Mr. Speaker. for many decades. a theory widely held among observers of the American scene was that at all costs the "melting pot" must be encouraged to melt faster. What this translated into was that the various immigrant groups in our country should be encouraged in every way to divest themselves of their ethnic background and homogenize themselves into a distinctively "American" culture. The prevailing belief held firmthat the more the immigrants clung to their old country ways. the harder it would be for them to become Americans. As a result of this belief. millions upon millions of immigrant children were bombarded with propaganda which had the effect of denigrating their ethnic and cultural background. Many Anglicized their names. Some shied away from their religious faith. And. a good number tried to leave any vestige of the old country behind. Now. we have become aware that this process of "Americanization" is neither necessary nor even conducive to creating a better America. We have finally come to realize that virtually all immigrants who choose to become true Americans can do so without yielding the richness of their old country background. In fact. we have discovered to our increasing delight that the mere diversity of the groups composing our Nation is one of our greatest strengths. Our country and ihs total culture are the poorer whenever any of our ethnicity and cultural diversity is exchanged for certain elements in American culture. elements which. today. are not as strong. vibrant or binding as those of the old countries.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization that immigrants clinging to old ways makes it harder to become American.