The American Melting Pot Still Works. Why Divide Us?
April 18, 2023 5:10 pm ET A briefcase of a census taker in Winter Park, Fla., Aug. 11, 2020. Photo: John Raoux/Associated Press In “Biden’s OMB Plans to Divide America Into More Racial Groups” (April 8), John Early exposes the evils of tracking Americans by race and ethnicity. There is no reason to collect such data unless it is going to be used. It can be used only for discrimination, to treat some racial groups better than others. Everyone should be treated the same. People from the 200 nations of the world come here for a better life. They assimilate. Their kids grow up American. They speak only English. They merge into the melting pot that is America. For instance, my great-grandchildren are due next. They will be Irish, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Greek, Indian and Swedish. This will continue. How many combinations of Americans ca
A briefcase of a census taker in Winter Park, Fla., Aug. 11, 2020.
Photo: John Raoux/Associated Press
In “Biden’s OMB Plans to Divide America Into More Racial Groups” (April 8), John Early exposes the evils of tracking Americans by race and ethnicity. There is no reason to collect such data unless it is going to be used. It can be used only for discrimination, to treat some racial groups better than others. Everyone should be treated the same.
People from the 200 nations of the world come here for a better life. They assimilate. Their kids grow up American. They speak only English. They merge into the melting pot that is America.
For instance, my great-grandchildren are due next. They will be Irish, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Greek, Indian and Swedish. This will continue. How many combinations of Americans can the dividers cook up? It is endless and useless. To what end but to treat people only as members of groups, not as individuals? We need to stop collecting this data. We are all Americans.
Edward Haas
Atlantic Beach, Fla.
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