Melting Pot

The term “melting pot” is believed to have been introduced by the Jewish play writer Israel Zangwill in his pre-World War I play about the convergence of people and cultures in a single community. The phrase became a cultural and scholarly idiom to signify the belief that different cultural/racial/ethnic groups can form one homogenous group through interaction. Within this new homogeneous group, each culture is viewed as equally contributing and equally represented. The “melting pot” view of the cultural amalgamation is known in the social and behavioral sciences as the fusion model.

However, the term “melting pot” has become a heated topic of debate among scientific communities, especially in the area of psychology. The recent scholarship on multiculturalism and diversity issues has caused the concept of the melting pot to be questioned. Racial and ethnic minority scholars argue that forming one cultural group from many varied groups is an illusion that contributes to continued...