Multiculturalism In America (Part 2)

By: D. DiFrancesco

I read a blog post recently that stated that the ideas of multiculturalism and diversity were insanities propagated by “leftist” elites to the detriment of America, I’m paraphrasing of course though my statement accurately represents what was written. I came away from the post a bit taken back for I thought that it was completely off the mark..

I propose that the statement that multiculturalism and diversity are "insanities" is elitist in and of itself.  

What we are doing as a nation is denigrating and minimizing others that look, think and worship differently than we do. We have done this before in our history and as with most things in history we are destined to repeat them. By putting all Muslims collectively, whether good or bad in one basket, we are doing those of the Muslim faith a tremendous disservice as well as ourselves. Unfortunately we seem to be so damned righteous in our own self-importance that as a nation we don't care how we treat or are viewed by others.

I have to wonder how this is helpful in nurturing peace, understanding and cooperation with others around the world?  Not surprisingly we don't live in a bubble as much as some wish that we did. Essentially what we are saying to them is that your way of life is meaningless to us and we as a people are better than you.  

Our presidential candidates, especially on the right, have been trying to convince the American people that it is Christian America against all of Islam, this sounds an awful lot like The Crusades to me without anyone coming out and saying it.  Christianity made Islam its mortal enemy in the dark ages and now much like the Europeans of that time, we are looking to destroy them by taking their countries, their natural resources and their pride and for what...profit just as it has always been.  There is almost nothing we do anymore where there is not some kind of profit motive.

I don't have my head in the sand and I'm not ignorant to the fact that there are some who follow a

twisted interpretation of the Muslim faith that want to kill us, but I think the greater danger is that we are being played by both our politicians and our enemies.  I ask: what is the definition of terror...it is "extreme fear" and what is the goal of the terrorist, but to use terror in the pursuit of political aims.  Both our politicians and the terrorists are giving those in power license to take away our freedoms; i.e. the Patriot Act and as a result we have willingly given away our right to privacy all for the promise of safety and security.

Guess what, in life no one can guarantee that, not you, not me and certainly not the U.S. government. And the terrorists, what did they win?  By getting us to change our way of life, they are slowly toppling this once "greatest" nation.  The more freedoms we give away by allowing ourselves to be terrorized, the less we become in the eyes of the world.  Diminishing our influence and minimizing us is likely the ultimate goal of ISIS and others of their ilk, giving them free reign to continue their quest for power.

Multiculturalism and diversity are not to blame for our problems nor do I believe that they are elitist principles, what I do believe however, is that we are to blame for our problems.  Lately we seem to be placing blame on everyone but ourselves.  If it isn't Islam, it is the Mexican people.  I wonder who will be next on our "hit list".  Who won't be blamed is easier to define and my bet, if I were a betting man, is that it won't be us.

This leaves me with only one conclusion, that the losers in this fight between the U.S. and Islam and the premises of multiculturalism and diversity is you and me...the American people.

Multiculturalism In America

By: D. DiFrancesco

“Definition Multiculturalism: is the coexistence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviors, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and communicative styles.”

I think it is disingenuous of Americans to decry multiculturalism when this nation is and always has been the poster child for multiple cultures living within the same border.

This country is comprised of people from every nation and every religious faith on this planet and that to me is what makes this such a wonderful and rich place to live.  Take Little Italy, Chinatown and any other culturally segregated community within the U.S., they are rich with the cultures of the peoples from which they came and no one is attempting to change that.

Unfortunately, many Americans have given in to abject fear and have condemned an entire religion and all of its 1.6 billion people as contrary to what America stands for.  Some of our presidential candidates have done nothing to calm those fears and ground those individuals back in reality, instead

they have stoked the fires of prejudice, racism and hate to the point of barbarism.  How sad it is that a nation of immigrants is now turning their backs on the latest iteration of those looking for protection and a better life.  I am not advocating open borders, nor am I saying that we should allow an unlimited number of individuals to enter as we will need time to absorb them.  This also doesn’t mean that they should not be vetted as best as humanly possible before allowing them to enter the country, but even with this there are no guarantees.  I do however, take exception to denying all peoples of a particular faith from entering simply because of their faith and our irrational fears.  This is just as much religious persecution as Christians are claiming they suffer and it is not the American way no matter how one tries to spin it.

We have always accepted immigrants, as a matter-of-fact my great grandparents were immigrants to this great country and though they never learned english in their lifetimes well enough to make it their

spoken language, their children did. Initially they were not welcomed with open arms to this country, instead they were treated as something lesser, but over a generation they did learn the language and assimilated.  Today, we don’t give Italians a second thought and I’m certain there are dozens of other nationalities that could make the same claim.  To take this a step further, there were Italians that committed terrible acts of violence in this country yet we did not deny every immigrant from Italy entrance. Though I am comparing nationality with religious belief, they are similar and in the end people are people.

Whether we like it or not, we live in a much more connected world, our lives are much more intertwined and distances between peoples are not as great as they once were. This intertwining is only going to accelerate in the coming years.

I propose that foreign policies both diplomatic and covert that meddle in the affairs of sovereign countries with little to no repercussion have clearly come to an end.  Everything we say and everything we do is almost instantaneously broadcast to the world via television and the internet.  The days of America exploiting other countries for their natural resources, namely oil for corporate profit is rapidly coming to a close as well.  Could it be that this greed along with our dismal foreign policies over the past decades have finally caught up with us?  Could it be that these very things are what have created ISIS and other radical factions throughout the world?  To deny this possibility would show nothing more than ignorance and a blatant disregard of the facts.

We cannot go back to the white picket fences and “Leave It To Beaver” times of the 1950’s, technology has taken us too far forward.  Maybe it is time that we embrace multiculturalism instead of fighting it tooth-and-nail, changing the hearts and minds of our adversaries by example instead of bullet. This

does not mean we should not defend ourselves when the need arises, but it should not be our first response to every crisis.  I also do not advocate making every accommodation to a particular culture if it is contradictory or dangerous to our way of life. No, this change won’t happen overnight as much as we would like it to.  We do however, have to start someplace for the sake of our children and our children’s children lest we perpetuate this hatred and violence for generations to come.

I welcome your thoughts on this important issue, but please be courteous as we are all friends here.