Gleason Doesn't Have Much of an Argument Either

Gleason does a good job of showing the history, significance, and controversies associated with the “melting pot” in all of the ways it has meaning (especially as a symbol). However, I find his concluding arguments all too quick and dirty. He simply states merits (which do not conclusively lead to superiority...for even the worst scum can have merits) and then he very quickly compares them to some of the alternatives. Firstly, he doesn’t show why any of the things he purports as merits of the melting pot are necessary as such for an effective symbol. Furthermore, I don’t think he gives any of his comparisons the full weight he needs to for a convincing argument, and is all too quick to write them off. Especially the metaphor about stew, which I do not see any justification for his claim that it is“not convey[ing] a melting pot sense of an ever-changing process”. Is not a stew always changing? ...and HOW is a melting pot always changing in a way that a stew does not? It seems to me, rather, a melting pot is just a stew of metals. The advantage of the stew symbol, is that a metal stew has no distinct and separate parts after it has been cooked. I also do not see how he finds the stew suggesting more of a chef, than a melting pot a metal miner. I also question the implications that the melting pot brings with it a “receptiveness to immigrants and the CULTURAL VALUES they bring.” Especially because he refers to its having this virtue in its established representation to Americans, when he has shown himself that the established representation of the melting pot has implicit disregard for those values. In a footnote, he thinks he has dodged the argument of a tendency towards the sameness of product...but I think he again is too quick to jump to his desired end. Because, he has not addressed at all the fact that his metal stew will have NO DISTINCT AND SEPARATE PARTS...which I find very problematic. All in all, his arguments are shoddy at best. I appreciate his contributions to the understanding of the melting pot symbol...however, I am not convinced that it is the BEST way to think about integration of varied cultures, ideas, and religions.