Early Constitutional Issues - Essay Example

Today, racial discrimination not only involves African-Americans. It includes Mexican-Americans, Chinese-Americans and the a lot more. America as a country has evolved to be a melting pot of races and cultures. As a result of this influx of various cultures, the problem of discrimination acquired a different face. It no longer existed against African-Americans but to different cultures as well. Also, being a melting pot of races and cultures, a new problem of cultural diversity emerged. We want to be sensitive of cultural differences and yet we do not want to be discriminatory.

Finding the balance is the challenge that we face now-a-days. Glenn Freeman raised the argument that today’s notion of multiculturalism and diversity actually divides American into groups instead of uniting them as one people because the focus is on differences. In a way, I agree with Mr. Freeman. By focusing on differences, on what is unique in one culture, the necessary consequence is division in groups. Of course people tend to gravitate on people who they relate to, who they have more things in common with.

However, I believe that cultural division is not always bad. Cultural division does not necessarily result in oppression of one group against another. If people have respect for one another, they would respect difference and they would be able to co-exist despite the differences. Alexis de Tocqueville presented the argument that one of the reason why the abolition of slavery became difficult is because white men believed that by emancipating Negroes, they will revolt and take vengeance against those who enslaved them.

Because of this fear of retribution, they became hesitant to give them any privilege whatsoever. Slavery becomes universally abhorred and they free the very people they actually oppressed. The fear that the African race would rise up and avenge the hundred years of oppression is very