multicultural society

Multicultural Society.

The retrospective view of human history shows that it has always been a moving and mixing of peoples caused by different reasons. For centuries the intervention of cultures grew reciprocally. As a result of this process people now have mixed cultures and many intercultural conflicts. The United States is a great example of a pluralistic society made up of many different cultures and nationalities. It is a nation that is composed of people who came here from around the world. In the 20th century, after new immigration laws were enforced, two opposing trends became obvious: the one state that America is multicultural; the other claims that America is monoculture.

Ishamel Reed, a popular and well-known African American literary figure, represents and strongly argues in favor of the first tendency. In his article, “America: The

Multinational Society,” written in 1988, he states that the time has come to review the old-fashioned concept of American culture as “Western Civilization” and to give it a new definition as multicultural. It seems even the tone of Reed’s essay, happy and welcoming, supports the author’s confidence in his point of view and celebrates “multiculturalism.”

Ishamel Reed describes mixing of cultures in the United States as “a cultural bouillabaisse”. He confirms that America is mixed up of a lot of different ethnicities, and all of them feel free and comfortable living together, by referring to a number of episodes from everyday life. One of them, the exhibition of African and Afro-American paintings with mythological symbols and images in a local McDonald’s restaurant show the blend of different ethnicities alongside with the blend of the ancient and the modern. In addition, the author gives us some personal examples, such as his traveling to Texas where, sitting in the plane, he heard the taped voice in two languages: English and Spanish. According to Reed, most of the breathtaking conflicts and disagreements between people of different backgrounds are created and encouraged by the media. They do not exist in real life.Many scholars still consider it as Western, which is incorrect, in Reed’s opinion. He rejects the concept “Western civilization” itself. “Western civilization, then, becomes another confusing category,” writes Reed. He proves that Western civilization has never been monolithic because it...

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... culture, and to simplify the complex phenomena of the

American culture. Schlesinger’s approach is more matter-of-factly he ties theory with the latest events that are breaking up nations because of national and intercultural problems.

Three years ago America was tested for unity, strength and beliefs. The terrorist attack conceived and executed by inhuman fanatics made all Americans feel the same pain, wrath and grief. At that time all Americans felt that they were one nation even more than before. At this time everybody shared the same feelings, which did not depend on your race or your cultural background. I think there is definitely one thing that unites all these articles and my opinion. It is that America is a unique multicultural country that unites numerous cultures and ethnicities living together that love America and chose it as their homeland. Despite the fact that people wear different clothes, speak different languages, and follow different religions, all of them still belong to one huge and glamorous society and culture. Finally, all these cultures represent an American society and an American culture.