Melting Pot in US

The melting pot is a metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" into a harmonious whole with a common culture. It is particularly used to describe the assimilation of immigrants to the United States. The United States is commonly referred to as a melting pot, a society in which people from societies blend together into single mass. some sosiologists prefer the term "multicultural". The term multiculturalism recognizes the heritages of millions of Americans, noting that Americans who are original from other societies do not necessarily have to lose their individual markers by melting into the mainstream. In terms of immigrants to the United States, the "melting pot" process has been equated with Americanization, that is, cultural assimilation and acculturation. The "melting pot" metaphor implies both a melting of cultures and intermarriage of ethnicities, yet cultural assimilation or acculturation can also occur without intermarriage. African-Americans are fully culturally integrated into American culture and institutions.