A vote for the melting pot

I grew up on the streets of Chicago, where diversity was assumed. Fusion of cultures? Of course.

As the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, I looked forward to Jewish holidays. That’s when our public school population of 800 dropped down to a couple of classrooms – those days were such fun.

Today’s changing demographics bring reflections of our “melting pot” nation to children growing up far outside the city sidewalks where I learned to ride my bike. Social commentators call today’s increased diversity a sign of the “new normal”, but it simply offers our kids a close-up of the world, right outside the front door.