As an “oldish” member of Generation X, I’m too young to remember the days of home milk delivery in glass bottles. I can, recall, however, when supermarket milk came in cardboard cartons. The backs of the cartons featured the heartbreaking photos of missing children while on the front the words, “Pasteurized and Homogenized” were boldly printed for all the world to see. I had learned about Louis Pasteur from my fifth-grade health textbook and how the process that bore his name made milk healthier and safer to drink. However, I don’t recall ever studying homogenization or its supposed benefits until much later. When I did learn about homogeneity, it was ironically, connected not to the processing of milk for public consumption but rather to a social-political argument against why programs such as universal health care could work in countries like Sweden and Denmark, but not in the United States.

Homogenization, when it comes to milk, is a process in which milk is “subjected to very high pressure to break up the fat globules” which are then “covered with a membrane of proteins and lipids” (Dairy Nutrition, 2021). The overall purpose of this scientific experiment is to distribute the cream evenly throughout the milk, and result in more uniformity of color, taste, and consistency. It seems that recently, however, the Trump Administration, the Make America Great Again Movement (MAGA) and the Heritage Foundation, in their promotion of the infamous Project 2025 are on a quest to homogenize American society, although I cannot fathom why anyone would think that this is a good idea.

Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2025, African American History Month became one of the first targets for attempted erasure, based on the argument that this type of ethnic heritage recognition was “divisive” and not in the best interest of “true Americans.” I continue to struggle with why simply recognizing the existence and contributions of the rich variety of backgrounds that make up the beautiful patchwork quilt which comprises America should be something that anyone would want to erase.

Some will cite the concern that ethnic-heritage celebrations represent “reserve discrimination” against white Americans. However, this argument has always seemed illogical at best and at worst representative of a fairly extreme form of paranoia. For example, Carter G. Woodson, first proposed “Negro History Week” in 1926 some 150 years after the beginning of the United States. It took another fifty years for this recognition to develop into African American History Month, and even then, as Black Americans we joked about the fact that they would give us the shortest month (February) to celebrate our history. Despite white history received exclusive attention in the American educational system for two hundred years, 4 weeks of every year devoted to the achievements of Black Americans was somehow a bridge too far.

Similarly, despite some white conservatives constantly quoting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream about judging only on the “content of one’s character,” we often forget that for 15 years the idea of recognizing Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday was faced with deep opposition from lawmakers like Senator Jesse Helms, who tried to brand King as a communist mainly because he spoke out against the war in Vietnam.

White America also seems to be incredibly reluctant to face any of the less than stellar moments in our country’s past. Juneteenth? We shouldn’t celebrate that because it would force us to face the issue of slavery. Holocaust Remembrance Day? That could remind people that the United States did little to offer a safe haven for European Jews who needed to escape Nazi persecution. Indigenous People’s Day? If we celebrate that, well someone might start asking questions about why Native Americans were pushed off their land and why were some Native children stolen and sent to boarding schools meant to erase their “Indian-ness.”

Trying to eliminate the recognition of ethnic and cultural differences based on the argument that it encourages “identity politics” and a “woke” mindset, is really nothing more than an attempt to “homogenize” American society in the same way that we homogenize our milk. Women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ communities are being placed under heavy pressure to conform to white, Christian, CIS male ideology. While homogenized milk may have a longer shelf life, in terms of nutrition and food safety, most food scientists agree that homogenization isn’t really necessary. I think that the same argument could be made against attempts to homogenize American society. While the uniformity and sameness that right wing conservatives seems to be striving for might be smoother and more predictable is it necessarily “better”.” After all, when milk isn’t homogenized, the cream rises to the top. Shouldn’t we want that for our society as well?

References

Dairy Nutrition. (2021). Why is Milk Homogenized and What Are its Effects? Dairy Nutrition.