Why some people describe American culture as a "salad bowl"

In the 1960s, 103 ethnic groups and 173 indigenous units emerged in the United States, adding up to more than 200 ethnic units. The United States is no longer a "melting pot of ethnic groups" but seems to have become an "ethnic museum."

Immigrants from several continents and oceans have maintained their own language and culture for generations.

When considering the issue of acceptance or rejection of these groups from the perspective of the so-called "mainstream culture", in 1976, Murray proposed that "the concept of 'cultural melting pot' does not seem to apply to them." The United States is already

A giant "salad bowl".

Extended information: From a world perspective, the cultural development of the United States presents a very complicated situation.

On the one hand, on the basis of acknowledging the reality of multiculturalism, we explore different paths to integrate and construct some kind of unified American culture.

For example, from the cultural melting pot policy in the 1950s, to the recognition of the reality of the cultural salad bowl in the 1970s, to the recognition of the process and results of cultural construction in the United States as a "tapestry" in the 1990s.

On the other hand, it emphasizes the clash of civilizations, from criticizing "Eurocentrism" to questioning the role of multicultural ethnic groups in constructing American culture, and ultimately returns American culture to European traditions under the political identity of "nation/country", and even

Direct identification with the Anglo-Saxon culture of the British Isles.

From this we can see that the theory of clash of civilizations created by the cultural reality of multiculturalism living in large and small communities, and the creation of a certain unified American culture and Americanness have run through the entire development process of American culture from the 20th century to the present.