Isn't America wonderful? We can believe whatever we want to! America. Some say, "Love it or leave it." I say, love it, but not blindly; there are times to challenge, to change. Some call it a "melting pot" like a bland stew. I call it a "salad" with its rich diversity. Herbert Porter's letter, "The absence of adjectives" (Oct. 4) longs for the olden days, when all Americans were expected to be the same. That ideal only reminds me how deficient we are of the reality of America and its history. Yet each is allowed to think and believe as they choose, including Mr. Porter. I am an American who relishes my Italian/ Irish heritage. My ancestors were discriminated against, just because they chose to retain their culture. They loved America. But they were told that their foods, social customs and religion were "un-American" and they should "assimilate" into the monochromatic American ways. My childhood experience was very different than this. When I was in grammar school we were asked what our heritage was, I proudly said, Italian. In telling this to my father, born in New York City, I got a lecture, saying I was second-generation American; born here, no longer could claim to be Italian. was hurt and quickly claimed my Irish descent. (Despite my father's admonition, we had to have our pasta and sauce every Sunday.) The "melting pot" ideal of America is inadequate, narrow and exclusionary. It lumps all persons into the same bland flavor; it does not allow for any diversity, and has been used repeatedly to segregate people. On the other hand a salad is equitable, open and inclusive. It incorporates all people into the same space, delighting in the variety of contributions to society from each group. A melting pot-stew has room for only one "flavor" that blends together. A salad allows the many distinct and wonderful "flavors" to exist on their own and form the whole. Why would a country built up of many cultures want to sacrifice that richness for an indistinct one? How can we expect people to deny their heritage? To become a carbon copy? And of what? Which culture would dominate? Kathleen E Lo Pinto Vignolini Long Branch