The Sicilian and Irish populations have been able to assimilate, pouring directly to the racial and ethnic melting pot that is America without missing much of a beat. However, African Americans, Native Americans and Mexican Americans will never be able to assimilate, according to conservative Jason Richwine, co-author of a controversial immigration study, and numerous others. America's title as a melting pot was earned from breaking ties with old countries, learning a new culture, and learning a new language.

Today, some have tossed out the term Melting Pot, in favor of a new term, Salad Bowl, which dictates that different ingredients are mixed in, in order to form a unified combination, but ingredients maintain their differences and their shapes -- and do not blend. "Salad Bowl America" manages to be both attractive and disabling. Immigrants may keep ties with their home countries -- which is made easier through technology; and they are able to access their own culture and language through the many enclaves that have budded throughout the nation.

However, the failure to "melt" means that certain minorities will never truly blend in, while those who do blend are promised "the American dream," rewards in the forms of economic independence, stability and high-paying careers (not that these things are necessarily gained through assimilation, nor does it mean that foreigners need to surrender culture in order to attain success). Depending on who you're speaking to, assimilation can be bad or good for Latinos. And some believe that Americans are assimilating to Latinos (with Spanish being the most spoken non-English language, and the regular consumption and normalization of Latin-style cuisine -- from churros to chorizo), rather than the other way around.

Native Americans continue to dwell on reservations; African Americans and whites' extensive tumultuous history still lingers with foul taste; and despite Latinos' long history in this country, they continue to be seen as "fresh off of the boat." The new immigrant's story and the old minority's tale are similar, except having cultural individuality is more valuable in America today than it was 50 years ago.

"They've been around since the Mexican-American war," Richwine said in a Youtube video entitled On The Importance of Race and IQ. "They've been here ever since and I don't think that they have been defined as white, certainly not by Europeans and really not by themselves except in the cases where they're trying to distinguish themselves from being black."

National and ethnic pride also keeps Latinos on the outskirts, rather than referring to themselves as American, or as "Latino" or "Hispanic," they more often regard their parents' country of origin when referring to themselves.  The Census Bureau considers Latinos to be "a non-racial, linguistic/cultural group whose members can be of any race," while the government considers Latinos to be white -particularly when collecting crime statistics; though only 20 percent of Latinos consider that to be true.

Richwine proposed a "thought experiment," asking listeners to imagine the 20th century influx of early immigrants as Australian-aborigines, Pakistanis and Cambodians, rather than the Italians, the Polish, the Jews, and the Irish. He stated that those early settlers would be "absolutely indistinguishable" from the white majority today. He then added that while he doesn't see race as "insurmountable," he does believe that it's a larger burden because they aren't from Europe. In his mind, Hispanic immigrants have low IQs and will breed children and grandchildren with low IQs; also stating that today's immigrants not being as intelligent as white "natives." Richwine's research has been torn down by many, including The National Council of La Raza, who has said that Richwine's research was "bigotry disguised as science."

Conservatives' anti-immigrant, and adjacent anti-Latino, attitudes also extinguish the possibility that Latinos will assimilate, made evident by individuals such as Richwine. There is an evidential fear that permeates from conservatives, who cower over Latino's growing language and influence. While assimilation is no longer an option due to that influence, what remains an option is the development of a 'simpatico' relationship that could arise between American and Latino America culture. Though that notion is faded by conservative's need to keep Latinos in the realm of "the other."