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As a Midwesterner, this is incredibly accurate. I personally don't like multiculturalism, and I don't know of many people in my area that do. In my opinion and

As a Midwesterner, this is incredibly accurate. I personally don't like multiculturalism, and I don't know of many people in my area that do. In my opinion and experience, multiculturalism in society makes a sense of community very difficult if not impossible to create. Having standard methods of communication, standard social and moral norms, and standard goals and beliefs makes empathizing with my neighbor so much easier than it is in big cities. There's also a question of how much a culture influences a persons behavior. Multiculturalism in school and work pushes the idea that all cultures are made equal, yet different cultures are represented unevenly in our society. There has been a significant amount of racism against Asians and Jews, yet both groups have significantly higher average incomes and college attainment rates than other groups. Personally, I don't believe that's a coincidence, and is due to their cultures that emphasize self-discipline, self-improvement, and consideration for their fellow man. There are some cultures formed by chronic stress and poverty(white trash, ghetto cultures) that don't have those traits, and so their people don't make it as far in life. That's not because of racism, that's because of poverty and chronic stress.

jccalhoun 9y ago
This is a question of which came first the chicken or the egg? Is the fact that cultures are represented unevenly in society the fault of the non-dominant cultures or the dominant culture? Is poverty and chronic stress cause by culture or is it caused by racist systems? It might be a cycle but if people weren't racists then it might be easier to break the cycle. Personally, I love multiculturalism. Being a white guy growing up in an almost exclusively white area gets to be monotonous. Dealing with people from other cultures is a lot more fun than dealing with people like me.
- jacksmith21006 9y ago
  Add me on the list that loves multiculturalism. It is so much more interesting and I find a desire for anything else hard to understand. What I am most curious about is why something a cherish so strongly others dislike.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  > This is a question of which came first the chicken or the egg? Oh, I absolutely believe that the uneven distribution of certain races in those poverty cultures is due to historic racism. I'd have to be deluded to not believe that. When an entire race was suppressed just a couple generations ago, it makes absolute sense that that race would continue having an issue with poverty. However, I don't think race is the issue anymore. I think the issues are culture and poverty, with poverty being the much more significant of the two. Proof of this IMO is in the white trash culture. White people born and raised in poverty in a culture of hopelessness tend to have terrible college graduation rates, low average income, and high crime rates. There's no systemic racism keeping them down, yet they don't succeed. > Is the fact that cultures are represented unevenly in society the fault of the non-dominant cultures or the dominant culture? Jewish and Asian cultures are non-dominant, yet they succeed in our country. Dominance isn't the issue here, I don't think. > Personally, I love multiculturalism... Dealing with people from other cultures is a lot more fun than dealing with people like me. That's great! I don't have an issue that some places and people think like that. I just don't see why that kind of mentality needs to be brought to places that think differently. There are always acceptable limits of variance within a culture. Some cultures disallow women from showing their hair, others stone gay people. Neither of those aspects of a culture would be allowed here. Why shouldn't different regions of the country have different bounds for allowed cultural variance?
colanderman 9y ago
"I personally don't like multiculturalism" I'm pretty sure it was the offspring of people who "don't like multiculturalism" who beat me up in middle school for being part of geek culture rather than the prevailing rural culture of my hometown. I personally am a big fan of respecting others despite cultural differences.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  > I'm pretty sure it was the offspring of people who "don't like multiculturalism" who beat me up in middle school for being part of geek culture rather than the prevailing rural culture of my hometown. Any ideology taken to a violent extreme is bad. There are people who are getting beaten up for believing there should be a southern border wall. Those people beating them up are in the wrong, but that doesn't mean their opinion is baseless, merely their method of expressing their opinion is wrong. > I personally am a big fan of respecting others despite cultural differences. Yet there are bounds to what is acceptable, is there not? If someone walked down the streets naked, would you not think they're crazy? If a man wanted to stone a gay person, or shun a woman for exposing her hair, would you not look at that person with disdain? Given that there are bounds in variance for acceptable behavior, then why shouldn't there be regional differences in acceptable variance?
  - colanderman 9y ago
    Devaluing those who don't conform to local cultural norms destigmatizes violence against them. If you promulgate the belief that cultures should not mix, you cannot disavow blame for violence committed against those of a minority culture just because you personally didn't raise a hand against them. > If someone walked down the streets naked, would you not think they're crazy? If a man wanted to stone a gay person, or shun a woman for exposing her hair, would you not look at that person with disdain? You are conflating laws with culture to make a strawman. GP specifically talked about black culture, not violent-religious-fundamentalist-nudist culture.
    - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
ardit33 9y ago
Riightt.... I am a foreigner and I lived in for my last year of high school in Virginia (I was the exchange student of the school). I remember how people that said they were "atheist" were demonized (and chastised socially). These kids were smart, hard working, yet people would discriminate against them (socially), for not sharing the same religion. I remember I had to say "I am agnostic", in order not to be chastised myself. So, that "your culture is different", can extend to religion, ethnicity, last name, being vegan, etc.. etc... Lets call the spade a spade, it is a form tribalism and bigotry at the end of the day.

jccalhoun 9y ago

This is a question of which came first the chicken or the egg? Is the fact that cultures are represented unevenly in society the fault of the non-dominant cultures or the dominant culture? Is poverty and chronic stress cause by culture or is it caused by racist systems? It might be a cycle but if people weren't racists then it might be easier to break the cycle. Personally, I love multiculturalism. Being a white guy growing up in an almost exclusively white area gets to be monotonous. Dealing with people from other cultures is a lot more fun than dealing with people like me.

jacksmith21006 9y ago
Add me on the list that loves multiculturalism. It is so much more interesting and I find a desire for anything else hard to understand. What I am most curious about is why something a cherish so strongly others dislike.
TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
> This is a question of which came first the chicken or the egg? Oh, I absolutely believe that the uneven distribution of certain races in those poverty cultures is due to historic racism. I'd have to be deluded to not believe that. When an entire race was suppressed just a couple generations ago, it makes absolute sense that that race would continue having an issue with poverty. However, I don't think race is the issue anymore. I think the issues are culture and poverty, with poverty being the much more significant of the two. Proof of this IMO is in the white trash culture. White people born and raised in poverty in a culture of hopelessness tend to have terrible college graduation rates, low average income, and high crime rates. There's no systemic racism keeping them down, yet they don't succeed. > Is the fact that cultures are represented unevenly in society the fault of the non-dominant cultures or the dominant culture? Jewish and Asian cultures are non-dominant, yet they succeed in our country. Dominance isn't the issue here, I don't think. > Personally, I love multiculturalism... Dealing with people from other cultures is a lot more fun than dealing with people like me. That's great! I don't have an issue that some places and people think like that. I just don't see why that kind of mentality needs to be brought to places that think differently. There are always acceptable limits of variance within a culture. Some cultures disallow women from showing their hair, others stone gay people. Neither of those aspects of a culture would be allowed here. Why shouldn't different regions of the country have different bounds for allowed cultural variance?

colanderman 9y ago

"I personally don't like multiculturalism" I'm pretty sure it was the offspring of people who "don't like multiculturalism" who beat me up in middle school for being part of geek culture rather than the prevailing rural culture of my hometown. I personally am a big fan of respecting others despite cultural differences.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
> I'm pretty sure it was the offspring of people who "don't like multiculturalism" who beat me up in middle school for being part of geek culture rather than the prevailing rural culture of my hometown. Any ideology taken to a violent extreme is bad. There are people who are getting beaten up for believing there should be a southern border wall. Those people beating them up are in the wrong, but that doesn't mean their opinion is baseless, merely their method of expressing their opinion is wrong. > I personally am a big fan of respecting others despite cultural differences. Yet there are bounds to what is acceptable, is there not? If someone walked down the streets naked, would you not think they're crazy? If a man wanted to stone a gay person, or shun a woman for exposing her hair, would you not look at that person with disdain? Given that there are bounds in variance for acceptable behavior, then why shouldn't there be regional differences in acceptable variance?
- colanderman 9y ago
  Devaluing those who don't conform to local cultural norms destigmatizes violence against them. If you promulgate the belief that cultures should not mix, you cannot disavow blame for violence committed against those of a minority culture just because you personally didn't raise a hand against them. > If someone walked down the streets naked, would you not think they're crazy? If a man wanted to stone a gay person, or shun a woman for exposing her hair, would you not look at that person with disdain? You are conflating laws with culture to make a strawman. GP specifically talked about black culture, not violent-religious-fundamentalist-nudist culture.
  - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago

ardit33 9y ago

Riightt.... I am a foreigner and I lived in for my last year of high school in Virginia (I was the exchange student of the school). I remember how people that said they were "atheist" were demonized (and chastised socially). These kids were smart, hard working, yet people would discriminate against them (socially), for not sharing the same religion. I remember I had to say "I am agnostic", in order not to be chastised myself. So, that "your culture is different", can extend to religion, ethnicity, last name, being vegan, etc.. etc... Lets call the spade a spade, it is a form tribalism and bigotry at the end of the day.