What is Right and Wrong with Multiculturalism?

After reviewing the readings, I see two sides of the multiculturalism coin. Opposing sides battle their views on why multiculturalism is wrong and right. I do not see multiculturalism as something that can be wrong. However, I do see things that are wrong with multiculturalism. This blog examines my opinions of the two views of multiculturalism both the positive and the negative.

What is right with multiculturalism today?

My view of multiculturalism is a means to introduce new ways of thinking to a mainstream culture. Culture is something with which we are born. Think about slavery in the South. Is it legitimate to believe that every single person that participated in slavery viewed African people as less-than-human? The introduction of a new social view changed American history forever.
Samuel Taylor stated, “It may be the first time that a nation has abandoned the single identity of its origins and set out deliberately to adopt multiple national identities.” The idea of a single identity of national origin is a conundrum. Most of the nations in the world today come from many different origins. Thinking of America as possibly having a single identity of origin is a futile debate. America was formed from settlers from many different origins – even native origins.

Humans (of any culture) are free-thinkers, but to make choices, we must be given options. Multiculturalism creates options to social norms. In his writing, PJ Tobia (2009) described how the two opposing views of multiculturalism theoretically advance their agendas. He asked, “But what does the other side do to advance its agenda? Watch Ghandi? Memorize King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail?” When I read that, I realized that I had studied King’s letter, but I have never read it. I took the time to read it. I want to share a line of this letter with you. Martin Luther King Jr. (1963) said, “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was ‘illegal.’ It was ‘illegal’ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers.” That being said, we must have options to the culture in which we are born or else we are doomed to suffer the same afflictions of our ancestors.

What is wrong with multiculturalism today?

Aspiring to create a multicultural society is something that I cannot view as a wrong idealization. Cultures should not be compartmentalized and guarded. Instead, they should be shared. However, some multicultural ideas are unfair. PJ Tobia (2009) described a world in the view of the white supremacist’s eyes. He said, “In this world, affirmative action has run totally amok, with every position of power or authority occupied by an unqualified, low I.Q. minority, homosexual or lesbian.” Without a doubt, I think that minority groups should be represented in positions of power. I think that affirmative action should be a tool that protects races from discrimination. However, do not confuse protection with promotion. It seems that affirmative action is sometimes used to promote minority groups.

Being that this is an education blog, let’s consider affirmative action in the classroom. When we arrange students into different classrooms, we sometimes group the students by ability – based on TCAP scores and teacher recommendations. However, one other thing that is considered is race. The struggle is to create classrooms that are racially balanced. Why? Why do we find the need to further arrange students by race when the main criterion is ability?

Let’s consider a hypothetical situation.

• There are 25 available seats in an honor English class.
• Students are placed in the class on the basis of above-average English skills.
• The majority of the students in the class are Caucasian; minorities are underrepresented in the class.
• Administration is forced (by parental pressure) to place a minority student in the class.
• One of the qualified Caucasian students is bumped from the class to make room to represent the minority group.

Is that fair? I do not think that it is fair. It is unfair to both students involved. It is unfair in the following ways:

• Caucasian Student – It is unfair to the Caucasian student because he/she belongs in that group academically. The student will be in a class where he/she will not be challenged to the same degree. The TCAP "value added” to the above-average student will be less if taught in the average classroom.
• Minority Student – This student is not prepared academically for the honor English class. He/she will not get the prerequisite skills that are covered in the average-ability classroom. This student will struggle. The results of the struggles could cause low grades, depression, feelings of inadequacy. Additionally, students that feel unsuccessful in school are the very students that drop out of high school.

If the criterion is ability, then ability should precede any other racial factor. I feel that affirmative action is a wonderful thing. Minority groups should be protected from discrimination. However, I do not think that it should be used to promote any race.

Thinking of multiculturalism as right or wrong is not the appropriate view. Multiculturalism is a wonderful tool - with some application problems that can be resolved. If we all come together as accepting people, we can form a multicultural, global community.

References

King Jr., M. L. (1963). Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Retrieved from http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

Taylor, S. The Challenge of Multiculturalism in How Americans View the Past and the Future. Retrieved from https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=1154729&tId=11707336

Tobia, P. (2009). Pithissippi Burning: Race, White Nationalism and American Culture. Retrieved from https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=1154729&tId=11707337