Member-only story
#SAYTHEIRNAME SERIES: PART ONE
The United States of America’s history of exclusion, erasure, and invisibility is so normalized that we even refer to America’s reputation as one of the most diverse countries in the world as a “melting pot.” However, this language, often taught in schools and in other academic spaces is inherently exclusionary.
Let’s really digest the word melt. Melting is a process, in which, when applied to heat transforms a solid to a liquid form. Synonyms for melting include softening, reducing, thawing, and dissolving. Britannica refers to an item’s melting point as the temperature at which the solid and liquid forms a pure substance that can exist in equilibrium.
Therefore, melting pot insinuates that one must conform to the culture, meaning the dominant western cultural norm, which is whiteness, to even gain the potential to have access to equality or the American dream.
THE ERASURE OF NAMES
It is no surprise that assimilation innately occurs overtime and is often represented in the evolution of one’s name and individual identity. We have heard the stories of the immigrants that arrived in America at Ellis Island. While there are sources that refer to the inspectors changing the names of those arriving as a myth, it is understood that the name changes occurred due to a variety of reasons.
