The Melting Pot of the Twenty-First Century

To the editors:

Regarding several recent columns and op-eds on campus ethnic groups:

I find it amazing that students still feel the need to organize ethnic groups as if that would be the best way to highlight multiculturalism on the campus. Such groups, in my opinion, tend to be divisive and foster the belief that members of such groups want to segregate themselves.

Why not organize groups based not on our ethnicity or color of our skin, but on concepts and values that we all believe in as members of one university community? As Americans and as children of immigrants who came to this country—united in the values that attracted all of us to America— we don’t need to make distinctions where we came from or what our native cultural values and beliefs are. This is not to suggest we should cast off our ethnic heritages, but we ought to find ways to engage in a common dialogue without the burden of wearing race or ethnicity on our sleeves.

Multiculturalism has been with us for sometime. They used to call it the melting pot. Let’s not destroy it by Balkanizing ourselves.

REMIGIO G. LACSAMANA

Daytona Beach, Fla.

April 29, 2005