฀melting฀pot. Our฀current฀association฀of฀assimilation฀with฀cultural฀uniformity฀was฀secured฀ by฀the฀ethnic฀revivals฀of฀the฀sixties;฀Nathan฀Glazer฀and฀Daniel฀P.฀Moynihan’s฀ Beyond฀the฀Melting฀Pot฀(1963)฀was฀most฀influential฀in฀casting฀the฀melting฀pot฀ as฀a฀repressive฀(and฀ultimately฀unsuccessful)฀paradigm฀of฀assimilation.4 ฀But฀ Horace฀Kallen฀was฀there฀as฀early฀as฀1915,฀associating฀the฀melting฀pot฀with฀ “the฀complete฀cutting-off฀of฀the฀ancestral฀memories฀of฀the฀American฀populations ,฀the฀enforced,฀exclusive฀use฀of฀the฀English฀language฀and฀English฀and฀ American฀history฀in฀the฀schools฀and฀in฀the฀daily฀life”฀(CD,฀112).฀ Clearly฀ this฀repressive฀melting฀pot฀is฀no฀fantasy—indeed,฀it฀has฀a฀long฀and฀influential฀ history.฀The฀famous฀World฀War฀I฀“melting-pot”฀graduation฀ceremony฀at฀ the฀Ford฀Motor฀Company฀English฀School,฀for฀example,฀required฀immigrants฀ ฀ to฀act฀out฀their฀abandonment฀of฀distinct฀ethnic฀origins฀for฀an฀undifferentiated ฀“Americanness.”฀In฀this฀drama฀workers฀wearing฀various฀national฀costumes ฀processed฀from฀a฀steamship฀into฀the฀“Ford฀English฀School฀Melting฀ Pot”฀and฀emerged฀all฀identically฀attired฀in฀“American฀clothes”฀and฀waving ฀American฀flags.5 ฀Theodore฀Roosevelt,฀similarly,฀saw฀no฀inconsistency฀in฀ enthusiastically฀supporting฀Israel฀Zangwill’s฀play฀The฀Melting-Pot฀and฀equally฀ enthusiastically฀denouncing฀“hyphenated”฀identities.฀Kallen’s฀critique฀of฀ this฀Americanizing฀use฀of฀the฀melting฀pot฀finds฀its฀mark.฀However,฀the฀ideology ฀of฀Ford฀and฀Roosevelt฀represents฀only฀a฀partial฀portrait฀of฀the฀melting฀ pot—the฀“Anglo-Saxondom”฀that฀John฀Dewey฀rejected฀for฀assimilation฀“to฀ one฀another.” Despite฀their฀very฀different฀agendas,฀Ford฀and฀Kallen฀shared฀a฀totalizing฀ vision฀of฀the฀melting฀pot,฀which฀has฀in฀turn฀set฀the฀terms฀of฀our฀contemporary฀ 16 MELTING...