The Idea of Multiculturalism - Essay Example

Intro: As long as there has been cultures, there has been cultural mixing, cultural blending, and conflict between the cultures. Cultural diffusion has often happened, causing cultures to mix and give ideas and beliefs to other cultures. Often in history, we have seen the meeting of two distinct and different cultures meeting in one place. Often we would see one culture becomes dominate, possibly enslaving the other culture. This was the idea for many centuries that one culture was to dominate and rule over the other lesser cultures. This was the idea of monoculturalism the idea that everybody should become one culture, and this idea was often seen throughout history. The idea of monoculturalism eventually gave way to the idea of multiculturalism that more than one culture could live and exist hand in hand together. This is often referred to as the “melting pot” idea, that many cultures can all live together under one ruling force. The cultures would be equal to each other, with no culture dominating over the other cultures. Eventually this idea of multiple cultures spread, to the world that we see today with many different unique cultures, promoting unity and diversity throughout the different multiculturalistic nations of the world. However, the world wasn’t always so keen on the idea of multiculturalism. History often shows the efforts of people trying to keep with monoculturalism ideas, often at the expenses of the “lesser” culture of the time. Body: Multiculturalism is the idea that “society should consist of, or at least allow and include, distinct cultural groups, with equal status” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism). This idea has historically worked against the ideas of monoculturalism, which is that idea that a nation should be all the same, and made up of the same cultural identity. The idea of multiculturalism however, only applies to culture groups that have immigrated, and not to the mixing or presence of more than one culture in a indigenous place ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). The idea of multiculturalism has points on both sides of the argument. Many support it in light of equality and civil rights for all groups involved. The opposite side of the coin often sees the idea as something that is being forced upon people, and often leads to non-equality, and possibly even work against national unity ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). During the 19th century, the way Europe felt about its states, and after wars and redistribution, new states were formed, each state with its own powers, rules, and regulations. Under these states the idea of monoculturalism was often displayed, with each state having unity of culture, unity of religion, and unity of language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). These states were often oppressive and ethnocentric in their thinking, and often not very exceptive of other cultures within their states. It was in these states that ethnic cleansing often took place, as well as the impressments of learning the dominate language of the state. It was not until the 1950s that a demand for labor caused immigration between these states that the ideals of multiculturalism began to seed, and it was not until later that the full ideas of it began to take root in Europe’s societies ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). In the United States, often referred to as the “Melting Pot”, the ideas of immigration and people of mixed heritage and culture is nothing new. This idea was that as the immigrants came to the New World, they would slowly become assimilated into American culture at their own pace, thus improving their own standings in the public’s eye on the way (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). Other languages beside from English were able to be kept alive this way, and several ethnic communities often sprung up in the bigger cities between people of similar ethnic culture and background. Often, the original culture of the people slowly became Americanized, and ultimately led to an “Americanized and often stereotypical version of the original nations cuisine, and its holidays.”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). The idea of the Melting Pot has its opponents as well. Some people declared that the idea of unity did not belong to everyone, as it was not extended to English speaking blacks, who were stuck on the bottom of the social for quite some time in American history. Others feel that the Melting Pot idea misrepresented the idea of the mixing of cultures that took place in America, and also was unfair to non-European immigrants. Australia is another area which has had a long history of rejection of immigrants. The earliest people who immigrated there were during the 1800s(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/), and this group then became more normal, so that other immigrant groups became foreign. This ethnocentric idea has long continued in Australian history, with Australia often imposing limits on the number of immigrants that would be allowed inside the country. In 1971, in Canada, the idea of multicuralism took root. The idea was that the Canadian government should “recognize Canada as a bilingual and bicultural society and adopt policies to preserve this character.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). This idea was met with heat on both sides, with fierce debate over how fair this was exactly to the Canadian people and their culture. Eventually, the code was put into the Canadian Constitution in 1982.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). Australia has also begun to adapt some of the multicuralistic ideas of Canada, and in 1978 the first multicultural policies were implemented there. The current Prime Minister however, is a opponent of multicuralism and prefers the idea of national unity instead.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). The ideas of multicuralism can appear in many different societies. These ideas often include on the government level: recognition of multiple citizenship (the multiple citizenship itself usually results from the nationality laws of another country) government support for newspapers, television, and radio in minority languages support for minority festivals, holidays, and celebrations acceptance of traditional and religious dress in schools, the military, and society in general support for music and arts from minority cultures programs to encourage minority representation in politics, education, and the work force (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/) Malaysia has long been an area of conflict of race related issues, often based from cultural differences and a lack of religious or singular cultural identity. Even before its formation ethnic policies have tightened problems between rival ethnic groups. Many policies have been put in place to try to settle the cultural differences of the different groups within Malaysia. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). In the United States, there has now been a growing number of opponents to the ideas and practices of Multicuralism. Often the people are concerned about the ideals of multicuralism effecting the national unity and structure of the United States. One major opponent of this idea was Ayn Ryand, who believed multicuralism just another form of collectivism, and that it was degrading to the free will of people within a society( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). Many other people rose to this calling, and said that maybe a different approach to assimilation was needed. Christians also were critics of the idea, and often see multicuralism as an attack of the Christian beliefs that have long been held inside American culture. The idea of multicuralism may not also unite people, said political theorist Brian Barry. In his book, Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism, he states “that some forms of multiculturalism can divide people, although they need to unite in order to fight for social justice.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). Canada has also felt some rivals to its idea of multicuralism. Some people feel treated unfairly by the idea, and that they will be simply reduced to just another ethnic group. With about 20 percent of all Canadians having been born outside Canada, it has one of the largest immigrant populations in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism/). Starting around the 1990s, the debate over multicuralism, especially in Europe, began to be centered on the wave of immigrants of the Muslim faith. This religion became a symbol of the differences between the immigrants and the communities they may try to assimilate into (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism). This often striking difference between Islam and the western world often made some people believe them to be improper immigrants, and with the ride of Islamic terrorists, only fueled people’s belief in the danger of multicuralism with Islamic people. This problem between immigrations and multiculturalism is still debated over in Western societies.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism). Multicuralism is still debated about in the Western World, with the mixing of cultures working against the now rising ideas of national unity and nationalism, both ideas that are seeing a strong rise again in Western societies. Conclusion: Historically, the ideas and practices of multicuralism have sometimes been revered, and have sometimes brought up fierce debate. Some people like the ideas of different identities working together, and some people like the ideas of national unity and monoculturalism better. While some nations and countries have taken a great liking to the ideas presented by multicuralism, such as the United States and the ideas of the Melting Pot bringing people together under one national unity. This brought together many different groups and cultures together under the umbrella of the United State’s Melting Pot, and led many different cultures to mix and become intertwined under the ideas of this multiculturalistic society. Other nations however, have had a harder time becoming accepting of the different cultures and ideas of the world. Places such as Australia, and even Europe have often been ethnocentric towards the ideas of multiculturalism, and have leaned instead towards the ideals of a monoculturalistic state. Even in Western society, the prevention of certain types of cultural mixing can be seen, as the ethnocentric attitude towards Islamic integration can been seen in many western countries. While the world may have come a long way towards uniting all cultures, we are still quite a ways from total acceptance, and total multiculturalism. Read More