Multiculturalism in the USA can be explained as political ideology that sees all cultures, their mores and institutions, as essentially equal. No culture is considered superior or inferior to any other; it is merely different. Multiculturalism proposes both benefits and threats for society and social security. The policy of multiculturalism encourages immigrants and other minorities to retain their foreign cultures by not assimilating into the Euro-American culture. Freedom of speech and human rights doctrine are often cited as the main threats and weaknesses of multiculturalism. Ronald Takaki and Gary C. Jacobson claim that multiculturalism has a negative impact on democratic institutions and population in the nation-state.
Ronald Takaki underlines that government is urged to legislate and fund bilingual education for immigrant children in public schools. Cultural assimilation is disdained because it is tantamount to cultural imperialism. Multiculturalists falsely picture regional variations in the American culture, and most of these are minor, as different cultures. Takaki pays a special attention to the question of identity an integration: “more than ever before, as we approach the time when whites become a minority, many of us are perplexed about our national identity and our future as one people”. Jacobson explains that individuals who think that multiculturalism is a reflection of democracy should know that multiculturalists are actually opposed to traditional democracy. The suppression of individual rights in history also brought the death of democracy and freedom. “The dilemma of preserving racial homogeneity while becoming a multicultural society perplexed policymakers of the new nation”. To champion the rights of “peoples,” as multiculturalism does, is contrary to the foundations of traditional democratic freedoms which have their roots in individual rights, not group or peoples’ rights.
Takaki better captures the debate explaining origins and real social situation in America. Thus the rhetoric of multiculturalism that portrays its goals as democratic is false. Once individuals and their rights are subordinated to a group or some collectivity, democracy becomes useless term (Takaki, pp. 403-404). Obviously, this is not a popular position to take today when more and more people have accepted multiculturalism and its contrary-to-fact propaganda that argues all cultures are equal or of equal value. Takaki underlines that politicians often speak about the culture of Oklahoma versus the culture of Illinois, or the Southern culture opposed to the Northern culture. Multiculturalism results in separatism and a loss of national identity. llegal immigrants avoid the melting pot more than those who enter the country legally. Takaki explains: “Since the Civil War and emancipation, race has continued to be largely defined in relation to African Americans — segregation, civil rights, the underclass, and affirmative action”. This ideology with strong political overtones is promoted and advocated by college / university professors and administrators, elementary and secondary school teachers and officials, governmental bureaucrats, textbook publishers, the mass media, and a host of church leaders. For instance, the movie 9/11 portrays that t a large degree multiculturalism has gained its present foothold because many Americans have been presented false portraits of what it is and does. The main problem is that multiculturalism encourages Americans to become xenocentric really promoting cultural separatism “which has been reinforced by academic permissiveness” (Takaki, p. 3). Modern education is not merely learning about other cultures, but about creating cultural separatism. Ultimately, such education undermines America’s national identity.
Multiculturalists are not interested in teaching students to appreciate the contributions of different cultures in part because such an approach might lead to a greater appreciation of American culture. The dilemma is the popular print media and television try to present multiculturalism in colored pictures. The message here is that people with different skin colors represent different cultures. Such presentations give a distorted picture of culture; one might even call such attempts racist.
Works Cited
- Jacobson, G.C. A Divider, Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2007.
- Takaki, R. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1993.