On multiculturalism

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On multiculturalism

multiculturalism. n. the presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.

"our commitment to the values of multiculturalism"

Multiculturalism is part of a broader political movement for greater inclusion of marginalized groups, including African Americans, women, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities (Glazer 1997, Hollinger 1995, Taylor 1992). This broader political movement is reflected in the “multiculturalism” debates in the 1980s over whether and how to diversify school curricula to recognize the achievements of historically marginalized groups. But the more specific focus of contemporary theories of multiculturalism is the recognition and inclusion of minority groups defined primarily in terms of ethnicity, nationality, and religion. The main concern of contemporary multiculturalism are immigrants who are ethnic and religious minorities (e.g. Latinx people in the U.S., Muslims in Western Europe), minority nations (e.g. the Basque, Catalans, Québécois, Welsh) and indigenous peoples (e.g. Native peoples and indigenous groups in Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

multiculturalism, the view that cultures, races, and ethnicities, particularly those of minority groups, deserve special acknowledgment of their differences within a dominant political culture.

That acknowledgment can take the forms of recognition of contributions to the cultural life of the political community as a whole, a demand for special protection under the law for certain cultural groups, or autonomous rights of governance for certain cultures. Multiculturalism is both a response to the fact of cultural pluralism in modern democracies and a way of compensating cultural groups for past exclusion, discrimination, and oppression. Most modern democracies comprise members with diverse cultural viewpoints, practices, and contributions. Many minority cultural groups have experienced exclusion or the denigration of their contributions and identities in the past. Multiculturalism seeks the inclusion of the views and contributions of diverse members of society while maintaining respect for their differences and withholding the demand for their assimilation into the dominant culture. Britannica

liberal democracy. liberal democracy, a form of democracy in which the power of government is limited, and the freedom and rights of individuals are protected, by constitutionally established norms and institutions. Britannica

“Multiculturalism stands as a challenge to liberal democracy. In liberal democracies, all citizens should be treated equally under the law by abstracting the common identity of “citizen” from the real social, cultural, political, and economic positions and identities of real members of society.” Britannica

Recently, right-of-center governments in several European states – notably the Netherlands and Denmark – have reversed the national policy and returned to an official monoculturalism. A similar reversal is the subject of debate in the United Kingdom, among others, due to evidence of incipient segregation and anxieties over "home-grown" terrorism. Several heads-of-state or heads-of-government have expressed doubts about the success of multicultural policies: The United Kingdom's ex-Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia's ex-prime minister John Howard, Spanish ex-prime minister José María Aznar and French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy have voiced concerns about the effectiveness of their multicultural policies for integrating immigrants. Wikipedia

In view of what is said above I think one can understand all of the tension produced in the masses of American society over the last forty years over all of the pro-multiculturalism attitudes, ideas and assumptions pushed by the liberal Left. We have all of the antidiscrimination legislation, gay rights legislation, etc. in which the rights of minority groups have come to trump the rights of the majority. We have here a situation where government is forced to choose whose interests, rights, and feelings to support, which groups to give priority to — a situation where if you give a right to one group you must take a constitution guaranteed right from another group. In a world where all decisions involve tradeoffs, the choice has been made to place minority interests and rights above majority interests and rights. We have had black rights, women’s rights, gay rights. We have the rights of all kinds of minority groups. The effect of it all has been to fragment American society and build anger and hatred. It has placed Black against white, women against men, gay against straight, etc. From all of this we have gotten to where we are today — a country divided in half, Left against Right, Liberal against Conservative,with each side detesting and hating the other. Out of it has come all of the political correctness where one dare not publicly say what he really believes, speak the truth he sees. A situation where Christians dare not publicly quote scripture about homosexuality without fear of being sued or going to jail. (The Bible says homosexuality is wrong so Bible believers must be suppressed.)

Let me ask this question: If you have a society containing widely diverse groups differing in their most basic values, beliefs and assumptions what kind of laws can you make to allow them to live together peacefully? Suppose you have people with religions which differ in the most basic ways. In Afghanistan, for example, forty year old men will marry a young seven year old girl and think nothing about it. How does such a person fit into a culture where people would be horrified at the idea? Is a country containing many highly contrasting and disparate religions and cultures stable? Is it healthy? How about integrating a subculture of headhunters into your society? Would that work? How does one please everyone? In countries such as Denmark or Sweden their laws allow freedom of speech and people have a legal right to desecrate the Muslim holy book, the Koran, or images of Mohammad, if they wish. It is a right viewed as a matter of principle. But a consequence of doing it is that some angry Muslim murders them in righteous anger for their audacity — with the applause of the entire Muslim world.

What kind of country is the most healthy and stable? A monocultural country with a single religion and culture or a multicultural country with many highly disparate religions and cultures. Japan is an example of a country with a single culture. India provides an example of a country with many disparate religions and cultures.

There is a history of religious violence in India — especially between Hindu and Moslem. Would one expect otherwise?

What does common sense tell us on these questions?

If one starts from the outlook of an atheist (types who so dominate in our ivy league colleges) who doesn’t believe in any God or moral authority, it is easy to say that all religions and spiritual beliefs are foolishness and people should just be forced into living with each other whether they like it or not.

If there is any place in the Guinness Book of World Records for words repeated the most often, over the most years, without one speck of evidence, ‘diversity’ should be the prime candidate. Is diversity our strength? Or anybody’s strength, anywhere in the world? It has not been our diversity, but our ability to overcome the problems inherent in diversity, and to act together as Americans that has been our strength.

Thomas Sowell

Multiculturalism is a direct offshoot of the atheistic outlooks, attitudes, and values of secular humanism

The Truth about Multiculturalism | Thomas Sowell

1 Sept 2023