You say knish, I say pretzel...

Raise your hand if you know what I"m talking about. If you have a family that includes members of color, you don't just jump in your car and drive to small towns in Red States without making sure that folks in those parts are comfortable with colored people. At least I don't.

So of course, when some friends told us we had to take our children to this quaint little amusement park in Lancaster, PA called Dutch Wonderland, the first thing I did was go to the website to see if they included children of color in their promotional materials. And they did. In fact, they showed quite a nice variety of families of color on the site, making me feel AOK about taking my mixie kids there.

Dutch Wonderland sits in the heart of Lancaster County, which is home to many Amish communities and throngs of Pennsylvania Dutch/Germans. I believe I read that it is also home to the soft pretzel. I've also heard that while Lancaster City has a sizable Black and Hispanic population, outside of the city it's pretty White and hostile to "outsiders." So I wasn't sure what to expect at this Wonderland. Well, before we even parked our car I could feel my meltingpot sensors rev up, as we parked between a Hispanic family on our left and an Indian family on our right.

Once we were in the park, I was truly astounded by the number of not just African-American families, but Hasidic Jews, Mennonites, and South East Asian families as well. I heard Spanish being spoken, as well as Yiddish. And everyone seemed interested in only one thing, having fun with their kids. It was heartwarming but I couldn't help but wonder what was the draw for such a diverse crowd. I mean the park was cute, but it wasn't all that.

So of course I did some investigating. Apparently the reason Hasidic families are drawn to Dutch Wonderland, is because they have a big ol' Kosher market and restaurant in the middle of the park. That's gotta make you feel welcome and cuts down on what you have to pack in your picnic basket. Or maybe it's the kinship with the Amish that they feel.

But it can't just be about the food can it? I mean we went because it was a lot closer and cheaper than Disneyland. Had I known it was going to be such a hotbed of diversity, I might have been inclined to check it out sooner. Anybody else ever heard of Dutch Wonderland? Can you think of how an amusement park in the middle of Amish country got such a colorful following? Maybe I'm making too much out of nothing. But even if I am, I'm still happy that the place exists. It just makes my American meltingpot feel that much warmer.

Black and Amish?

Correction!
Thanks to my eagle-eyed and knowledgeable readers, it has come to my attention that this couple is most likely not Amish, but in fact Mennonnite. The Mennonites and the Amish share a common protestant history, but they are quite different in their current practices and core beliefs. You can visit Thirdwaycafe.com to have all your Mennonite questions answered.

Thirdway Cafe also provides the following information about Black Mennonites:
" The Mennonite Brethren denomination was among the first known to begin work among people of African-American origin, in a mining community of Elk Park, N.C. in 1886. The Mennonite Church baptized its first black members in 1897 in Cocolamus, Pa."

End of correction

School's back in session and My American Meltingpot is back from summer vacation. Please keep tuning in to see what we're blogging about. This year we're going to try to post more frequently since there always seems to be something brewing in America's cultural stew. Things that make us mad. People who inspire us and of course those situations that just make us go hmmm....like this one.

Recently I went to the Philadelphia Zoo with my family. We were just strolling along, looking at monkeys and elephants and such when I noticed a large crowd of Amish folk taking in the sights as well. Of course I noticed them, because, well, big groups of Amish are noticeable at places like the zoo. Sure they were pushing strollers and pointing at the giant boa constrictors like the rest of us, but the outfits always make you look twice. Not that there's anything wrong with the Amish dress, I'm just saying you notice it.

Well, on this particular day, with this particular group of Amish, I noticed one couple because the husband was Black. Just regular old American looking Black. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt so at first I couldn't be sure if he was really with the group, but then I realized that his wife was the Amish woman in the floral-print dress next to him and the little biracial girl who held his hand was surely his daughter.

I had to hold myself back from running right up to him to ask if he was indeed Amish. I wanted to know how he came to be Amish. If there were more like him. Of course I did not ask these burning questions because I believe in people's right to enjoy an outing at the zoo without being attacked by curious strangers like myself.

So, I simply allowed myself to stare and wonder and smile at the sight. This is what I love to see, racial stereotypes being shattered by regular everyday people. Just by being out at the zoo, this couple made people stop and think and question. This is what I love about the human experience. This is what I love about My American Meltingpot.

Curiously, after a brief internet search I found very little information about Black Amish people. Technically, Amish is a religion so anybody "should" be able to join, but I'm not sure how the Amish handle "newcomers." Definitely something that makes you go hmmmm.

Peace.

Photo by Vitamin Lee