With all the groups on campus striving this semester for recognition of their lifestyle, culture, or gender, I think it’s time we turned our attention to just what all these things really mean.

The old term for America – “the melting pot” – has been tossed aside for “a salad bowl.” For the most part, this was due to the recognition that as a society we aren’t melting together to become one. So now we are a salad, made of all different parts to create something larger. But is that what’s really going on?

Sure, for about one week last fall, America did come together, which will again last for maybe an hour this coming fall if we are lucky.

And it’s not the fault of liberals pushing an agenda of political correctness, but of too many groups thinking that they are somehow overly important now.

We are at a crossroads right now, where the divisiveness of every group in America threatens to tear this country apart.

In schools, new classes are constantly being offered in response to student demand that the curriculum is focused only upon white Europeans. Different cultures demanding the chance to learn about their own families, cultures and languages from which they come.

The desire to learn about a person’s heritage is only natural, but how many white students actually felt that when they were learning about Columbus coming to America they felt that was part of their history? I always thought of these events as the history of America, which just happened to include people that were white.

Right now in schools there is a movement to de-track classrooms including kids of all abilities. On the surface it would seem this is to help the students scoring less than other students.

But the truth of the matter is, it is attempting to socialize students of different races that are separated by ability.

The students, however, try and segregate themselves from other students even in these classrooms.

As much as we want to believe that we can all come together as Americans, the more each culture seeks to hold onto itself and refuses to budge.

America lacks any specific culture to which any group can cling to. Our history is seen as “white male dominated.”

At best, the only thing that all Americans have that we can come together as a culture on is consumerism.

No matter the social class, anyone can be a portion of this part of American culture with a little help from a single piece of plastic and $2,000 worth of debt. We can all be Americans.

The solution, while very unpopular, would be simple. The schools have to stop placating to the Whatever-Americans and creating new classes.

Learning about one’s culture should happen at home, from people who know; it’s not the responsibility of schools to make students feel better about their history.

We need to start teaching our children that the history of America is our history, all of ours. Instead of seeing colors, gender or religion, we should all be united together under that very idea, and stop pointing out the differences that keep us apart.

Blaine Moyle is a senior in English from Des Moines.