II.

MULTICULTURALISM IN GREAT BRITAIN

2.1 Defining the term “culture”

The term “culture” describes the customs and traditions that have evolved over time, of a
certain ethnic group or society. This could refer to a specific language spoken, the kind of food
that is eaten in a particular country, to literature or the moral values of a society, how certain
communities organize themselves, how and to whom they marry and also at what age are they
allowed to do that. Many cultures act according to the environment in which they live, but in time,
any culture can change due to the new communities it comes across with, leading to the increase
of diversity: “Multiculturalism is, therefore, a new understanding of culture. If we thought of
culture as something we have and are members of, we can now think of culture as something we
make and are shapers of.” (Baumann, 1999: 137)

How beneficial or harmful these changes are depends mainly on the newly arrived
communities: “The essentialist understanding of culture (whether nationalist, ethnicist or religiously
orthodox) can be turned into a processual, and even discursive, understanding of culture. Culture is not a
giant photocopy machine that turns out clones, but the most sensitive capacity of humans who cannot but
produce change even when they mean to produce stability.” (Baumann, 1999: 137)

A good example in understanding this situation is if an isolated primitive community comes

into contact with another community in which drugs or even alcohol are used on daily bases,
leading of course to social problems.

2.2 Cultural diversity

Every country has its own cultural heritage and identity that can include religious beliefs
and also language. Due to the development of air travel and the increase of immigration, most of
the countries have their own small communities of ethnic minorities living within them,
communities that have their own traditions and culture, which is exactly what having a cultural
diversity refers to. The term
“multicultural society” can be used to describe the nations where there is much cultural diversity.
“Diversity” can refer to many things, for example people’s own dress style, their food, traditions,
language but also their beliefs. Another important thing regarding diversity is that it does not only
refer to ethnicity and people’s way of life, but also to their social class, their gender or even their
sexual orientation.

2.3 What does multiculturalism stand for?

Multiculturalism refers to several cultural or ethnic groups living together within the same
society. One of the most important ideas of multiculturalism, if not the most important, is that all
cultures should be equal. The term mainly refers to different cultures based on their ethnicity, race
and gender, which have a great effect on people’s ways of thinking and behaving, but is also
against the idea that there are certain universal truths and patterns that need to be respected by all
cultures: “Being part of a global society, we can no longer define ourselves by contrast to something or
someone, but in the same time, for the sake of diversity, we cannot as well fully adopt the concept of
universality. Rather, multiculturalism tries to achieve consensus between the two, to incorporate both the
particular and the general into one overarching cultural pattern.” (Roman-Bărbuţi, 2011: 21) Each
ethnic minority has its own ideas and perspectives on life, but also its native customs, beliefs,
traditions, foods, way of dressing and behaving in society, which they are trying to preserve as
well as possible. A multicultural society consists of people from many distinct cultures, people
who have different languages, beliefs, conducts or colors but who manage to live together within
the same society and its own laws.

Simplifying as much as possible the concept, what it actually states is that we are
both different and the same, and that it is just this coincidentia oppositorum that
eventually defines our true identity. Being part of a global society, we can no longer
define ourselves by contrast to something or someone, but in the same time, for the
sake of diversity, we cannot as well fully adopt the concept of universality. Rather,
multiculturalism tries to achieve a consensus between the two, to incorporate both
the particular and the general into one overarching cultural pattern. (Roman-
Bărbuţi, 2011: 21)

Racism refers to a false idea according to which the true identity of a person is determined
by his or her race, that a person’s beliefs are based on their family’s background. Many people
from the dominant society do not think of those from different ethnic groups according to their
acts, skills and merits but according to the race that they belong to, this leading to discriminative
behavior against those of distinct ethnicities.

Each city and place from Great Britain has been in one way or another influenced by the
ethnic minorities that have come to live here, whether temporary or permanently. Some of them
brought new types of food and different music genres others brought poetry and unique ways of
dressing ad even original shows of entertainment and sports that were slowly adopted and accepted
by the natives of Great Britain. Multiculturalism has opened people’s minds to new things, has
made them understand that there are many cultures, each unique in its own way and that each of
them has something to offer to the host community, and ethnic minorities indeed have contributed
to the economic development of Great Britain: “Multiculturalism tries to solve the old dichotomist
syntagm of “us and the other” by replacing it with a slightly different approach to this age old
relationship.” (Roman-Bărbuţi, 2011: 21)

2.4 How did Britain become a multicultural society?

Great Britain has always been considered a mixed race society. Many different races such
as the Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans have settled in Britain during the past centuries. In
the 17th and 18th centuries, many Africans were brought by force in order to be used as slaves.
Later on, thousands of refugees from many countries such as Russia, France and Ireland, came to
Britain trying to escape persecution and finding a better way of life. Job opportunities were also
one of the reasons why people from Eastern Europe came here later on.

Because of the immigration that has taken place during the last decades, Great Britain can
be easily described as being a diverse and multicultural society and the successive governments
are thought to be the ones that need to promote different laws that reassure social understanding
and fight against discrimination. As it happens in any other multicultural society, Britain also has
its own main ethnic minorities that integrated very well into the British society and whose
descendants are now at their 3rd or even the 4th generation as British citizens. For the benefit of
any multicultural society, all the races have to work together and be able to be in good relationships
with each other.
 The homes of the British people who came to Britain from India, Pakistan, Hong Kong or
any other places, are usually situated in the big cities of the country, such as Birmingham,
Manchester and London. Many people from today’s Britain that are from other ethnicity and
culture, brought their own culture and are trying to preserve it as good as they can.

What a multicultural education stands for is the creation of equal opportunities regarding
education for all the students from different parts of the world and from different ethnic groups, in
order for them to gain the necessary skills and knowledge so that they could be able to live in a
multicultural society and to communicate with people from distinct ethnic groups.

Multicultural societies in general have chosen between three models regarding the people
from different racial, cultural and ethnic groups:

The first model is segregation, when the different populations either stay apart or are kept
separate, whether it is geographically or just having as less contact with them as possible even
though they live in the same areas. However, there are special cases when one of the groups,
usually the one in power, receives better treatment than the other groups.

The second model is assimilation. This happens when the minority culture adopts the
majority culture. Then, the majority culture also adopts some of the elements from all the
minorities that it has absorbed, whether it is their food, traditions, music, beliefs, vocabulary,
making them part of a whole. But there are some people that believe that this model has some
negative effects, such as the minorities feeling that they are being discriminated but also the fact
that a society that has chosen the assimilation model may experience a cultural stagnation because
of its refusal in accepting contributions from other cultures.

The third model is integration, also called multiculturalism. According to this model, all
cultural minorities are allowed and to a certain level are even encouraged to keep their distinctive
characteristics as long as they adapt to a particular set of values and rules that can guarantee a well-
functioning society.

In Great Britain, the integration model has had a huge influence and it is seen as a way of
promoting social peace by respecting the cultural differences between different ethnic groups.

2.5 Advantages and disadvantages of living in a multi-racial society

 Living in a multicultural society is believed to be a real challenge because there are a lot
of things that need to be taken into consideration. Whenever there are more cultures living together
within a society, many things could happen that is why there are both advantages and
disadvantages.
One of the advantages of living in a multicultural society is that it allows people to
experience and even understand other cultures’ beliefs, thoughts, traditions, customs, language,
music, behavior. It also brings benefits regarding, social, political and economic matters. There
are many reasons why people refuse to make contact with others from different ethnic groups, such
as ignorance, disinterest, indifference, or even fear, but once they get to learn about others’ ways
of life, it helps overcome limitations and break barriers between different ethnic groups. By
explaining and showing the students the cultural and historical differences between various ethnic
groups, multicultural education helps them understand what living in a multicultural society is all
about. In order for this to happen, in Great Britain there is already an initiative going on regarding
multicultural teaching.

Some of the benefits of living with other cultures are that it makes people more
understanding with respect to certain beliefs and also more tolerant towards each other.

Furthermore, when people with different perspectives and customs come across, they start
to communicate with each other, sharing ideas of their own. Therefore, they become more open-
minded because everyone learns new ways of seeing certain aspects of life, situations or things,
from another point of view. So, living in a multicultural society also helps people to develop their
intellectual thinking. But also, communication develops the level of tolerance and respect between
different cultures, which is much needed when living in a multi-ethnic society.

Another important advantage is that a multicultural society makes people less racist,
leading to a non-discrimination society in which social peace is promoted. This is exactly why, in
Great Britain, because of the great acceptance that the people and the government show to those
of different ethnicities, problems such as racism and discrimination are much lower than there are
in other countries where there are strict laws regarding immigrants. In a cosmopolitan society what
truly matters is that we are all human beings, regardless of the color of the skin, background,
religion or beliefs.
 Also, hiring immigrants has many benefits because they come as a whole package, bringing
their customs, their ideas, their approaches to certain problems, their unique way of being that
attracts people. With the acceptance of new cultures, come innovative ideas and concepts that help
in the development of many important areas such as technology.

In Great Britain, regarding political matters, multiculturalism has had a huge effect over
the past decades, many positions being held by people who are not originally from the country and
that is due to the fact that people from other cultures bring a variety of methods and concepts that
help in the advancement of Great Britain’s society.

Overall, minorities are thought to have had a major role over the past years in regard to
many areas but especially in the economic one: “Many, probably most British people, white and
black, have seen the experience of immigration and ethnic diversity as a positive benefit to British
culture and identity.” (Roman-Bărbuţi, 2011: 77)

But, despite all the advantages, there are some disadvantages as well. For example, it is
believed that cultural differences could lead to the division of a society and as a result,
discrimination towards minorities would be inevitable. Racism is most of the time the main
problem when living in a multicultural society. People from different cultures obviously have
different opinions and that is one of the reasons why so many riots take place. All the time, there
are people that believe that their culture is the right and superior one and all the other cultures and
their beliefs are totally wrong and these are the ones that try to cause troubles within the society
and put the blame on the minorities especially when it comes to economic and social problems.

Another consequence of multiculturalism is that the ethnic communities could become

isolated from the rest of the native population of the society they are all living in, and this could
lead to a loss of identity. Once people come to settle in a foreign country, little by little they start
losing their own selves, their beliefs, behavior and customs because of all the new values and
things they come across with by living in a new environment in which different expectations are
required.

Furthermore, regarding the income achieved by the immigrants, it was proved not to be
bigger than the number of people that they added to the population of Great Britain so as a result,
they didn’t bring any significant increase to the prosperity of the country. Also, because the
immigrants are forced by circumstances to accept not only the most unpleasant jobs but also the
worst-paid ones, the less educated native population of Great Britain is being left aside, having an
even harder time finding a job.

Another disadvantage is the decrease of trust because there are ethnic minorities that not
only try to avoid the natives of the country, but they also want to have as less contact as possible
even with other immigrant communities. That is why there are so many united groups that do not
interact and do not trust each other.

Regarding education in a multicultural society, there are ethnic minorities that are not able
to function at their maximum capacities and to give their best in certain situations just because
they are not feeling comfortable in the new environment they found themselves in. People who
came to Great Britain, whether it was in order to settle permanently or just to work for a period of
time, are called expatriates when their working lives come to an end, meaning that they are
considered as people who have never become part of the society in which they lived.

In conclusion, it is often believed that ethnic minorities are being tolerated only as long as
things are going well within the country, but once something bad happens, people put the blame
on those of different ethnicities, using them as an excuse.