disintegration

Integration has, of course, been a powerful political term in
our days. And as I just now reflected on it another thought came
to mind. Oddly enough, some of the very people who have clamored
most for it, seem now most determined to destroy it. It makes me
wonder about their underlying assumptions. Are they superior to us,
and have to keep us confused and dependent on them? (Guess what I
think.) I believe in integration; it's the old American idea of
the "melting-pot." I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, in the "old days",
when most of our parents were from the "old country"- any "old"
country: Russians, Polish, Scandinavians, Italians, Brits, Irish,
Scotch, Chinese, Greek, German, etc. And I'm just talking about
the street ("block") I lived on! We didn't discriminate; we made
fun of everyone equally. As kids we could do that since we were
all Americans, kidding each other on our ancestry. It was great
fun- and we really appreciated one another. Furthermore, we prided
ourselves on our ethnic history. Nobody had to tell us it was okay.
We knew that. We were Americans, we could take it or leave it.
Black and white prejudice where it existed was, of course, really
un-American (in principle) and certainly, ungodly. But now that
we've made great strides away from that evil, someone wants to
re-introduce it through "multiculturalism". It's the segregation
thing, again, only on a much vaster scale. Now, instead of two major
ethnic divisions we can have maybe hundreds. When we knew we were
"different" and chose to be united we could make the distinctions
and changes we wanted. Now, effectively, we've been told we are what
we are and we're stuck with it. It's like "self-esteem". You know
you're a jerk, but the counselors' job is to talk you out of it.
You come from a "different" culture, country, and you kind of thought
it was okay, till the "experts" told you how wonderful it is that
you're different. Now you wonder- and think maybe you have to prove it.