Column: Teaching the ‘mixed plate’ metaphor

Watching the White House wage war on diversity, I’m struck by the ferocity of the campaign. What is it about the idea of diversity that inspires such fear and loathing and lust for homogeneity? I’m reminded of the metaphor of America, the “melting pot” — turning rough ore into sleek sheets of smooth metal — that dominated the dreams of my grandparents’ immigrant generation. They strove to blur the outlines of their cultural inheritance in their rush to become “real Americans.”

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