Is Multiculturalism Dead in America?

Not from where I sit. Google defines multiculturalism as “the presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.” From my seat, in church, at the front of many classrooms, at local restaurants and even at the grocery store, evidence of a multicultural society is everywhere. If anything, it has grown over my lifetime, along with a positive attitude toward those who are different.

My hometown is very white. My high school literally had one Asian family and two Black kids, who were adopted into a white family. Town hasn’t changed greatly, but we’ve moved more toward multicultural than away from it. Even my own family has welcomed “brown” members through marriage. I know, you’re saying, “She said Black and brown!” I mean those with deepest respect. In fact, I find that skin colors make a beautiful rainbow. Multiculturalism is growing in small towns like mine and in cities all over the country.

Where is the evidence of support for several distinct cultural or ethnic groups?

Everywhere, like cultural exchange programs such as the Au Pair Program, Student Exchange Program, and Multicultural Student Services offered by every major college and university in the country. Look for a cultural diversity celebration in your city. Chances are, you won’t have to look hard. There are also clubs and organizations all over which celebrate ethnic diversity or a specific ethnicity.

Is there a “world language” or any such thing?

Growing up, we were told it would be English. Then we were all told to take Spanish in high school because that was going to be the next world language. Ask my Latin teacher uncle and he will tell you Latin is a world language. I know some families, English-born and English-speaking, who speak only Spanish to their children and allow only Spanish-speaking television in their home. I know other families who speak strictly Russian and Portuguese at home, respectively, and who are raising terrifically bilingual kids who are fluent in both the parents’ native tongues as well as English.

What about my kids?

First, your kids should learn whatever language you speak at home. They can learn a second, third or fourth language, even simultaneously, but to become fluent, we need conversation and daily practice. That’s where cultural exchange and diversity at home come into the picture. If you’d like your kids to be fluent in German, for example, but Grandma or Oma, lives a thousand miles away, you could host an international exchange visitor to help with childcare and language exposure. Don’t need childcare? Host an exchange student in his or her senior year of high school and expose your kids to the world’s cultures. Don’t have a spare room? That’s okay. Find a local college with an international studies department or a multicultural student services office and see if anyone is interested in teaching language lessons to your kids.

Yes, we have tightened our lips and everyone is trying so hard to be politically correct, or not. In reality, we are still an incredible melting pot of the world’s cultures, religions and ethnicities. Our country is a model for how to celebrate cultural diversity and multiculturalism. It is not unusual to see couples of mixed races or cultural groups on nearly every main street in America. If that is not evidence of multiculturalism being alive and well, I don’t know what is. So share, learn, teach and appreciate that which makes us different and the same!