Multiculturalism is a bad word?

On Flemming Rose's blog today I wrote:

I find it very interesting that people on one hand espouse tolerance and equality and on the other are very candid about their criticism of multiculturalism. I must admit that I don't understand. Does equality mean everyone being the same or sharing the same culture? Sure ethnocentrism and racism are not the same thing. The first is more innocent and naive sounding than the latter. But they are not unrelated.

Multiculturalism lately has come under attack and seems to be among the words whose meaning has been tweaked. 'Freedom' is another. It seems that those who oppose the concepts of multiculturalism and cultural-relativism want to change some of the basic premises of the dialog. Will many of the same concepts that were condemned under the label of prejudice be reopened and legitimized under a new name? One can imagine something like 'realism' doing that job, for instance.

No one wants to be called 'racist'. This might be the most offensive word in the English language. It seems to diverge from the content of its meaning, become an ad hominim attack, and is completely ineffectual. So how can we address the issues. The whole argument for multiculturalism seems to be easily dismissed by calling it 'politically correct'. One side screaming 'racist' and the other screaming 'PC' is futile and counterproductive. But these include important ideas that are the culmination of a long process of liberalization and that as a culture we have struggled for.

In an article for RealClearPolitics in 2006, Mr. Rose wrote: "I am a Dane because I look European, speak Danish, descend from centuries of other Scandinavians. But what about the dark, bearded new Danes who speak Arabic at home and poor Danish in the streets? We Europeans must make a profound cultural adjustment to understand that they, too, can be Danes."

This brings up very interesting and important points. Admittedly, it reveals another difference that is perhaps cultural: as an American, this is hard to digest. At least it requires a certain sense of cultural-relativism to realize that Denmark is not as diverse as the United States. Otherwise, one is tempted to call it blatant racism or xenophobia. But on the other hand, of course we cannot be blind to differences among us.

Ultimately, we all face a more diverse future. It seems pointless to resist. There may be resistance on both sides, but we can only act within the limitations of our own circumstance. Criticizing another group that one only understands as an outsider is problematic and risks having little effect beyond offense. One argues the merits of his own culture in the terms of his own culture and so does the other guy. Multiculturalism and cultural-relativity as concepts are cerebral tools to help us deal with this future. But I don't find the prospect of a diverse society particularly scary or unpleasant.

We and all our economic prosperity are complex products of history. Some time in the ineluctable future people will be discussing not what caused the rise of the West and what makes it so great, but what caused its demise.