Recently, I have begun to notice that there are some people out there with a radically different view point on how America should be seen. While I tend to think of the United States of America as a country, some people are trying to convince others out there that America is actually an idea! This assertion is born from the ideology known as multiculturalism. Proponents of multiculturalism seem to believe that America is not a definitive country that just so happens to be diverse, but an abstract concept, a land that belongs to everyone who wants to live there. Because of this, some people have dubbed America as a “universal nation” that should open its borders and encourage a more multicultural society. I, however, firmly believe that people should instead integrate the American culture into their own when they immigrate here, and I firmly oppose multiculturalism. Here is why.
Multiculturalism is a liberal idea and it has many things in common with other liberal ideas such as hate-crime laws and affirmative action: they all are born from the genuine (albeit misguided) desire to promote equality and fight hatred, they sound absolutely utopian in theory, but in the end they just worsen the problem they set out to destroy. I explained how hate-crime laws and affirmative action can be counter-productive in promoting friendlier race relations in my previous article “True Equality.” Here I can show and explain how multiculturalism does the same thing. All one has to do is look at the various countries that implement multicultural policies in order to see just how devastating they can be.
England is the prime example. After waves of immigrants flooded England after World War 2, the country (which had obviously become very racially/ethnically diverse) began implementing multiculturalist policies. This became especially controversial due to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and religiosity among the country’s Muslim youth. The report I placed in the references below (the third one) goes into more detail then I am able to cover in this brief article. Basically, the government began to treat minority groups, especially Muslims, as if they were completely separate races due to their differences. The media played up Islamaphobia as a major problem to the point where they overshot it, making it sound like a worse problem than it actually was. This victimization and special treatment caused many Muslims to feel separate from mainstream society, to the point of being vulnerable outsiders. To feel included, they demand more respect and recognition…which only causes them to feel more different and, by extension, more insecure. Then you lather, rinse, repeat.
This vicious cycle has caused many young people to turn to religion for a sense of community and purpose. It often gets to a point where the young become more religiously/socially conservative than their own parents (which is a completely opposite trend from what you’d expect). This increase in religiosity is a major reason behind increasing tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in England. The majority of Brits would feel uncomfortable living next to a Muslim and many refuse to even consider dating one. Not only that, but many Muslims themselves are outraged by the growing fundamentalism and want people to recognize that the majority of Muslims in England really aren’t like that (and they aren’t!) The silent majority that are the moderates and the vocal minority that are the fundies share very little in common but, under multiculturalism, are grouped together as if they were one and the same.
Multiculturalism fragments society into groups who begin to desire special treatment, undermines national unity, and just creates more racial tension that gets hidden away by political correctness gone mad. Studies have even shown that cities with the most diversity tend to be less charitable due to the extreme amounts of racial tension leading to distrust (even amongst those in the same group)!People seem to think that “culture” is a valid excuse for many groups who want to curtail human rights movements and avoid criticism for it. They get away with this because multiculturalism essentially punishes those who dare to be intolerant of the intolerant. If you criticize a Muslim who thinks that gays should be put to death, then you’re Islamaphobic and should learn to be more tolerant.
While I agree that all individuals should be treated equally, I don’t feel the same way about culture. As politically incorrect as this may be, I feel that, yes, some cultures are just plain barbaric. Human beings have brains. They have the capacity to determine if what they are doing is right or wrong. This is why it is okay to criticize others for feeling that gay people should be exterminated. This is why everybody hates Hitler and Nazi Germany. Nobody uses “culture” as a justification for their barbaric acts and beliefs so why should other people who share similar beliefs get a free ride.
In the end, multiculturalism just causes tribal thinking among minorities (they feel like nobody will look out for them except for the people within their own group so they have to stick up for each other) and makes them aggressive in asserting their identity. It just goes to show how people who base their entire self-worth and define themselves by their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion etc. are truly insecure.
I’m all for people expressing their individuality and having pride in who they are (though if you think your individuality should be based on your race then I suggest you seek therapeutic help) but not at the expense of true equality. Demanding special treatment because your religion makes you “unique and different” is NOT the same as expressing yourself. Everyone is different in some way and for the government to treat each group differently (while treating the people within those groups as if they were all the same) in the name of celebrating differences is clearly just a glamorized form of discrimination.
Ultimately, the best society we can help to create is one in which we show pride in our personal qualities and achievements rather than in more superficial traits such as skin color or religious belief. The best society is one in which we do not define ourselves by the groups that we belong to and do not receive special treatment because of it either. Until then, let us fight to end multiculturalism while also helping others integrate into American life comfortably. Liberty, charity, and true equality…I believe that that is what it means to be an American.
References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?index=1&feature=PlayList&v=9JWuVNNvMvc&list=PL237CC976B9F0E6E1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/muslims-britain-france-germany-homosexuality
http://dvmx.com/British_Muslim_Youth.pdf
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/article/2007/jan/15/00007/
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thanks and continue to read!