Any other expression of love is considered to be abnormal and therefore not legally valid. In the past, interracial marriages were illegal because they did not conform to the national standard of legitimate love. Many of the normative behaviors we take for granted were at one time forbidden: such as women being able to vote or own businesses.
Although minorities have become more visible in American culture recently, a dominant culture is still assumed to be the correct one. Males are by default the norm so that doctors are sometimes called "female doctors." When we see an African-American or a Jewish comedian on television, that person plays up his or her ethnic identity in ways whites are not expected to do because being white is the norm.
A often feel that people like me who are Native American possibly experience the most outsider status of any other ethnic or cultural group in the United States. For centuries, the dominant culture has forced my people to give up our religious rituals, our musical traditions, our customs, and our languages. Then the commercialism that is part of the dominant culture ensures that white people profit off of Native American arts, crafts, sound recordings, and imagery such as that used in sports teams. African-Americans have suffered a similar fate of having to abandon their histories and heritages. Embracing Islam is one way African-Americans have reclaimed their African identity...
That melting pot metaphor guided the American worldview for a long time, until some minority groups realized that it was destroying their heritage. A few alternative metaphors better suit the type of multiculturalism that does not impose a dominant culture. For example, American culture can be viewed as a patchwork quilt or a stained glass window in which each individual part is necessary for the whole picture.
Sometimes American culture celebrates the minority identity almost to the point of making it a fetish. Being African-American now has a cultural coolness factor. Therefore, we often benefit from being an outsider because we are viewed as being rebellious, exotic, and therefore appealing. Our imagery as minorities becomes valuable. Sometimes I meet people who swoon when I tell them I am a Native American. That person is viewing me as a representative of Native American culture rather than as an individual. Even if they appreciate my culture, they are still using it as a way to label me and identify me as different from the norm.
References
Wise, T. (2007). Op-Ed: Assimilation Blues: Immigration and the Dysfunctions of the Dominant Culture. Civil Rights. Retrieved Jan 31, 2009 at http://www.civilrights.org/library/features/op-ed-assimilation-blues.html
