The Discerning Texan
-- Edmund Burke
Thursday, June 28, 2007
A big blow to "Utopian" Multi-culturalism
But beginning with the countercultural experiments of the 1960's it became more en vogue (you may substitute "culturally sensitive" and/or "politically correct"...) to de-emphasize what we have in common and emphasize--if not celebrate--our differences. Sounds all well and good, but 40 years later, that emphasis has led to divisiveness, polarization, and conflict where before there was: cooperation, a sense of a common good, and a love of country that is quickly vanishing--all thanks to teachers unions and leftist professors and administrators who slowly have seized the reins of Academia since the 60's.
So when a ground-breaking study of the impacts of this multi-culturalism uber alles mindset was recently published by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, one can only imagine the seismic shift that the proper use of such information might portend, if acted upon. And I am not talking about racism and xenophobia--although that is a danger we should be mindful of when considering the results of the study.
Rather I am talking about shifting the way American institutions educate and assimilate members of all races back to an emphasis less on our differences and more on our similarities--especially a National Identity. This means stressing what is great and good about our common heritage; it also means teaching Civics, History, and the incredible Story of the United States of America, its founders, and its proud accomplishments over time. A common language (English!) is a great place to start, but we need to do more than that. For example, a mandatory high school curriculum of History, based on Bill Bennet's double volume America: The Last Best Hope would be another excellent step in the right direction.
If ever we can get back to a national mindset where an "appropriate" assimilation once again becomes the norm (e.g. the Irish, Italian, German, and Eastern European migrants to Ellis Island in the 1800's, over time lost the identity of the nations left behind, and assumed a "prouder" identity as an American); if we can get back to that result with new immigrants, then the end result can be a resurgence of this critical national identity--which can only lead to increased cooperation, better relations between citizens, greater trust amongst all ethnic groups, and a greatly enhanced vision of a "common good".
In early America, religion played a large role in this "common identity", and it could once again play a very important role--but in my opinion just crossing an ocean to a new life and a new identity of "American citizen" was an equally powerful--if not more so--force for good. After all, a variety of different religions all assimilated successfully in the 1800's, despite dramatic differences in some of those beliefs. The one common denominator was their life here--not where they came from. So in an increasingly secularized society, this "identity" still ought to be achievable with the right educational emphasis. I am reminded of the old Robin Williams film "Moscow on the Hudson", which clearly captured this mindset. If we can get a majority of the immigrants to the US to the same sense of gratitude and wonder that the immigrant played by Williams achieved in that film, we would be 90% there. But that will require a big shift in how we approach education.
That "team spirit"--which America briefly enjoyed immediately after its singular national focus on winning World War II was achieved--was vastly more desirable than the current situation, especially when you consider where the non-assimilation of immigrants has led today's Europe (i.e. hate, mistrust, crime, terrorism, rioting, and near anarchy)--and also once you understand the implications of Dr. Putnam's findings:
Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, is very nervous about releasing his new research, and understandably so. His five-year study shows that immigration and ethnic diversity have a devastating short- and medium-term influence on the social capital, fabric of associations, trust, and neighborliness that create and sustain communities. He fears that his work on the surprisingly negative effects of diversity will become part of the immigration debate, even though he finds that in the long run, people do forge new communities and new ties.Putnam’s study reveals that immigration and diversity not only reduce social capital between ethnic groups, but also within the groups themselves. Trust, even for members of one’s own race, is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friendships fewer. The problem isn’t ethnic conflict or troubled racial relations, but withdrawal and isolation. Putnam writes: “In colloquial language, people living in ethnically diverse settings appear to ‘hunker down’—that is, to pull in like a turtle.”
...
Putnam’s study does make two positive points: in the long run, increased immigration and diversity are inevitable and desirable, and successful immigrant societies “dampen the negative effects of diversity” by constructing new identities. Social psychologists have long favored the optimistic hypothesis that contact between different ethnic and racial groups increases tolerance and social solidarity. For instance, white soldiers assigned to units with black soldiers after World War II were more relaxed about desegregation of the army than were soldiers in all-white units. But Putnam acknowledges that most empirical studies do not support the “contact hypothesis.” In general, they find that the more people are brought into contact with those of another race or ethnicity, the more they stick to their own, and the less they trust others. Putnam writes: “Across local areas in the United States, Australia, Sweden Canada and Britain, greater ethnic diversity is associated with lower social trust and, at least in some cases, lower investment in public goods.”
Though Putnam is wary of what right-wing politicians might do with his findings, the data might give pause to those on the left, and in the center as well. If he’s right, heavy immigration will inflict social deterioration for decades to come, harming immigrants as well as the native-born. Putnam is hopeful that eventually America will forge a new solidarity based on a “new, broader sense of we.” The problem is how to do that in an era of multiculturalism and disdain for assimilation.
Rick Moran has a really well-written analysis of these findings up today, and it definitely deserves a read.
Labels: Academia, Assimilation, Immigrants, Multi-culturalism, The Left
