Multiculturalism!!
I just wrote this to an E-group in response to a question about whether or not multiculturalism (or someone for multiculturalism) can be a conservative:
On the topic of multiculturalism, I think that it in fact tends to be more moderate than "liberal" (or, as I prefer, leftist) for the simple reason that when people tend to refer to the term they're thinking more about things like skin color and a visible diversity than a cultural one.
My school, I think, is an amazing example of this. Multiculturalism is one of its four "pillars"... the other three are service, academic excellence, and INTERNATIONALISM. Okay, let's stop to think about that one. Why are multiCULTURALism and Internationalism two different pillars? In "Macalester" (my school) rhetoric, multiculturalism typically refers to domestic diversity, and internationalism to.... internationalism. But, when you take half a section to think about it in those terms, you realize what bull that really is. Culture. Obviously internationals students are going to be bringing in different cultures, so why aren't they fit into that label of "multiculturalism?"
It seems almost as though a lot of schools and corporations are leaping into the world of "multiculturalism" without really examining what it brings to a work place. It's kind of a sense of moral responsibility, helping out the colored folks without thinking about how it can help the White majority in terms of how they regard difference of opinion, experience, etc. Because of this, there remains a perpetuation of the status quo, so you have people of color who are trying to achieve success as dictated by the White majority rather than their own communities or families (though, they are likely the same), and might reject some of the values they've been raised with in order to achieve such a success. This is what my dad (67 y/o white man!) calls "prismatic whiteness," in that the moral and social values of whiteness (which a lot of my friends would refer to simply as "capitalism") have infiltrated themselves so deeply into communities of color that they are indistinguishable from more traditionally (pre-colonially) rooted values.
Basically, what I'm saying, I think, is that without some sacrifice of power/agency/and privilege on the part of the white majority, multiculturalism is some conservative bullshit used to assuage anger among people of color. (As I mentioned in the TTC panel at the loving conference... this is what a lot of people refer to as the "abolition of Whiteness")
the way that I see it practiced is in fact conservative...liberals like to hang on to it with practices like affirmative action, which is necessary, but I'm not sure is accomplishing too much in helping people who wouldn't otherwise get into college/jobs (that is, those whose values haven't been affected by white dictated ideals) and isn't doing much to increase the different levels of "cultures" in any given academic and/or work environments.
that's my rant for the day.
On the topic of multiculturalism, I think that it in fact tends to be more moderate than "liberal" (or, as I prefer, leftist) for the simple reason that when people tend to refer to the term they're thinking more about things like skin color and a visible diversity than a cultural one.
My school, I think, is an amazing example of this. Multiculturalism is one of its four "pillars"... the other three are service, academic excellence, and INTERNATIONALISM. Okay, let's stop to think about that one. Why are multiCULTURALism and Internationalism two different pillars? In "Macalester" (my school) rhetoric, multiculturalism typically refers to domestic diversity, and internationalism to.... internationalism. But, when you take half a section to think about it in those terms, you realize what bull that really is. Culture. Obviously internationals students are going to be bringing in different cultures, so why aren't they fit into that label of "multiculturalism?"
It seems almost as though a lot of schools and corporations are leaping into the world of "multiculturalism" without really examining what it brings to a work place. It's kind of a sense of moral responsibility, helping out the colored folks without thinking about how it can help the White majority in terms of how they regard difference of opinion, experience, etc. Because of this, there remains a perpetuation of the status quo, so you have people of color who are trying to achieve success as dictated by the White majority rather than their own communities or families (though, they are likely the same), and might reject some of the values they've been raised with in order to achieve such a success. This is what my dad (67 y/o white man!) calls "prismatic whiteness," in that the moral and social values of whiteness (which a lot of my friends would refer to simply as "capitalism") have infiltrated themselves so deeply into communities of color that they are indistinguishable from more traditionally (pre-colonially) rooted values.
Basically, what I'm saying, I think, is that without some sacrifice of power/agency/and privilege on the part of the white majority, multiculturalism is some conservative bullshit used to assuage anger among people of color. (As I mentioned in the TTC panel at the loving conference... this is what a lot of people refer to as the "abolition of Whiteness")
the way that I see it practiced is in fact conservative...liberals like to hang on to it with practices like affirmative action, which is necessary, but I'm not sure is accomplishing too much in helping people who wouldn't otherwise get into college/jobs (that is, those whose values haven't been affected by white dictated ideals) and isn't doing much to increase the different levels of "cultures" in any given academic and/or work environments.
that's my rant for the day.