Multiculturalism bill will
obstruct education further
Assimilation is key to success
Sam Kepfield
Diversions Contributor
“Diversity.”
It is, without question, the single word in
the English language which I have come to
loathe.
1 his seemingly innocuous word is com
ing to be the mantra of the New Tribalism,
seeki ng to undo two centuries of laboring to
build a more just, equal and American soci
ety.
Notice I said American. Not Euro-Ameri
can, not African-American, notJewish-Ameri
can. Just American, period. That is the prob
lem with the New Tribalism — it seeks to
classify us all according to some hyphenated
category based on ancestry.
So why worry?
Currently under consideration in the Leg
islature is LB 179, sponsored by Sen. Ernie
Chambers. The bill is a follow up to last
year’s LB922, which established multicultural
curricula in schools. LB 179 calls for estab
lishment of a Multicultural Education Advi
sory Committee to implement multicultural
programs, with a permanent office to moni
tor the orocram.s
It’s not as if we don’t have enough
bureaucracy stifling our schools. Adding yet
another layer to ensure that the politically
correct New Tribalism is taught will further
hinder education.
Multiculturalism, as an end in itself, de
tracts from the primary mission of schools.
For those who nave forgotten, that mission
is to teach our children to read, to write, to
do arithmetic and — most importantly — to
educate them in American history and cul
ture, that they might be better citizens.
It is a task in which schools have failed of
late. Kids come out of high school dead last
in knowledge of the basic facts needed to
sustain them in a technological, informa
tion-based world.
Multiculturalism is based on “feelings,*
making students "feel" better about them
selves and their ancestry. It detracts from
“thought," i.e., knowledge of math, science
and language. And then we wonder why
minority students don’t do as well as their
non-minority counterparts, why they don’t
have management jobs.at IBM or partner
ships in law firms.
It’s simple — in order to get those jobs,
you have to assimilate into the dominant
ethos of a culture. This is what
multiculturalism opposes.
Furthermore, the New Tribalism’s insis
tence on turning every question in history
and society into one of black vs. white, of
“Euroman” conquering and enslaving vari
ous indigenous peoples, takes a simplistic
view of the world. Within each monolithic
bloc are endless variations on the pattern of
adjustment to American culture.
For example, take Asian students. Their
parents arrived here in the 1970s, speaking
no English, with little or no money to their
names.
All they had was a dream, that America
was the one place in the world where, with
a little luck and a lot of hard work, they could
make a decent living. Moreover, they could
send their children to schools, to become
doctors, lawyers, and engineers.
Their success is phenomenal. Asian stu
dents top out on SAT scores, bust the curves
in their courses, and graduate at the top of
their classes. They did it without any “Asian
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multiculturalism.
This is not to say that all students shouldn’t
be taught, as part of their history course, that
blacks have made more contributions to
America than the Emancipation Proclama
tion and Marlin Luther King. It is not to say
that this country doesn’t have a few blots on
its past — such as slavery, and the Indian
wars.
It is to say that these things ought not to
detract from the fact that America is great
precisely because we have worked to over
come both legacies, and that we can even
talk about them.
America is a mosaic, a gorgeous pattern of
different colored tiles fitting together to form
one large picture. The New Tribalism threat
ens to unglue the mosaic, letting the tiles fall
away from the rest. One need look no
further than Yugoslavia, the southern Rus
sian republics, or South Africa to see what
awaits us if we continue blindly down this
path.
Working class white male
demands society to listen
Not all whites are elitists
By Todd Burger
Diversions Contributor
In the quest for multiculturalism, it seems
that the group designated as white males is
regarded as a monolithic whole. The whole
lot of white males are casually disregarded
as the elite, and that we as a group should
be heard from less rather than more.
While it is probably true that white males,
especially those loathed dead white males,
have carved out for themselves a dispropor
tionately large chunk of the area that is
considered literature, there are many of us
white males who are still normally denied a
voice; not all of us are of the white male elite.
Working class documentarian Michael
Moore explains this phenomena of ignoring
the non-elite voice when he is introducing
his friend, Ben Hamper, in the foreword to
Hamper’s autobiographical book,
“Rivethcad:"
“We w ere never supposed to get out, and
you were never supposed to hear our voices.
It all comes down to a matter of class, of
knowing our place...
“I am glad that Ben and I finally ran into
each other and, in our own ways, held on
10 mai dcuci mai we were noi invisible
people with inaudible voices simply be
cause our fathers ate out of a lunch bucket
and shopped at Kmart.”
I relate to this plainly spoken message
from Moore because I as a white male from
humble origins can agree with this feeling
that people like me are not adequately
represented in literature and the media.
There is plenty out there from and about the
elite white male, but how often is the non
elite white allowed to offer his story to the
world in his own voice?
Often, when there is a story to be told
about a non-elite, a member of the elite will
co-opt the story and tell it, eliminating the'
possibility the story will be told in the
ringing-true voice of the more humble,
though possibly less refined and eloquent,
person.
I believe I can comfortably fit the informal
criteria of Michael Moore’s, whereby 1 was
supposed to be an invisible person with an
inaudible voice.
My father is dead now— killed himself
actually— but when he was alive he was a
farmer and sometimes brought his lunch
bucket out to the fields so he could save
time.
And my mother has shopped at Kmart,
though I believe she prefers Walmart.
What’s more, my brother works as a wage
earner in the meat department at Super Saver
and I work as a humble pizza delivery man
at a place that compels me to get the damn
order to the customer in thirty minutes or
less.
Some people stereotype the man under
the absurd blue cap as stupid, possibly just
because he has to wear a silly looking
uniform and has to do what is perceived as
a contemptible job, rushing from place to
place ana taking the accompanying abuse
and ridicule from those same people, who
think that it is a sport to deliver some cheap
shots to a workingman who isn’t allowed to
talk or fight back, lest the defeated bully/
abuser call the manager and put the humble
man 111 uangv^i ui iiki
Yes, these people know that the delivery
man should know his place, and never
forget it. Exploitation works easier all the
way around that way.
That man values holding on to his job so
he effectively keeps his voice mule on the
job, at least most of the time. That man is not
stupid; he is simply denied a voice, in the
interest of making a dollar or two. Oh, he
will talk, but you won’t hear him saying
anything more daring beyond the “Thank
you, Ma’am," or "Thank you, sir." If a service
employee seems overly ingratiating, it is
because he has to be obsequious to main
tain management's idea of proper customer
relations.
So I contend I am not part of the elite
establishment, and therefore my voice comes
from a group of people whose voices are
normally not heard, the non-elite white
male.
Thank you, Daily Nebraskan, for allow
ing me the opportunity for my voice to be
heard.
"Attention, Kmart shoppers, are your
voices being heard?"
Multicultural education for practical use
Multicultural Education.
It seems this is a subject that is on
the minds of many administrators
and students, not only at UNL, but
in communities and cities in the
United Stales. It seems that people
are either in favor or against it.
Those that argue for multicultural
education say that it is necessary to
teach children at early ages, or
when they enter college, about
different cultures so that they will
be more accepting of one another.
By accepting one another, students
will hopefully be able to tolerate
others. This way they won’t be so
ignorant about the world around
them, and they will realize that their
race and culture is not superior to
someone else’s.
Those that are against
multicultural education argue that
they or their children are cultured
enough and are not racist so it’s not
necessary for them or their children
to take classes on multicultural
education. They fear higher taxes
to implement such curriculums in
schools. They fear their children
will lose respect for their culture
and adopt a different way of life
that they don’t approve of.
I don’t understand why college
students would be opposed to tak
ingaclasson mulliculturalism. Isn’t
expanding ones mind and gaining
knowledge part of the college ex
perience, or education in general?
I think students in high school
and college should be required to
lake courses on multicultural edu
cation. The simple fact that the Ku
Klux Klan has regional, (if not na
tional) headquarters in Lincoln,
should tell us that there are many
people around us that are danger
ously racist and are bringing up
their kids to believe that their race
is superior, and instill a sense of
haired towards people of other
cultures and races.
As a society, people in the United
States haven’t reached a social uto
pia. We are in the salad bowl stage
The United States is
a prevalent member
of the world
economy, as the
global market ex
pands, Americans are
going to have to be
knowledgeable of
other races and cul
tures and learn differ
ent languages in
order to stay competi
tive abroad.
—with separate cultures, while we
try to convince ourselves that we
are in the melting pot stage of
existence.
This is evident in the fact that the
Los Angeles riots stemmed from the
mistreatment of minorities by the
white majority. Too many majority
students that attend UNL come to
school with very little knowledge
of other cultures, have had very
little contact with people from dif
ferent races, and base their opin
ions on prejudices and bad experi
ences with limited members of an
other race or ethnic background.
Many of them come from small,
conservative towns in Nebraska
where they know little of the world
around them. Even people in the
larger communities where there is
more diversity have a lot to learn
about other races and cultures.
The United Slates is a prevalent
member of the world economy, as
the global market expands, Ameri
cans are going to have to be knowl
edgeable of other races and cul
tures and learn different languages
in order to stay competitive abroad.
Many people in other countries are
required to be bilingual in grade
school while learning a second
language in the U.S., is merely an
option in most high schools.
Another aspect of teaching
multicultural education is recog
nizing the historical contributions
that people from different races
and ethnicbackgroundshave made
to our society. Asa Mexican-Ameri
can it is very disappointing to see
how history has been interpreted in
school books to exclude the contri
butions of my people, or their exist
ence in the “American Drama" of
history.
I grew up in the white society
and know about its customs and
norms. 1 know that many people in
this society classify and stereotype
me. I know what it's like to oe
different and be judged because of
myethnicbackground. I know how
to survive in the “white man’s
world." I also know about another
country, its culture, language, cus
toms and traditions. I believe that
being bicultural and bilingual has
only helped me to understand
people, myself and life altogether.
Angrj Diaz is a sophomore business
administration major and president of
the .Mexican American Student Associa
tion.
