What do you understand by the concept of Multiculturalism?

Discuss the benefits and dangers of this policy.

It is a controversial issue as to whether immigrants who domiciliate in a new country

should be allowed for the recognition of ethnic “diversityor (diversity)” if they should adopt
the norms of culture and behaviour of the host nation (University of Wolverhampton, 2009).
On the one hand, all human beings disregarding their parentage should be equal in rights
and should be allowed to decide on matters concerning their cultural practices. On the other
hand, these cultural practices may differ considerably with “those (the norms)” of the host
nation and therefore inhibit a successful integration “of (for)” the immigrants. For the
purpose of this essay “Multiculturalism” will be taken as a “government policy” which allows
people to exercise their own culture or at least, do not interfere with it (Modood, 2007,
p.1).This essay will “argue (discuss)” that although the ethnic minorities enrich a society, the
government needs to prevent to give them too much freedom of cultural expression to
preserve the country from segregation. First of all, this essay will “argue (discuss)” that
Multiculturalism debilitates the society through the formation of the ghettos instead of
integrating the ethnic minorities into the society. And secondly, the ethnic minorities are a
benefit for the society and since all human beings should be treated equally, they should
have the right to practice their culture the way they want. And finally, the indigenous
population is uncomfortable by giving the ethnic minorities too much freedom of cultural
expression and it consequently leads to segregation.

It could be “argued (discussed)” that Multiculturalism divides societies and weakens

the nation by the creation of separate groups with individual identities, different values and
traditions instead of contributing to a strong single society (Modood, 2007). And furthermore,
the policy of Multiculturalism leads to the creation of cultural ghettos since the government
has allowed the ethnic minorities to establish separate schools and the development of
separate communities. Consequently, as these groups are mostly among their peers they
tend to perpetuate speaking in their native language which obstructs learning the language of
the host nation. Unfortunately, the fast development of technology reinforces this situation
“as (by giving)” the ethnic minorities the opportunity to watch television programs and read
newspapers in their native language (Modood, 2007). The crucial point is if people cannot
speak the language of their new country and hence they are not able to assimilate, they will
not receive a place of employment. Moreover there is less benefit for the host nation. In
some countries it is even possible that these people obtain financial support from the
government, which builds up the resentment of the native inhabitants against the ethnic
groups and even further it reinforces “a” real separateness in society.
 On the other hand, there are so many benefits of the concept of Multiculturalism. The
most important point is that each culture needs other different cultures with alternative
visions, which encourage critical reflection and the expansion of horizons’ (Giddens, 2009,
p.644). Everything is nowadays influenced in some way by different cultures for instance
food, music and clothes. Through Multiculturalism human beings have opened their minds
since living in such a society makes people more tolerant “of (to)” each other. This policy
emphasis “that (on)” different groups “have (having)” equality of status. More precisely its
key facts are social equality and the protection from discrimination (Herbert, Datta, Evans,
May, Mcllwaine, Willis, 2006). Moreover it allows the recognition of the ethnic diversity and
accentuates that each nationality has the right to retain its cultural distinctiveness. Therefore
Muslim women are permitted by this policy to exercise their culture by wearing the hijab, as
the cross and the hijab are both religious symbols, and hence bases of equal claims (Parekh,
2006).

Nevertheless, another consequence of Multiculturalism is “white flight”. This is a

phenomenon of middle class white people moving out of cities and into the suburbs
(Modood, 2007, p.2). From 1997 to 2007, over 600.000 people of the white population left
London (Modood, 2007). As the ethnic minorities are perceived by many people as a threat,
the locals prefer not to live in an area with large numbers of immigrants. They have the
perception that crime rates increase and the quality of the local schools decreases.
Furthermore they are frightened that foreigners are taking over the society with their strange
cultures and languages. In times of terrorism people are not comfortable seeing women
totally veiled and they do not understand why for instance Muslim women are allowed to
wear headscarf at the universities here while it is prohibited in some Muslim countries. White
flight is especially negative for the minority indigenous population who decided to stay in
these areas. They suddenly find themselves in a much poorer area and therefore the social
climate is characterized by tension and anxiety. Hence Multiculturalism does not lead to the
desirable integration but to segregation.

As a conclusion to this essay, the ethnic minorities enrich a society and it is crucial
that all human beings have equal rights. However the government should ensure that their
policies are a benefit for the whole nation and that they do not separate it with its failure of
giving the ethnic minorities too much freedom of cultural expression. In recent years the
government has focused far too much on the “multi” and not enough on the common culture
(Herbert, Datta, Evans, May, Mcllwaine, Willis, 2006). Therefore it leads “for (to)”
separateness and not to a desirable strong society.
Word count (The number of words) : 868

List of references:

 Giddens, A., (2009). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 644-646.

 Herbert, J., Datta, K., Evans, Y., May, J., Mcllwaine, and Willis, J., (2006). ESRC
Report: Multiculturalism at work. Queen Mary, University of London. pp. 1-4.
 Modood, T., (2007). Multiculturalism. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 1-3.
 Parekh, B., (2006). Rethinking Multiculturalism. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillian. pp.
249-257.
 University of Wolverhampton. [online] Health and Ethnicity. Available on: http:
//www.beme.org/learningpackages/package4/health/assimilation.htm [Accessed on
10/8/09].