Nathan Glazer died on the 19th of last month. He is best known as the author of BEYOND THE MELTING POT (1963) and of WE ARE ALL MULTICULTURALISTS NOW (1997) These are both books that, as the titles indicate, discussed in a scholarly way the vexed issue of ethnic and cultural identities in the United States within the context of two very different political eras. There was much else to Glazer's life and career, but I will focus here on those two books, BTMP and WAAMN. BTMP as a book formally co-authored with Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then executive assistant to the Secretary of Labor. But it is generally recognized as consisting mostly of Glazer's work. It made the then-unusual argument that ethnicities don't melt. Focusing especially on New York City, the authors contended that the children and even grandchildren of waves of immigration to NYC, from Puerto Rico, Italy, Ireland, or by Jews from much of the continent of Europe [Glazer's parents were Jews from Polan...
