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In the subtlest melting process on the U.S. scene, the ethnic minorities (which together actually constitute the majority) greatly and constantly influence the Anglo-Saxon minority in culture, fashion, food and even philosophy. At the same time, the ethnic minorities continue to admire the Anglo-Saxon model. "The American's image of himself," says Professor Will Herberg of Drew University, "is still the Mayflower, John Smith, Davy Crockett, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln . . . and this is true whether the American in question is a descendant of the Pilgrims or the grandson of an immigrant from southeastern Europe." In politics, write Harvard Professors Edward Banfield and James Wilson, "the perfect candidate, then, is of Jewish, Polish, Italian or Irish extraction and has the speech, dress, manner and the public virtues—honesty, impartiality, and devotion to the public interest—of the upper-class Anglo-Saxon."
None of this should be taken too easily for granted in a world where Flemings still battle Walloons in Belgium, French Canadians are still at odds with British Canadians, and Indians of different faiths still slaughter one another by the thousands. Says Professor Daniel Moynihan, director of the Harvard-M.I.T. Joint Center for Urban Studies: "We are the only nation in the world that has seriously undertaken to establish a biracial democracy. We have shown a fantastic capacity to absorb an incredible range of ethnic groups. If this looked easy, the world is beginning to learn it is damn hard. America has something to teach here."
One of the things it has to teach is that, in the American melting pot, complete amalgamation is probably not possible and certainly not desirable. But the process of blending continues, and the mixture grows more subtle all the time.