Yep. Multiculturalism has taken on a very broad term.
Every kid that walks into a classroom brings what is called their own "world view"-it doesn't matter what the color of your skin is or what the cultural background is and you want these kids to stay engaged. This includes plain ol' white kids whose lines have been in this country so long that they don't think they even have a culture anymore. Those kids don't get the whole white patriarchal culture thing because they have had nothing to do with it. When they get it, it's traditionally a lesson in morality from the upper classes. There is not one aspect of American history that does not include Blacks, Latinos, "Native Americans", Asians, or Europeans.
Multiculturalism in the classroom means that your class of diverse students are able to relate and, therefore, retain information. It isn't from a losing stand point. It's a lot about contributions and a uniting force as we are all Americans.
How do you study civil rights and all of the things that Americans believe in and uphold and not look at Fred Korematsu? No multiculturalism in the classroom means you ignore it or present it in a paragraph and move on quickly which alienates Americans of Japanese descent. The reality is that Korematsu is just as American as any of us and we as a country believe in it.
If your engineer does not have the capacity to recognize other cultures contributions to the US or to the world then you will limit your business. Your burger flipper? You won't be able to retain others working with him/her. If the burger flipper is moved to management then you might very well encounter a lawsuit. If the attitude persists then you may very well lose business. At some point, it's going to matter but not until it hits your pocket book.
It's time for everyone who wants to be an American ditch the hyphens and be American. When my father's father came here from Germany, he learned the language and a trade. He didn't expect government forms printed in Germany and he didn't want Americans to understand the German culture. He wanted to learn OUR'S.
He married another German immigrant who arrived here at about the same time and they had 4 sons. NONE of them spoke German. 3 of them served their country during WW II and 3 had children raised by Americans, not German- Americans. If I'm designing machines or flipping burgers, I don't HAVE to relate to Fred Korematsu. HE has to relate to me and the 300 odd million other Americans.
I may enjoy learning something of his culture and eating his native food, but that is my choice. If Fred wants to live in America, he has to become American.
In May 1917, the town of Hot Springs had a population of 650 but soon the number would increase with the addition of almost 2200 German prisoners. (This would be the largest World War I prison camp in the United States at the time.)
WWI Internment Camp in Hot Springs NC The German Village
German Americans are the largest ethnic group in the US. Approximately 60 million Americans claim German ancestry. German American loyalty to America's promise of freedom traces back to the Revolutionary War. Nevertheless, during World War II, the US government and many Americans viewed German Americans and others of "enemy ancestry" as potentially dangerous, particularly recent immigrants. The Japanese American WWII experience well known. Few, however, know of the European American WWII experience, particularly that of the German Americans. The government used many interrelated, constitutionally questionable methods to control those of enemy ancestry, including internment, individual and group exclusion from military zones, internee exchanges for Americans held in Germany, deportation, "alien enemy" registration requirements, travel restrictions and property confiscation. The human cost of these civil liberties violations was high. Families were disrupted, reputations destroyed, homes and belongings lost. Meanwhile, untold numbers of German Americans fought for freedom around the world, including their ancestral homelands. Some were the immediate relatives of those subject to oppressive restrictions on the home front. Pressured by the US, many Latin American governments arrested at least 4,050 German Latin Americans. Most were shipped in dark boat holds to the United States and interned. At least 2000 Germans, German Americans and Latin Americans were later exchanged for Americans and Latin Americans held in Germany. Some allege that internees were captured to use as exchange bait.
WWII Violations of German American Civil Liberties by the US Government
I hear you.
Fred was American. Born in California. That was the point.
You don't want humans or Americans. You want robots and kangaroo courts deciding just how American someone is-like this one. None of what you wrote had anything to do with multiculturalism in the class room.
