America has been described as a stew and as a bouillabaisse, which bring to mind the diversity of ingredients that give American culture its distinctive flavor. Another metaphor is the cloth of many colors, or the tapestry, where diverse threads create a beautiful image or a useful coat because they are different from each other. One difficulty with these metaphors is that they are passive, even static. The cloth or the tapestry is there to be admired, and somebody created them, but our audience may not understand that we are engaged in the process of creation right now. I have tried it out below.
American culture is like a jazz ensemble.
It includes many different people, some of whom have different backgrounds, but more importantly they play different instruments. In order to contribute to the ensemble they need to know how to play their own instrument, so they need to take music lessons. Similarly, each of us need to study and become familiar with our own culture, be it Western European Civilization or African-American Heritage. It is necessary to know one culture well in order to contribute. In fact, after years of lessons and practice, many people can make their instrument sound great, so it gives them and others much pleasure during a solo recital.