Multicultural Society
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Multicultural Society.
The retrospective view of human history shows that it has always been a moving
and mixing of peoples caused by different reasons. For centuries the intervention of
cultures grew reciprocally. As a result of this process people now have mixed cultures
and many intercultural conflicts. The United States is a great example of a pluralistic
society made up of many different cultures and nationalities. It is a nation that is
composed of people who came here from around the world. In the 20th century, after new
immigration laws were enforced, two opposing trends became obvious: the one state
that America is multicultural; the other claims that America is monoculture.
Ishamel Reed, a popular and well-known African American literary figure,
represents and strongly argues in favor of the first tendency. In his article, “America: The
Multinational Society,” written in 1988, he states that the time has come to review the old-fashioned concept of American culture as “Western Civilization” and to give it a new
definition as multicultural. It seems even the tone of Reeds essay, happy and welcoming,
supports the authors confidence in his point of view and celebrates “multiculturalism.”
Ishamel Reed describes mixing of cultures in the United States as “a cultural
bouillabaisse”. He confirms that America is mixed up of a lot of different ethnicities, and all of them feel free and comfortable living together, by referring to a number of episodes from everyday life. One of them, the exhibition of African and Afro-American paintings with mythological symbols and images in a local McDonalds restaurant show the blend of different ethnicities alongside with the blend of the ancient and the modern. In addition, the author gives us some personal examples, such as his traveling to Texas where, sitting in the plane, he heard the taped voice in two languages: English and Spanish. According to Reed, most of the breathtaking conflicts and disagreements between people of different backgrounds are created and encouraged by the media. They do not exist in real life.Many scholars still consider it as Western, which is incorrect,
in Reeds opinion. He rejects the concept “Western civilization” itself. “Western
civilization, then, becomes another confusing category,” writes Reed. He proves
that Western civilization has never been monolithic because it has a lot of borrowings
from other cultures and even such notable and remarkable people as Beethoven, cubists,
French paintings, and so on, were influenced by other cultures.
To prove his argument, Ishamel Reed tells us of the Puritans. Puritanism is a culture that originated in the North Eastern part of America and, according to the concept
of “Western Civilization,” they are known to be our “founding fathers.” The
representatives of “Western Civilization” idealize these people as honest, hardworking,
faithful, and moral people. Nevertheless, estimating the contributions of the Puritans to
the establishing of a great industrial society, the author also shows us a different side of
these people. He portrays them as mean and barbaric people who exterminated the native
Indians and killed their own children for disobeying their parents. Describing the Puritans, Reed wants to show readers how the old definition for the American culture is
nothing to be proud of and is based on a lie. On one hand, the Puritans contributed a lot to the establishing of a great Industrial society but, on the other hand, they did not recognize
and excluded any other cultures by destroying them. Unfortunately, the same attitude
continues in our days. That is why people need to realize that the concept of America
being referred to as “Western Civilization”, or “Civilization created by the people from
Europe, as if Europe can be viewed in monolithic terms” is wrong, and can bring
terrible consequences for people of different cultures.
The other author, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., represents the second trend. In his
article, “The Cult of Ethnicity,” he criticizes “multiculturalism” and wants to see American society as “one people”. As well as Reed, Schlesinger describes America as a nation made up of different cultures and ethnicities. “We have always been a multiethnic country” , writes the author. He also traces back the creation and evolution of the American culture, and estimates the present contradictory character of it. Both authors speak in unison about the uniqueness of American culture. Schlesinger quotes the French author of the 18th century who said: “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men.” If Reed describes blurring of cultural styles in America as “a cultural bouillabaisse”, Schlesinger names it “The melting pot” . Moreover, Schlesinger admits the healthy consequences of new immigrations laws. He is against racism and discrimination of minorities and salutes the recognition of achievements of those groups, which were subordinated “during the high noon of Anglo dominance.”
Nevertheless, the author is threatened by the fact that dividing the country along different cultures, idolizing of ethnicities, and welcoming group separatism will lead to very bad consequences. “Group separatism crystallizes the differences, magnifies tensions, and intensifies hostilities.” According to Schlesinger, America has always been a country where many different cultures get along together without any serious visible problems due to their assimilation to American culture, values, laws, customs, and