In the later years of high school, we were told that there was a shift from the "melting pot" mentality to a "tossed salad" metaphor. With the salad, every culture is distinct (croutons, lettuce, cheese, etc.) while in the melting pot everything just mixes together into brown mush. Now, I'm no expert in the matter by any means, but imo, the main issue is that there's simply too much focus put into it. Who cares if you're white, black, brown, orange, neon green. Who cares if you're African-American, Sri Lankin-American, Antarctic-American. The important thing is that we remember where we came from and not forget our traditions. More importantly is to acknowledge the differences and respect the traditions of others. In the US, that does seem to be lacking and I'd guess that that's where a lot of the unrest is coming from.