Come to America—But Become American

I am a second-generation American of Italian descent. My grandparents arrived at the beginning of the last century with little more than their Catholic faith, a belief in hard work, and the hope that America would reward both. Like so many immigrants of their time, they faced poverty, prejudice, and uncertainty—but they also saw opportunity.

My grandfather obtained his U.S. citizenship not solely through paperwork, but by enlisting in the Army and fighting in World War I. That was the kind of commitment that defined his generation. You didn’t just settle here—you proved your allegiance. And when the war was over, he came home, raised a family, and taught his children that while we came from Italy, we now belonged to America.

Sunday sauce and rosary beads didn’t disappear—but by the next generation, our family was immersed in the American story. Assimilated. Grateful. Proud.

That was the promise of the melting pot.

But today, that deal—the one my grandparents embraced—is being quietly dismantled.

America once stood as the boldest experiment in unity through diversity. The phrase “melting pot” wasn’t about erasing heritage—it was about forging a shared civic identity. You brought your foods, your customs, your stories—but your children pledged allegiance to the same flag. That was the understanding.

Now we’re told that expecting assimilation is outdated, even offensive. We’re told to celebrate diversity without expecting unity. What we have instead of a melting pot is a patchwork of cultural silos—some of which don’t even acknowledge the legitimacy of the nation that welcomed them.

Let me be clear: this isn’t about closing the gates or fearing difference. This is about whether a country can function without a shared set of values and a common civic language.

Multiculturalism, once framed as a generous nod to global traditions, has been weaponized into an ideological battering ram. Assimilation isn’t just neglected—it’s actively discouraged. Civic norms are treated as optional. In some places, American holidays are sidelined in schools to avoid offending newcomers. We bend backward to accommodate every custom, while neglecting the very culture that allowed that tolerance in the first place.

The result is not inclusion. It’s fragmentation.

Even more troubling is the rise of activist groups who push to accommodate or even implement foreign legal systems like Sharia law. Some have lobbied for religious arbitration in civil disputes, essentially importing parallel judicial systems into Western nations. This is not theoretical. In parts of Europe, such experiments are already underway—and the results are corrosive to pluralism, not protective of it.

Let’s be clear: America protects religious freedom. You can worship as you see fit. But religious legal systems that conflict with American civil law—especially those that undermine due process, gender equality, or free speech—must have no place in our civic life. We cannot sacrifice our foundational principles on the altar of cultural sensitivity.

Meanwhile, on another front, a domestic ideological siege is underway.

The progressive left—deeply influenced by neo-Marxist thinking—has launched an assault not just on American values, but on the idea of America itself. Equality is replaced with equity. Personal responsibility is replaced with systemic blame. Liberty is recast as privilege. And patriotism is now suspect—unless it’s someone else’s.

Our institutions are being hollowed out by ideologies that pit people against each other based on race, class, and gender—ideologies that reject assimilation in favor of grievance, and cohesion in favor of chaos. America is no longer a place to belong. It is something to be dismantled and rebuilt in someone else's image.

But a country that welcomes everyone and asks nothing of them cannot long endure. Without a cultural center of gravity, a republic becomes unmoored, adrift in a sea of micro-identities and competing truths. We’re not just losing a sense of common purpose. We’re losing the very glue that holds this place together.

Civic literacy is in freefall. National pride is at historic lows. Major cities now openly celebrate secessionist ideology under the guise of “decolonization.” These are not signs of a confident, cohesive nation. These are symptoms of fragmentation bordering on national dissolution.

This is not the country my grandfather fought for.

America was never perfect. But the promise was clear: bring your best, adopt our civic values, and write your own chapter in the American story. It was hard, yes. But it worked. Millions succeeded under that model. We didn’t need safe spaces. We had family, faith, and the flag.

That model must be reclaimed.

We owe it to our ancestors—and our children—to defend the American identity. That doesn’t mean rejecting newcomers. It means affirming the timeless deal: Come to America—but become American.

It’s not racist. It’s responsible. No one wants to live in a land without borders, without norms, without cohesion. That’s not inclusion. That’s anarchy.

The path my grandparents walked wasn’t easy. But it led to belonging. Today’s path, by contrast, often leads to alienation and resentment, where no one adapts, everyone complains, and our unity is sacrificed for an ever-growing list of accommodations.

America worked because it asked something of those who arrived. It didn’t just hand out

opportunity—it offered it to those willing to become part of the whole. That was the deal.

We don’t need to close the door. However, we must remember why the house was worth entering in the first place.

The melting pot wasn’t just a metaphor. It was a model. And if we don’t revive it, we’re not just losing our identity. We’re losing the country.

Author Bio

Joe Palaggi is a second-generation Italian-American and former business executive turned writer. He explores the intersection of culture, history, and American identity