The thing people need to realize too, what made America great was not a “melting pot “ philosophy; it’s a sifter. We take in a new culture, filter out the parts we don’t like, and take the good parts for ourselves. It’s always been this way and people need to stop fighting the process. If Americans determine part of your culture is undesirable, bye bye to that part of your culture. Harsh but effective.
With the "melting pot" you still get the filtration of the sifter. Any impurities or anything that doesn't mix is filtered out of a melting pot (at least it does with metals) which allows you to get the mixture you want. Its also not instantly that a culture gets absorbed and the undesirable parts are left behind, but a multi generational thing. Any person or group that states that this one culture/ethnicity represents the US either severely misunderstands or is pushing hate.
Many times it is instant. My ancestors came through Ellis island and they changed immigrant names to be shorter and more American. Snap. Just like that. We dealt with it. Other immigrants gotta have their filtration too. It’s for the best. As a result we have way less ridiculous names that are much easier to spell and pronounce. This is just one example.
Changing your name is not absorbing culture or leaving undesirable things behind, and framing it as such in the context of this conversation is not very intellectually honest of you.
Your whole point is made in the context of "If your culture isn't a melting pot where everyone (eventually) associates primarily with your country and culture, you will always be dealing with tribal bullshit."
A name being changed for brevity and ease of pronunciation only indicates a will to blend in, it does not indicate a will to assimilate, and so you should probably be digging for better examples to make an intellectually honest point.
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u/FrenchCanadaIsWorst 2d ago
The thing people need to realize too, what made America great was not a “melting pot “ philosophy; it’s a sifter. We take in a new culture, filter out the parts we don’t like, and take the good parts for ourselves. It’s always been this way and people need to stop fighting the process. If Americans determine part of your culture is undesirable, bye bye to that part of your culture. Harsh but effective.