America, the Beautiful, Bigoted Melting Pot

America the Beautiful, written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates, was penned after she visited Pike’s Peak in Colorado. The poem, published in a journal first, is interpreted just as it is written; there are no underlying motives elucidated, thus far. Nowhere in the words can one find anything resembling an attack on different languages, but many Americans of English-speaking origin have found a new cause to jump upon, a new reason to beat the chest, and a campaign of the utmost absurdity.

After spending an afternoon on Coca Cola’s Facebook fan page, I was shocked to find so many people ignorant of this country’s origin and the meaning behind the term, “melting pot.” What spawned from the Super Bowl Coca-Cola commercial is a group of angry, confused, misguided, bigoted right-wing “activists” whose only concern is to keep America white and English-speaking. Never mind facts or obvious realities, these folks just want “America to speak American.” Not only do they want English to be spoken at all times, they also encourage same-sex couples to “GTFO” of this “grate country.” Now, because my slang knowledge is not on par with what it was, I may be wrong, but it seems they want LGBTs to get the fuck out of “their” great country. Their lack of proper English and inability to use punctuation leads me to believe that they haven’t put forth any effort to research anything for which they are complaining. To assume that we, as a nation, are to speak only one specified language is preposterous. To damn those who come here wanting the same things our ancestors wanted, is hypocrisy at its finest. To pounce uproariously on an advertisement and its respective company for wanting to embrace all cultures and diversities, is an embarrassment to all who share this nation.

The Melting Pot was originally a play written by an English playwright at the beginning of the 20th century. This play, though scarcely remembered for the story line, carries with it an embedded message of promise. The theme of the play was freedom and transformation for all immigrants. During the time of this play, America was receiving its largest number of immigrants to date. Irish, German, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants were fleeing their homelands to start a new life in this beautiful country. This melting pot of ethnic and cultural diversity is what has made America the strong, independent nation it is today. Each person screaming for pure American patriotism has no idea that his or her own truths are attached to an immigrant. Unless he or she qualifies or belongs to a Native American tribe, he or she is of immigrant descent. So if we are to get mad at America not speaking “American,” perhaps we should start learning the true indigenous languages. I’m sure Rosetta Stone may even begin offering Mayan, Algic, Siouan, or Salishan, but I could be wrong.

The most important thing I would like to say, and the ingredient added to this beautiful catastrophe is, do they know the song they keep referring to as “The National Anthem,” is in fact not the National Anthem, or that it was written by a full-blown, out-of-the-closet, lesbian? I think not. I. Think. Not.