ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the paradox between the American melting pot and the Chinese hot pot is highlighted. Many of us are familiar with the metaphor of the melting pot. It emerged as an aftermath of the popular play written by Zangwill (1910). The play, The Melting Pot, presented an acculturation model molding immigrants into a “predetermined standard of desirability” (Wong, 1993). Along with this concept, the national motto of e pluribus unum-from many, one-also conveyed this desire to create Americans from a “dizzying array of peoples, cultures, and races” (Sewell, DuCette, & Shapiro, 1998). The metaphor of the melting pot left it to the schools to educate students from many cultures through a common language, a common history, and common goals, principles, and values. The schools bore the burden of producing the social and cultural integration required to create “real Americans.”
