Ethnicity and Multiculturalism Issues - Essay Example

Ethni and Multiculturalism Ethnic Identity is in a of Flux The of ethni has attracted many studies in social science. This popular issue suffers from multiple definitions. People confuse its meaning because it has closeness to nation and race. Many scholars have put forward their views and devised theories to explain ethnicity. Michael Banton depicts that there is new approach in the explanation of racism that have replaced racial theories. Typologists for a long time held that racial features have a genetic origin and therefore identifies species (Banton, 1987:15). Those who support the concept of population genetics believe that genetic differences are attributable to physical variations between human populations. The sociologists refute the view of geneticists because they do not give convincing explanation about social relationships and cultural inheritance between people. Further, the social scientists suppose that race belongs to discontinuous category, which is in contrary to perception of biological scientists. Biological scientists portray that the differences in outward appearance is attributable to continuous variations. Malik argues that there is no harmonious definition of the word race. According to him, popular views hold that race is tantamount to colour. Malik argues that many people categories races according to their physical appearances (Malik 1996:130). Many scholars studying conflicts in different parts of the world have believe that races are the major cause of misunderstanding. Theories of ethnic relations such as functionalism have a deep concern about majority and minority relations. The theory of functionalism allude that majority-minority relation disrupts the unity and coherence of societies making them dysfunctional. This is because such relationships divide society along lines of ethnicity, religion, and race. Functionalists concur with the arguments that ethnic stratification is a dire issue that requires minimisation. However, they point out that it is impossible to eliminate social stratification because of existence of diversity in societies. Ethnocentrism is the biggest challenge to the fight of ethnicity. The arguments of the different authors reveal that ethnic identity is in a state of flux. Ethnic identity is a serious state of uncertainty. Ethnic identity is a significant part of overall framework of collective and individual uniqueness. Individuals want to maintain and manifest their culture amidst a mixture of different cultures. Many players take part in creating confidence in different ethnic factions. For instance, familial, religious, neighbourhood and educational communities instil cultural traditions and values to ethnic groups. These players endeavour to make the members of ethnic factions to see the sense of positive sense of ethnic identity and confidence. Media messages and negative treatments received from others strengthen the forces of individuals to identify themselves as a unique race. The media messages allude that the minority have a different constitution that is less pleasing within the typical society. This creates unconsciousness to the minority groups, which makes them to segregate themselves from the larger society. The groups believe that they share a common heritage and should protect it under all circumstances. Individuals feel that they have a common link because of similar traditions, values, beliefs, and traditions. This allows people to make sense of the world around them. Moreover, individuals find pride in their identity (Rex and Mason, 1987:164). The efforts of ethnic identity are in a state of uncertainty. The historical experience of depict that social injustice such as interracial rape of women. Fanon illustrates that the white confrontation with black women is a violent one. This is black women subjectivity that dooms their efforts to establish identity. Racial problems have existed in countries such as Europe and United States. In Germany, Nazi movement victimised people a long racial lines. Victimisation of people in Europe and United States led to formation of anti-Semitism. With this kind of struggle between different factions, it is difficulty to establish an ethnic identity. Fanon argues that increased exchanges between multiple local cultures create hybrid cultures. This cultural integration poses a threat to ethnic identity. Distinct cultures do not have a space to form solid cultural constructs. Fanon notes that colonisation of minorities disrupts their efforts to unite identify themselves. This is because of the fear of intimidation from the minority groups (Fanon, 2008:83). Colonisation produces all kinds of problems such as inferiority complex that can lead one to desire to be white. According to Fanon, the colonised who are black people desire to marry a white person. Moreover, the colonised they display extreme self-hatred and passivity in the face of the whites. This is an explicit lose of identity. The society in which the colonised live embraces superiority of one ethnic group. This worsens the efforts for the minorities to proclaim their identity. Debates over the worthiness of ethnic identity derail the effort of the proponents. The opponents of ethnic segregation feel that ethic identity is unwanted social force that creates boundaries among different communities. They perceive that the world is at the verge of creating seamless communities through globalisation (Fanon, 2008:100). The forces of globalisation and nationalism tend to weaken the ethnic boundaries through encouragement of intermarriages, assimilation of different languages, and appreciation of views of different groups. The nationalists allude that ethnic identification is a rich ground to breed ethnicity. According to them, ethnicity poses a threat to the unity of different nations. The opponents of ethnic identity view it a source of discrimination of different members of the society along racial lines. Although the proponents of ethnic identity agree with the opposing forces on the need to have oneness of a nation, they maintain that it is not possible to assimilate everything from different cultures. The supporters of ethnic identity allude that ethnocentrism and diversity are important aspects that identifies cultures. They perceive that it is difficulty to eliminate cultural differences between the dominant and minority groups (Fanon, 2008:109). The supporters of ethnic identity perceive that they are unique in physical appearances and in their genetic make up. The global resurgence of ethnic diversity reinforces the efforts of people to maintain their identity. These are trends to create distinct tribes. The resurgence forces hold that there is comfort and a sense of belonging that stems from ethnic identity. They feel that erosion of ethnic identity creates a nation of people without origin. The advocates of ethnic identity perceive that there is innate link that people fell towards an informal and unorganised subdivision of humankind. According to them, the intuitive bond is weightier and powerful than the ties that bond them to legalistic and formal structure of a nation. The supporters of ethnic identity feel that there is a faction of society manipulating nationalism for their gains. The rapid modernisation of nations does not encourage formation of ethnic groups. The views of the constructivists hold that ethic identity invites ethnicity. According to them, ethnicity is a social construct. It emanates from need of different cultures in the society who want to gain dominance over the others. The social constructionists propose that individuals should detach from their ethnic heritages and cultures to embrace nationalism and modernisation. The modernisers hold that ethnic identity is a primitive practice that has no place in the contemporary world. They believe that oneness of nations is an important factor towards achieving meaningful development. The proponents of racial identity propose that their ethnic groupings do not affect their any developments. To them development is achievable if each ethnic group plays its role to realise developmental agendas of their individual nations. They feel that nations should embrace cultural diversity through recognising the autonomy of different ethnic groups. Multiculturalism and Islamophobia Multiculturalism is the acknowledgement of different cultures. Multiculturalism fosters respect for people’s way of life regardless of race, gender, or ethnic groups. Multiculturalism demands that all people should respect others activities, practices, and their different viewpoints. Multiculturalism embraces fairness and equality and does not discriminate along religious and social lines. However, the critics of multiculturalism perceive it as a force to divide people. They believe that multiculturalism erodes the history of a nation. According to them, this is a threat to the present and future generations. In addition, the proponents of multiculturalism assert that nations lose their identity, common values, culture, and their languages. Islamophobia is the belief that Muslims are the major forces behind many terrorists’ attacks. The bombing of United States in September 2001 and the attack of Britain has led to formation of anti-terrorists movements. United States has waged war on the Islamic countries to eliminate the terrorists groups. Majorly, their widespread is attributable to multiculturalism. In his speech in Germany, Cameroon declared a war on multiculturalism. Cameron speech alluded that multiculturalism is the chief cause of increasing terrorists’ activities in Britain. The Britain Prime minister observed that Muslim men were very discriminative towards their women. Cameron revealed that policies were in place to ensure that every immigrant adopts the Britain’s culture. This is an illustration that multiculturalism creates ideologies of extremists (BBC, 2011). Anders Behring Breivik murder of 77 people in Norway is a confirmation that terrorists have spread in different regions of the globe. They are committed to execute their mandate to kill masses. This is a counteraction of the activities of nations such as Britain and United states to wipe out terrorism in the world. The terrorists seem not to mind the age of their subjects. For instance, Anders targeted the children in the island of Utoya. Muslims have established their strong base in different countries because of the spirit of multiculturalism. This is because multiculturalism encourages people to mingle and migrate to different parts of the world. Norway depicted a image of tranquillity and a close-knit society with democratic and liberal principles. However, the presence of immigrants in Norway disrupted peaceful existence of Norwegians. Before the Anders Behring Breivik carried out the killing spree, it was apparent that places such as Oslo, and Drammen had started to experience tensions. In Oslo, the immigrant population and Anders Behring Breivik had spoken negatively about Marxism, Islam, and multiculturalism. Anders’s killing of 77 people was an expression of pain, suffering, anguish, and confusion of multiculturalism (Walker, 2011). Many European nation including Britain and Germany are against multiculturalism and Islam. They fear that multiculturalism poses a threat to social fabric. They perceive that some immigrant cultures have do not assimilate the culture of the host nation. The Muslim groups cultivate extremist ideology that leads to domestic Islamic terrorism. The doctrine of multiculturalism encourages different cultures to live separate lives, which breeds violence. The Cameron speech in Germany alluded that distinct cultures influence their members who take deep-seated beliefs to levels of violence. Countries such as Britain perceive that existence of distinct cultural groups creates tension between different communities. For instance, in the year 2005 a riot broke up in Birmingham between blacks and Asian people. This clash led to the death of two people. This is an indication that multiculturalism is a divisive force can disrupt the peace of a nation. In the light of this, the government of Britain constituted a Commission of Racial Equality to investigate the effects of multiculturalism in the country. The report of the commission revealed that white Britons identified themselves with Scottish, English or Welsh rather than British (Jones, 2005). The clergy also holds that multiculturalism endangers national identity and history of British people. According to John Sentamu, a black archbishop feels that multiculturalism has eroded the values that hold Britain together. John warns England that unless they deal with the issue of multiculturalism, the country will continue to witness political extremism. This is a portrayal that multiculturalism is a serious threat to the social fabric. According to the archbishop, multiculturalism needs elimination. Islamophobia arose immediately after the bombing of United States in the 2001. This saw an increase in the suffering of Muslims in United Kingdom. Academic survey of racist incidences in Leicester revealed that United Kingdom was witnessing a rise in Islamophobia. There were frequent fears all over United Kingdom and many Europeans saw Muslim as the mastermind of the terrorists’ attacks. This same paranoid about Islam led Anders Behring to kill 77 people in Norway (Walker, 2011). It is an illusion of un-expressed pain and hatred about Islam and multiculturalism, which have been disturbing Anders. The biggest fear about Islam is that they have trouble in adaptation of other people’s way of life. They want to maintain their identity and autonomy. Bibliography Banton, M.,1987. Racial Theories. Cambridge: Cambridge University. BBC, 2011. State multiculturalism has failed, says David Cameron. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12371994 [Accessed 7 May 2012]. Fanon, F., 2008. Black Skin White Masks. New York: Grove Press. Jones, S., 2005. Multiculturalism stifles English culture, says black archbishop. Available from: http://idisk.me.com//samiramadani/Public/Racism/Other-Material/Multiculturalism/Multiculturalism%20stifles%20English%20culture.html [Accessed 7 May 2012]. Malik, K., 1996. The Meaning of Race. London: Macmillan. Rex, J., and Mason, D., 1987. Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Walker, L., 2011. Anders Behring Breivik: Psychological motives behind the killings and Islam? Available from: http://moderntokyotimes.com/2011/07/24/anders-behring-breivik-psychological-motives-behind-the-killings-and-islam/ [Accessed 7 May 2012]. Read More