Conference on Latino solidarity

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by california-jewel

So many it seems like to call out the White Race for anything we do that in the least resembles a race issue. Is everything created equal with the races, the way it is going, i hardly think so.

Needless to say: us Anglo Whites range from medium brown (Arab, Iranian, Italian in particular) to porcelain in skin tone---------and, Hispanics call us racist since so many of them are also Caucasian? An Anglo here in Arizona refers to any non Hispanic White person.

[Golem1979]

In a multicultural society, any group emphasizing its own 'special status' and looking out for its own members is doing exactly what it SHOULD be doing...celebrating its own culture, and promoting the interests of members of that culture. That's what multiculturalism IS...."many cultures"...presumably each one unique, special, and 'equal', and of course the 'culture of choice' for its own members.

Remember, 'multiculturalism', as a concept to be emphasized and sought after, (as it has been in the US for the past 3 decades) has only been 'fashionable' for a very short time. It's also still quite rare, and relatively few nations today have adopted it. Most nations still retain their own distinct national culture, and any immigrants in these places are expected to adapt that culture and 'fit in', or be forever looked at as 'foreigners'.

Here in the US we do it differently; we attach no importance to an 'American culture'..(indeed, many of us deny that there IS such a thing), and we encourage any immigrants arriving here to retain their own culture; many of them do so, and the results of that are seen not only in 'Latino solidarity', but in a dozen other examples.

There will be more and more of this in the future, as we abandon the idea of 'assimilation' and opt for the 'every culture for itself' mode of operating.

I do not think a truly multicultural society can exist for long as a prosperous, liberal, and tolerant nation...either it will have to abandon multiculturalism and get back to some semblance of a 'shared' culture for all inhabitants..or it will have to abandon much of its freedom, and agree to live under a strict form of authoritarian rule, one which forces all cultures to 'get along' with each other, whether they like it or not.

Meanwhile, though, we're in a sort of experiment..we're trying out 'multiculturalism'....and for now, I see nothing in the concept of 'Latino solidarity' that is contrary to the principles of multiculturalism...in fact, not only is 'Latino soldarity' OK, according to multiculturalist thinking, ethnic solidarity of ANY kind is the very ESSENCE of multiculturalism..."We'll take care of OUR group, and the REST of you can take care of yourselves".

That's the definition of multiculturalism..."many cultures". 'Latino' is, arguably, the name of a culture. In this instance, a culture is seeking to promote itself. Isn't that what cultures are expected to do? If we don't LIKE it, perhaps we shouldn't blame the Latinos...perhaps we should re-think multiculturalism. At one time, we had a concept in this society called 'assimilation'. Maybe we should look into that; perhaps there may be something we could learn.

Or maybe not....

That is why whenever somebody tells me that America is a melting pot, I correct them and tell them that in reality the U.S is actually a salad bowl.

Melting pot = assimilation. Something that that the viva la raza crowd definitely do not strive for.

The U.S is a salad bowl because there are millions of people in this country who show more loyalty to Mexico, El Salvador, or Guatemala than they do to the United States. In a true melting pot society, people like this would be very rare.