On The Third Hand

Sunday, 10 Feb 2002

Integration [permalink]

There's been a lot of blog-talk lately about multiculturalism and the Anglosphere and immigration and "Black History Month". I did a piece back in early December about multiculturalism, and (I allowed comments on the blog then) very quickly got two comments, one pro and one anti (the anti-multicultural commenter made the KKK look moderate and prompted me to turn off comments).

What struck me most was that both sides seemed to assume that anyone who was not too thrilled with the "progressive" idea of multiculturalism was automatically against non-whites -- or at least against equal opportunity for all. The pro-multiculturalist said:

"The problem is that some people can't really blend in unless they give up ALL of who they are. As a white male, I have the privilege not to have to worry about that in the U.S...others are expected to blend into me. Who's asked to blend?" [complete rant at link above]

All of us. It seems to me that this comment implies that the author (just as much as the white supremacist whose comments I removed) thinks that America is a "white male" culture.

Yes, the country was founded by white males, but it has since blended with all sorts. Black American history is American history -- and should be taught as such. I had peanut butter for lunch -- that was invented by a black. I sharpened a pencil earlier today, with a clever little hand sharpener -- also invented by a black. There have been black inventors here since there have been blacks here. Many of the things we use every day without thinking about them were invented by black -- or other non-white and/or non-male -- Americans.

Inventions, I'm sure someone will inform me, are not culture. So how about music? Would America be the same without Blues, Jazz, Ragtime, and all the musical styles descended from those? I don't think so. The world wouldn't be the same without black music.

You think I don't understand prejudice? I'm a woman -- not a very young one. Enough said.

You can't convince someone they are wrong about "your kind" if you are hiding in a cultural ghetto or in the house. You think Americans are prejudiced? Yes, some are. But many of us know you are Americans (or -- for recent immigrants -- hope to be) and we'd like to get to know you, and see what you have to offer us and what we can offer you. We really don't ask that much... we would just like to know that if you live here, it's because you also believe in "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

Don't listen to the multicultural types... they only want to segregate people, and turn them into pitiable professional victims. I want you to join us, marry us, argue with us, kick us in the rear if necessary... and help continue the evolution of a culture that embraces us all. Others have done it, you can too.
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Short Stuff [permalink]

• Matt Welch makes an excellent point about free trade advocates.

  "If free traders spent as much time railing against rich-country protectionism as they do making fun of the anti-globalization kids, the pig-puppet audience would dwindle to a core of fog-headed Maoists, and more importantly, destitute people around the world could vault out of poverty much faster. "

• Seems that John Pilger (my spell checker keeps suggesting 'piglet') is being reprinted at Ummah.com. Good place for his articles. (This is the same article from the Daily Mirror that has already been arse-checked by Tony Adragna and Tim Blair and me -- and probably a few others.)
• Bias? You decide. We have here a story about Qurans that were pulled from LA city schools -- from the NY Times and from the Middle East Newswire.
• "I come face to face with the Taliban leaders," says Christina Lamb. I do hope our intelligence agencies and military read the UK telegraph.
• When one looks at how Slobodan Milosevic is being treated at the "UN Jail", it becomes almost understandable that the UN agencies think we are mistreating prisoners in Gauntanamo. [link via The Corner blog]
• The Happy Fun Pundit has discovered a new threat to the civilised world. "Their bodies conditioned to pain from years of piercings, their brains conveniently unfilled and ready to focus on the task at hand..."
• Mr. Bowen at No Watermelons objects to the Darwin fish. I wonder what he thinks of this article about the discovery of a mechanism for macro-evolution.
• The Muslim Pundit has traded his sharp stick for a razor-sharp scalpel. Recommended reading.
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