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Multiculturalism is a social structure many in the United States would like to see. In my opinion, it is a kind of surrender to the idea of the country being a “melting pot”. You see, multiculturalism is the antithesis of a melting pot. If multiculturalism had been socially acceptable amongst Southern whites fifty years ago, there never would have been school integration. But the battle cry at that time was for desegregation, despite those Southern white citizens essentially demanding multiculturalism by proclaiming, “we have our culture and they have theirs”. Today that very mentality allows Afrocentric schools to exist openly and without protest.
I was in another interactive internet forum a year or so ago and there was an exchange that pretty much summed up how well multiculturalism will work as a social structure in this country. The exchange;
Poster A; The melting pot idea is a thing of the past. We are a nation of multiculturalism. All we need for healthy multiculturalism is for people to have pride in their own culture and heritage, while having a respect for other cultures. As a black man, I am proud of my heritage because my people faced generations of derogation but still emerged as a strong people.
Poster B; As a European-American I too am proud of my heritage. My people have contributed much through science and technology allowing all people to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives.
Poster A; So you’re proud, huh? Are you also proud of your people’s World Wars, concentration camps, and weapons of mass destruction?
Poster B; So let me get this straight, multiculturalism means I have to respect your heritage but you don’t have to respect mine.
Multiculturalism is a social structure many in the United States would like to see.
Like to see? Where could one go, since before the inception of the county, and not see multiculturalism?
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In my opinion, it is a kind of surrender to the idea of the country being a “melting pot”.
I my opinion this is a surrender to ignorance.
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If multiculturalism had been socially acceptable amongst Southern whites fifty years ago, there never would have been school integration.
Jim Crow was about protecting a dominate social strata, Southern whites, even the most racist sheet wearing Maryland Farmer had their "culture" shaped by "multiculturalism" whether they were aware of it or not.
Like to see? Where could one go, since before the inception of the county, and not see multiculturalism?
I my opinion this is a surrender to ignorance.
Jim Crow was about protecting a dominate social strata, Southern whites, even the most racist sheet wearing Maryland Farmer had their "culture" shaped by "multiculturalism" whether they were aware of it or not.
For some reason I'm guessing you are the standard "internet insulter" and not someone who dialogues, but I'll give it a shot.
First a "melting pot" is a constant work in process. New people, changing laws, evolving society makes it unending. Yes, the Korean family living down the street might have some miniscule cultural effect on his neighborhood. The problem is, the Korean himself might be a doctor or an architect, but the reality is, his chances of having an equal income to those in the larger culture are greatly compromised simply becausel he is not an active member of the larger culture and does not have an understanding of its countless nuances in language, cultural traits, even humor.
If we as a nation do decide that multiculturalism is the way to go, does that mean there will no longer be social taboos against specifically white clubs and organizations? Right now you can do an internet search for "black clubs" and you will be given endless pages listing clubs and organizations designated for blacks. Do a search for "white clubs" and you will a website that sells white croquet mallets. Those in favor of multiculturalism would have to understand that such double standards would have to change. My grandmother could have a "White Woman's Sewing Club" and not be proclaimed a racist.
Isn't going to happen if it hasn't by now/ People want to keep tehir cultural hertiage has has been demonstrated time and again.Kind of ilke saying all farm animals are the same;they aren't.
See, once upon a time there were those of Irish ancestry, and Italian and German. And it all became one American culture. There's still those who are proud of their Irish, or French forefathers, but the homeland of the forefathers slowly became far less meaningful than the new country and the new American culture. So it does happen. See, a person builds a kind of wall to protect his own culture. But he is in effect shutting out the larger culture.
It's not that people haven't always done that. My uncle is a biker and he has forsaken the mainstream culture for his own indpendent culture. Nothing wrong with it. But such things shouldn't be done because of race, or fear of change.
For some reason I'm guessing you are the standard "internet insulter" and not someone who dialogues, but I'll give it a shot.
I do a little of both depending on my mood, the depth of the discussion or the novelty of the subject or its abject repetitiveness.
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If we as a nation do decide that multiculturalism is the way to go...
Maybe, I'm missing something. Am I to construe that "multiculturalism" is just a code word for whites vs everyone else, because if it is, I apologize for interjecting. And here is why, if we just look at the the colonies that arose around the Delaware River we come to find Swedes, Dutch, Germans, Irish, Irish Catholics, English, Native Americans, and Africans (both slave and freeman) each bringing some cultural flavor to what would become the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. And that was just the 17th Century. When we get to the later part of the 18th Century and we add Italians, and Eastern European Jews... well the melting pot is in full swing and we haven't even begun to discuss the West coast of the country with its own particular pre-20th Century brand of multiculturalism.
So if the conversation isn't about multiculturalism as a code word, then the conversation can't begin in the future tense, unless the intent is to ignore the full breath of immigrant and native cultures which comprise present day America.
How was that, not an insult to be seen?
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