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I wanted to hear from some people who are supportive or against the whole idea of multiculturalism in America. What are your ideas, and why/why not is multiculturalism a dangerous entity?
I dont have ideas about it.
But a quick look around us shows the results of multiculturalism.
If you dont like the direction the US is headed blame multiculturalism.
"E Pluribus Unum" was the motto proposed for the first Great Seal of the United States by Founding Fathers in 1776. A latin phrase meaning "One from many," the phrase offeres a strong statement of the American determination to form a single nation from a collection of states. In my opinion "E Pluribus Unum" has also served as a reminder of America's attempt to make one unified nation of people from many different backgrounds and beliefs. I also believe that this is no longer the case here in the greatest country on God's green earth..................
Depends on what you mean. If you mean a nation founded and run by many cultures, then the US has always been multicultural.
What do you mean exactly?
Right now I think America is experiencing a culture war between different segments of society. In the name of "multiculturalism" we have been forced to accept that different folks from different strokes can come to our country and practice their culture from back home. Hispanics being the major culprit right now. In the past, assimilation of different people from Europe and Asia resulted in a country that took many cultures and blended them into one, unified American culture. Now we are seeing a situation where one unified, American culture is directly competing against another, growing, and powerful Hispanic culture.
This culture has it's own separate language, their own set of moral values, their own identity. They have failed to assimilate into our American culture. I, along with many others, see this as a negative thing.
Other dangerous "cultures" include the pervasive but growing gang culture. This culture has been around, but developed more around the black populace during the 70's and 80's, and has made many inner-cities undesirable to live in due to crime rates.
The fact is that everyone has their own culture. We all think our own culture is better than others. When another culture comes in and fails to assimilate to OUR way of life in OUR country, then most take offense. Also, when a group or segment of society goes off in a different direction, as seen by gang warfare, we also tend to get offended.
"E Pluribus Unum" was the motto proposed for the first Great Seal of the United States by Founding Fathers in 1776. A latin phrase meaning "One from many," the phrase offeres a strong statement of the American determination to form a single nation from a collection of states. In my opinion "E Pluribus Unum" has also served as a reminder of America's attempt to make one unified nation of people from many different backgrounds and beliefs. I also believe that this is no longer the case here in the greatest country on God's green earth..................
Yes, we are going the opposite direction of this original phrase. From one, to many.
Multiculturalism at a superficial level is what the US has always had...many ways of cooking, many ways of celebrating, many religions, and many types of music and art. This type of multiculturalism (call it 'multiculturalism lite') make life interesting and vibrant. It keeps us from becoming 'stale'.
Lately, though, there's a NEW form of multiculturalism being 'pushed'...by some people, because they want to gain 'instant respectasbility' without effort...and by others, who just seem to think it might be 'cool'. This type of multiculturalism reaches a deeper level. It involves the attitudes different groups hold toward the government and the law (is it our 'servant' or our natural enemy?)...it involves the realtionship between family members (are wives 'equal partners', or men's inferiors? Do children have rights?). It involves how we handle disputes (call the police, or resort to violent acts of revenge)..how we co-exist with differing religions..(get along...or 'beat them up'?)...how we feel about society in general (are we 'just' members of separate ethnicities, or do we have a common bond?..and WHICH of these is more important?)
THAT type of multiculturalism can not work indefinitely. It may be OK when things are going smoothly..but when things get rough, watch out. Because cultures are, by definition, more or less incompatible. And if I'M looking out for the members of MY culture, (whom I think are 'best'), and YOU'RE looking out just as hard for the members of YOUR culture (whom YOU think are 'best'), and the guy down the street is looking out for HIS ethnic 'buddies' (whom HE thinks are 'best'), then we're going to have problems. We can't ALL be best, and if we're looking out for OUR GROUP, then we're not looking out for others. Someone will 'dominate', and someone will lose, in that scenario.
Already, on the other forum, we're hearing about how some members of ONE culture don't feel they should be subject to immigration law, because they're unable to abandon certain non-citizens who share their culture. SO FAR, this isn't lawe...but it's how they feel....cultural loyalty trumps the duties of citizenship.
Can anybody see any problems with this, in the future when things get 'tough', and instead of ONE culture demanding 'special treatment', we have 8 or 10? I sure can.
Multiculturalism 'lite' (the kind we've HAD), is fun. Multiculturalism at a deeper level (ethics, etc....the kind we're STARTING to see), CAN'T work. Cultures at that level are incompatible. One man's 'right' is another man's 'wrong'..and there's no way to make that fact go away.
Here's just ONE example of cultures' failure to 'translate'....you'd THINK (as an American, that is) that if you went in large numbers to live 'under the radar' in another country, that it would cause you to feel gratitude..that if you had any complaints, you'd either keep quiet or go home. That's what 'the American culture' sees as the normal reaction to this situation.
It doesn't mean others share that culture, though...because as we can ALL see, the exact above situation has caused MANY illegal immigrants to feel not gratitude, but anger and resentment...and they've been perfectly willing to 'spout off in anger'...not at their HOME nation, (which caused them to leave), but at US (which 'took them in'). To an American, such attitudes seem shockingly inappropriate..our culture would cause us to feel 'embarrassed' if we acted like that. The illegals don't see it that way. In THEIR culture, such 'spouting off' and blaming those who allow you to at least WORK here, aren't seen as childish, silly, or ungrateful..they're seen as 'sensible'. Cultural differences cause different groups to have a very different sense of right and wrong, etc.
In the past, assimilation of different people from Europe and Asia resulted in a country that took many cultures and blended them into one, unified American culture.
There has never been “one, unified American culture.” That’s a myth.
Go back and read all the newspapers, letters, and correspondence from around the time of the Revolution and well into the 1800s. Folks thought of themselves more in terms of being from New England, Virginia, New York, the South, or the frontier. It wasn’t until the Civil War that “one, unified country” was tested and tried.
And even then, different cultures persisted. The culture of Maine was very different from Boston, which was different from New York, which was way different than the South. Then you had all the farmers, ranchers, settlers, and an ever-increasing number of immigrants from Europe, East Asia. Add to that all the newly freed slaves and the Native Americans struggling to hold on to their culture.
Even today, the culture of Maine is very different from the culture of Massachusetts, which is different from Manhattan, which could not be more different from rural Pennsylvania. Add to that all the various ethnicities, religions, races, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronK
Now we are seeing a situation where one unified, American culture is directly competing against another, growing, and powerful Hispanic culture.
Well, now you know how the Native Americans must have felt. Just wait till they start talking about sticking all us white folks on reservations to "preserve our way of life."
Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronK
Other dangerous "cultures" include the pervasive but growing gang culture. This culture has been around, but developed more around the black populace during the 70's and 80's, and has made many inner-cities undesirable to live in due to crime rates.
I very much agree that the gang culture is severe and growing problem. But it is specifically a “black issue.” Never has been.
Go back to the early 1900s, and people were saying the very same things about the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronK
When another culture comes in and fails to assimilate to OUR way of life in OUR country, then most take offense.
So what is “OUR culture?” White Anglo-Saxon Protestants? No thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronK
Also, when a group or segment of society goes off in a different direction, as seen by gang warfare, we also tend to get offended.
Gang warfare is a criminal issue, not a matter of being offended, and the rise of gangs have more to do with poverty and the breakup of the family than any one race or ethnicity. Add to that an over-crowded prison system that does more to develop criminal culture than reform it, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
There has never been “one, unified American culture.” That’s a myth.
Go back and read all the newspapers, letters, and correspondence from around the time of the Revolution and well into the 1800s. Folks thought of themselves more in terms of being from New England, Virginia, New York, the South, or the frontier. It wasn’t until the Civil War that “one, unified country” was tested and tried.
And even then, different cultures persisted. The culture of Maine was very different from Boston, which was different from New York, which was way different than the South. Then you had all the farmers, ranchers, settlers, and an ever-increasing number of immigrants from Europe, East Asia. Add to that all the newly freed slaves and the Native Americans struggling to hold on to their culture.
Even today, the culture of Maine is very different from the culture of Massachusetts, which is different from Manhattan, which could not be more different from rural Pennsylvania. Add to that all the various ethnicities, religions, races, etc.
Well, now you know how the Native Americans must have felt. Just wait till they start talking about sticking all us white folks on reservations to "preserve our way of life."
I very much agree that the gang culture is severe and growing problem. But it is specifically a “black issue.” Never has been.
Go back to the early 1900s, and people were saying the very same things about the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians.
So what is “OUR culture?” White Anglo-Saxon Protestants? No thanks.
Gang warfare is a criminal issue, not a matter of being offended, and the rise of gangs have more to do with poverty and the breakup of the family than any one race or ethnicity. Add to that an over-crowded prison system that does more to develop criminal culture than reform it, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
Your ideas ignore the real threat that exists today, and are dangerous to this country and it's future. Multiculturalism just doesn't exist in the American country, it extends to businesses abroad and hurts our country. Multiculturalism can also be seen through history as a thorn in the side of many countries, and the ultimate destroyer of many countries. One of the greatest countries in the world, Rome, was indirectly destroyed by multiculturalism.
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