[Drolefille]

My polysci teacher talked a lot about how during the period that "melting pot" was really used we were much more of a stew/salad and these days so much more of culture and race blends over into each other. They're not irrelevant or completely intermeshed but we're more mingled now than we ever have been in our country's history.

Perhaps the best "melting pot" idea would be melting metal (as someone else said) or something solid enough that they don't mix completely but wherever two different types touch there's blending.