The notion that the United States has been, and should continue to be, an international melting pot, was popularized by Israel Zangwill, in his play, The Melting Pot, in 1909. His family were emigres from Russia who resettled in London in the 19th century.
The bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty is etched with the Emma Lazarus poem, The New Colossus, which contains the words “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore…”
Both works have come to form a modern American myth in readily digestible form for American schoolchildren, far more powerful and easily apprehensible than historical understanding of mass immigration, and its consequences for native-born Americans. Yes, the world wishes to come here. Yes, many are destitute and in need of help. But the ideology that these works buffets is one that shackles and arrests any objection regarding America’s role as international smorgasbord. Can we as a nation help everyone? Are we morally obligated to do so? At what point should we consider this national self-immolation to have gone too far? America has created prosperity for itself, through its defense of freedom for its citizens. But for some reason we’ve accepted the belief that this prosperity gives the world a claim to it, and to object is somehow selfish.
