An Analysis of Multiculturalism As Found in Different Articles

The United States of America was once seen as the melting pot for many different ethnicities. However, the idea of assimilation became viewed as symbolically violent and because of this, the concept of multiculturalism was formed. According to The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology by Jill Stein and Kerry Ferris, multiculturalism is the encouragement of acceptance of cultural differences within a society instead of the forceful nature of eliminating other cultural ideas that are not the perceived “dominant” notions (G9). The question now is: How does our society go about making the difficult transition from totality through assimilation to diversity through multiculturalism? Henry Lewis Gates Jr. and Diane Ravitch would both argue that the best way to enforce multiculturalism is through the education system. They believe that through the instilment of these values from a young age, America has the potential to become a more accepting and diverse society. In Gates’ “The Debate Has Been Miscast from the Start” and Ravitch’s “Multiculturalism”, both authors take on the task of convincing their audience why multiculturalism is a positive addition to the curriculum in America’s schools rather than the negative policy that some make it out to be. Both articles are similar in that they use rhetorical questions to convince the reader that the pluralistic version of multiculturalism is a positive addition to America’s curriculum; however, Ravitch’s expansion of both sides of multiculturalism creates a more persuasive argument than Gates, who briefly discusses multiculturalism from his perspective.

Gates utilizes the strategy of asking rhetorical questions in order explain why multiculturalism is a productive inclusion to the curric...

... middle of paper ...

...comes educated through data in order to arm his or her self with facts to debate this topic, and finally the reader becomes cultivated on the many aspects of multiculturalism as a whole. In the future, most supporters of multiculturalism can hope that America can become a nation that does not discriminate against ethnicities that are not their own, but instead a nation that can accept other cultures and learn their traditions through schools in order to become a more diverse society as a whole.

Works Cited

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 3rd Edition. United

States of America: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. G9-G10. Print.

Gates, Henry Lewis. "The Debate Has Been Miscast From The Start." Boston Globe 13 10 1991,

36-38. Print.

Ravitch, Diane. "Multiculturalism." American Scholar. 59. (1990): 337-354. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.