It's time to challenge all this nonsense about the "celebration of diversity" in our society. The more the schizophrenics preach the glories of diversity, the more we pull apart. This is not to deny appreciation of the ethnic roots, rituals, and foods, which add color to life. But to lay undue emphasis upon diversification results in destruction of the "social glue" that binds us together. Our forefathers framed one nation, indivisible. In the misguided effort to "celebrate" the uniqueness of every disparate culture and subculture, we betray our heritage and dilute our identities as Americans.
The following selections were taken from the letters-to-the-editor section of a newspaper. Each can be interpreted as expressing one or more arguments. Begin by identifying the conclusion of each. Then disengage the covert assumptions, value claims, and other cognitive assertions from the emotive language and translate them into emotively neutral premises. Use the two examples in the text as models. Finally, evaluate the restructured arguments. Some may turn out to be good ones.