American Multiculturalism
The great America we live and cherish today is founded on past multicultural ideas and realities. The subsequent eras have greatly shaped our country, changing or core identity but more addition to its diverse aspect of culture, language mo, and religion. Studying this past phenomena and aspects of our country helps to understand the real meaning of American and appreciate it. However, we should not just believe a be contended with the history, but question its legitimacy and adequacy. We should ask ourselves questions like; is the American history legitimate? Can it be relied upon? Does it tell all about important historical multicultural actors who helped shape our present or is it based on ethnicity, discrimination, and prejudice against specific minority groups whose significant contributions are often neglected?. It’s important to understand different multicultural appreciate and perspectives because in doing so, it helps to give light to that voice that is not seen in our textbooks, such as minority groups who are seen as inferior Americans. Analyzing these ideas and perspectives also help understand how multicultural history gives voice to multicultural actors who may not have made into the books but have contributed greatly to shaping our past.
The history that we are taught in our schools and most evident in the media state that America emanated from Christopher Colobus’s discovery. According to some scholars, only Columbus discovered America. However, there have been some liberal scholars like Mathew Restall who gathered enough courage and wisdom to critiques this seemingly and strongly founded theory. According to Restall, Colombus did not discover America alone. Restall argues that “the most exceptional thing about Columbus’s geographical vision was that it was wrong. His achievements were the result of historical accident and his role in a historical process that that was far larger than he was.” Restall, The Myth of Exceptional Men: A Handful of Adventures, pg 4
Although Columbus has a great influence over this country’s culture and history, there are other multicultural contributors such as Natives Americans and Africans who played a great role too, though most scholars might not have put them into the books. Therefore, most scholars have accorded more significant to the contribution if this ‘great men’ than necessary, ignoring the contribution of other multicultural actors.
Our multicultural environment as greatly changed over time, as the inhabitants of our land changed. According to history, America was inhabited before but as the extreme conditions of the climate change, especially during the ice age, the American land inhabitable. The people who lived in America during extreme conditions have had different cultures that enabled their survival. This evidence is available from the archeological findings. The teachings that America was discovered some years later may not hold since the land had been inhabited before by people who had different cultures but became unlivable at ice age. From the geological findings, the world was not the way we have always perceived it to be. Fraser argues that “even while battling the extremeness, the team has gathered evidence contradicting the conventional wisdom that the mountains were too high, cold and inhospitable for early human habitation.” Fraser, The First South Americans: Extreme Living, pg 6
Therefore, multicultural identity and definition of this country date back to the period of extremes when life in America was unbearable.
Today race and ethnicity, and origin of individuals have become key factors in defining how one is to be treated in our country. The country of our culture has greatly changed. Racism and ethnicity have occupied the better part of our country, leading to white supremacy. Superior individuals who are not defined by their achievements but by color and origin; the whites and the inferior individuals who are considered to be lesser because they are of different ethnic and racial groups from whites. This has lent into the categorization of Americans into the ‘whites’ and the ‘other.’ According to Takaki, “being white is the only way you were considered to be American. If you’re not white, then you are considered to be in a category of “other” to be different and inferior.” Takaki, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, pg 4
Many people fail to recognize the diversity of our country since origin. The core founders of our nation were not the whites. It’s important to recognize the cultural diversity of our society and how it has helped built American cultural history. America is built from different cultural influences from African Americans, Asians and Jews. It’s therefore important to see American as a multicultural country that is built from many minorities rather than one superior culture and others.
There is more than what the textbooks tell us about the history of our country. American history can not be traced from the ideas and work of a few specific ‘great men.’ America has a rich history and culture that is beyond the contribution of specific groups and individuals. We need to look at American culture and history from a more diverse and open perspective. Understanding multicultural perspectives are fundamental as it helps understand and appreciate those voices that helped build our history and culture but are not found in textbooks.