The Concept of Multiculturalism - Essay Example

The Evidence: Multiculturalism Has Failed Introduction In Kindergarten, children are taught that we live in such a small world; that we need to learnto live in peace and harmony with all in the people in the world. Whether their skin is colored red, yellow, black or white, it does not matter. Nursery rhymes and bedtime stories with these underlying messages are a staple in children’s literature. But as we gained consciousness about the real world, we learn that these differences in color are not just skin deep. The differences run deeper into one’s consciousness of who he or she is in terms of culture, tradition and even religion. Add to that the very sensitive and highly volatile issue of race and racism and we have the perfect recipe for trouble. And these differences need to be resolved if not reconciled in order for us to move together towards progress, peace and prosperity. This paper shall look into the concept of multiculturalism and how the citizens of the United Kingdom responded to this government policy. Moreover, it shall present evidence in support of the position that Multiculturalism has failed in the UK. Multiculturalism Multiculturalism is defined differently depending on where one stands on the side of the fence. On the one hand, for those inside the enclave, it means freedom to practice the culture and traditions that they were born into. It means respect for racial differences and tolerance of one’s cultural idiosyncrasies. To immigrants, multiculturalism is a huge welcome banner hung across the London Bridge, hailing newcomers to feel at home – as if they had never left their homelands. On the other hand, for those outside the enclave, it means living with the rest of the world at their front yard. It means being patient with what seems to be odd if not repugnant cultural practices of other races and cultures. It means sitting in a restaurant with a burka-clad woman on the left and another on the right with the skimpiest of a mini-dress. It means a daughter asking her parents why she can’t have a boyfriend yet when her classmate is being married off the following week. In a nutshell, multiculturalism is a school of thought that believes that people of different cultures and traditions can harmoniously co-exist, side by side, without one devouring or obliterating the other. It stems from the concept of respecting and upholding human rights, “[m]ulticulturalism is part of a larger human-rights revolution involving ethnic and racial diversity”.(Kymlicka, 2012 p6) Essentially, multiculturalism believes that by respecting each other’s human rights to preserve one’s own cultural and traditional heritage, people will learn to exist in peace and harmony. Multiculturalism was expected to bring us world peace. In short, live and let live. The UK Experience Apparently, the idea of multiculturalism is directed towards the immigrant population of the country. It holds that if the British people are more welcoming to the immigrants by giving them a piece of England while letting them live as if they had not left their home countries, then these immigrants will be more inclined to preserve peace and harmony in the community where they eventually imbibe that British consciousness. The United Kingdom has had adopted government policies that promote if not impose multiculturalism, which Prime Minister David Cameron refers to as “state multiculturalism”. However, this has resulted in the over-emphasis towards the minority ethnic groups and the neglect of the whites which comprises the majority of the UK. In terms of government attention, the whites have thus become the marginalized race. This situation has prompted Dyer (2000) to call on all whites to “learn to see themselves as white, to see their particularity. In other words, whiteness needs to be made strange.” In the name of multiculturalism, the Multicultural London English, otherwise known as the MLE was born. Because of Multiculturalism, Chinatowns, Koreatown, and Indiatowns have all mushroomed in and around the cities. Each country on the Miss Universe beauty pageant has an enclave in the UK where they have established their cultural and traditional niches. However, instead of world peace, multiculturalism has brought animosity between and among the racial groups in UK. Racism became more pronounced. Unlike the US which has successfully played the role of the world’s melting pot of cultures, UK became a hodgepodge of differing and conflicting interests and traditions. Hence, the London riots in 2011 happened. Evidence of Failure Unfortunately, despite and in spite of the efforts directed towards multi-cultural tolerance, the multiculturalism policy of the British government has failed with far-reaching repercussions. Multiculturalism has failed and the proof rests on two pillars: the direct testimony of Prime Minister David Cameron on the one hand, and the well-documented London riots on the other. The most compelling evidence that multiculturalism in the UK has failed is the admission made by no less than Prime Minister David Cameron in the highly controversial speech which he delivered during the Munich Security Conference on February 5, 2011, just a few days after the violent rioting in London. He declared in no uncertain terms that the root cause of the problem was state multiculturalism which resulted in a lack of national identity: “In the UK, some young men find it hard to identify with the traditional Islam practiced at home by their parents, whose customs can seem staid when transplanted to modern Western countries.  But these young men also find it hard to identify with Britain too, because we have allowed the weakening of our collective identity. Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream.  We’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong.  We’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.” In various occasions, the Prime Minister has been cross-examined over and over again in his various speaking engagements both in the UK and abroad about the declaration he had made in Munich, yet he remained steadfast in his position and his testimony still stands. On April 13, 2012, at the University of Nottingham in Malaysia, Prime Minister Cameron argued further that the multiculturalism policy framework being espoused by the government, which he referred to as “state multiculturalism” has failed because it encourages a heavily segmented and divided society. It created a country where immigrants create their own niches and operate in a microenvironment of their own. It had the Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Filipinos and Egyptian, among others, living inside the UK alongside the British people. True multiculturalism, according to the Prime Minister is one where the UK is inhabited by Chinese-British, Indian-British, Korean-British and Filipino-British citizens. Needless to state, these arguments by the Prime Minister are not hollow rhetoric because it is backed by the London riots in 2011 as empirical proof. Aptly, nothing is more telling about the failures of multiculturalism than the violence and confusion that erupted throughout the city. It placed into the limelight the animosity that has long been suppressed among different immigrant cultures and between the UK citizen immigrants and the UK citizen British. Over the years, there has been a steady rise of anti-immigrant sentiments especially among the middle and upper classes of the British society. They feel that so much of the country’s resources are spent towards immigrant concerns while highlighting crime records involving immigrants. Meanwhile, immigrants are told to be always on the lookout; to never lose that self-defense posture lest they get picked upon by the Britons. They stay within their bounds, venturing cautiously outside of their niche. Their enclaves became their safe haven where they can be who they are and live as they did back in their homeland. All these suppressed emotions were masked by the myth of multiculturalism being touted by the government. Until they held back no more and all hell broke loose. The rest is history. Conclusion Indubitably, multiculturalism has failed. But it does not mean that we’ll just throw in the towel and pretend that the UK citizenry comes from one heritage and culture. It means that it has failed before, and now is the chance to pick up the pieces, learn the lessons and do better the second time around. It is now up to the government to develop a policy that encourages assimilation and integration rather than segregation. A policy that does not deprive a person of ethnic heritage while giving him a newfound identity – the British identity. UK needs a policy that looks after the welfare of the minority without neglecting the needs of the majority. It’s a tough balancing act between interest groups that tries to pull the benefits and advantages their way. But hopefully, the middle ground will be found without drawing blood on the battleground. Aptly, on the occasion of the Annual Dinner of the United Jewish Israel Appeal on October 15, 2012, the Prime Minister has recently declared that, “In the past, governments allowed a flawed state multiculturalism that said we should encourage different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream. I don’t subscribe to that. And neither do you. I believe we have to end the passive tolerance of segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.” References: Cameron, D. PM’s Speech at Munich Security Council. February 5, 2011. Accessed on December 1, 2012. Available at http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference/ Cameron, D. Speech at Annual Dinner of United Jewish Israel Appeal. October 15, 2012. Accessed on December 1, 2012. Available at http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/ujia/ Cameron, D. Speech at Annual Dinner of United Jewish Israel Appeal. October 15, 2012. Accessed on December 1, 2012. Available at http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/ujia/ Dyer, R. The Matter of Whiteness. In: L. Back and J. Solomos, ed. 2009. Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader, 2nd edn. London:Routledge. Kymlicka, W. Multiculturalism: Success, Failure and the Future, February 2012. Migration Policy Institute, Transatlantic Council on Migration Read More