Advocates / Critics

Advocates of Multicultural Education
Proponents of [multiculturalism] favor the political notion that no single, common culture unites all Americans. They argue as well that whites, especially white males of European ancestry, must give up cultural, economic, and political dominance, and they are anxious that the surrender commence immediately, even before whites lose their majority status- which the Bureau of the Census projects will happen some time shortly after the year 2050. (Chavez, 1997)

Measuring the educational aspect of multicultural curriculums,advocate Nathan Glazer reports that school and university teachers in the United States today do not worry about whether to include the traditions and views of ethnic minorities in their instruction, but rather about how much prominence to give them. (The Economist, 1997)

Part of the problem with implementing multicultural curriculums is the lack of support from influential figures in the United States. "We can certainly begin to use or resources to support ethnic studies programs with the same energy, emphasis and financial support as have been given to the traditional American studies programs and departments...The ultimate sign that institutional change has moved [us] towards a true, broader crossing, of course, will come when ethnic studies people and projects are not seen as "them", "that" and "those people", when we end whatever traces there are in a "positive investment in whiteness", and most importantly, when we all feel, as Lerone Bennett once said, honored and privileged to be identified with the oppressed. (Washington, 1998)

Cornell West puts the goal of multiculturalism at a level everyone can relate to when he says:
We simply cannot enter the 21st century at each others throats...We are at a critical crossroads in the history of this nation- and we either hang together by combating these forces that divide and degrade us, or we hang separately.(Kauffmann & Burbach, 1997)

Critics of multiculturalism
The most popular argument against multiculturalism is that it threatens to separate students along racial and cultural lines. The basic demand of multiculturalists is for inclusion, not separation. In fact, and in practice, multiculturalism has nothing to do with inclusion. By extending the polarizing logic of affirmative action into every nook and cranny of our culture, our historical self-understanding, and our sense of national identity, it has further poisoned the climate of race relations in American society at large. (Chavez, 1997)

Some of those arguing against multiculturalism also feel that teaching about minority groups separately will harm minorities more than help. "Educationally, half a century ago, some all-black schools had test score levels that would be considered utopian to hope for today. It was precisely when blacks began to be treated as mascots of sympathetic whites- whose "help" included largess, excuses, double standards of performance and behavior, and an undermining of law enforcement- that major retrogressions began in the black community in crime, violence, family disintegration, and moral squalor in general. As for the inevitability of multiculturalism, within living memory, Nazism, communism, apartheid, colonialism, Jim Crow, and numerous other once apparently impregnable evils have all collapsed. Why then are we to believe that multiculturalism is carved in stone and invincible?" (Sowell, 1997) This implies that treating students differently because of racial differences will be detrimental to the achievement of minorities. Focusing on minorities is antithetical to the mission of education as it is, and all national test scores may continue to cascade precipitously.