Multiculturalism Essay, Research Paper

MulticulturalismIn, “Multiculturalism and the Common Center,” Diane Ravitch compares the plualist views on what the curriculum in the schools should include. Thepluralist would like to include the history of all cultures while theparticularist want to have the different cultures taught only their own history. In order tolive in a multicultural world pluralism is neccessary because people are more tolerant ofeach other if they understand where a person is coming from and what their background is. Ignorance is the cause of many conflicts between people, and education can prevent thisproblem. Particularism stresses the importance of knowing one’s roots and not botheringwith other people’s history. This is a very narrow-minded way of thinking whichleads to stereotypes and judgements that people make. Particularism causes groups to beformed which exclude those who are not of the same race. America is thought of asEurocentric and not as a mixture of all cultures. Particularist believe that the schools areonly teaching European culture and forgetting about other cultures. Therefore supportersof particularism are trying to use particularism to give children self-esteem. They believethat if minorities can see that other minorities have done great things in the past they will beinspired to achieve high goals. Black History Month was supposed to give AfricanAmerican children self-esteem according to particularist, but they do not have AsianHistory Month or Indian History Month. What is taught in school should apply toeveryone. Particularism is not the main component in giving a child self-esteem. Aninspiring teacher or role model–not necessarily of the same race–plays a major role indeveloping a child’s self-esteem. Michael Jordan is a positive role model for many childrenof all races, not just African Americans. Pluralism stresses one common culture brought together by a variety of cultures. Pluralism will teach children to be open minded and accepting of all people regardless of

the color of their skin by teaching them why people are different. Children need to beprepared for the real world and this world their are people of every ethnic origin. It cannot be ignored that we must all live and work together. When a child grows upand begins his/her career, he/she will be sitting next to people of other races. A persondoes not have to deny or forget what their background is, but it is important to be educatedin every aspect of history, not just his/her own. Children can be very critical of otherchildren, especially if they look or act different, but if they understand why, they will beless critical. Pluralism will ultimately give the best results. It opens a person up to newthings. One of the great things about America is its diversity, and we should not try toseperate it. In the schools it should be required for the teachers to teach about all cultures sothat children will be well rounded. This will prevent children from being ignorant andracist. If a class consists of only one race they should still be required to learn otherraces culture. A standard of teaching needs to be set that can not be changed. Everyday the schools become more diverse and the children need to be able to livecomfortably in this type of environment. America has developed a culture of its own, and it is not entirely Eurocentric. When theUnited States of America was founded it consisted not only of Europeans but also NativeAmericans, Africans, and Spaniards. All of these cultures influenced the American cultureand its development. The history of the world involves the collision of cultures and overtime many of them faded into each other. Segregating the different cultures is regressingback to the time before the Civil Rights Movement when African Americans and Caucasians useddifferent bathrooms and water fountains. It would be a mistake to use particularist ideasbecause it could cause tension and resentment between cultures. Pluralism will end ignoranceans create a nation where people can live together in harmony.