Can people who experience Multiculturalism be tolerant to an intolerant society?
I have longed for Cosmopolitanism, which was created by Aleksandros III in ancient times, since I learned it at high school. I have often thought that Multiculturalism is similar to Aleksandros’ Cosmopolitanism. However, as learn more about Multiculturalism, I have come to feel that a “colorful mix” is not always beautiful or lends itself to a world of worldly citizens, especially when I listen to what black or Muslim people in western countries say.
The strangest thing to me is that even some citizens of Canada, where it is said that multiculturalism is most successful, judge other societies by Canadian standards. For example, one Canadian said, “French people are racists.” Another said, “There is too much discrimination against foreigners in Japan.”
In California I used to argue about Asian modern history with my Taiwanese friend, and this argument was endless because the individual schooling on Asian modern history we were given was so different. From this experience, I soon realized that education is not universal and one may not be so accepting of new ideas, regardless of whether your education was liberal or conservative.
I, who grew up in Japan and has traveled in Europe and stayed in the U.S. for a while, understand both intolerant old societies like Japan and Europe and multicultural new societies like the U.S. and Canada. I can change my way of thinking according to where I am if it is needed. By this you may think that I do not have my own belief system or perhaps that I lack sincerity. But both multicultural societies and intolerant old societies have a reason why they became as such, and I cannot change this reality. In the same way I feel that it is not fair to blame Japan and Europe because of how they are now. All I can happily say is that I like multicultural societies much more than mono-cultural and homogeneous ones.
Good attitude !!! Just one thing … you are calling Europe and Japan “intolerant old societies” and as an opposite, U.S. suppose to be a “tolerant society” ? I definitely do not agree with that
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Of course, U.S. is a multicultural society, because the only “true Americans” are a few red Indians who are left but during their even pretty short history, the United States developed an own identity, something, what they call the “American culture”. I talked with many people from the U.S. and I was pretty surprised … especially about their intolerance. Most of them are real patriots. There is America and then comes America and then America … and then the rest of the world … maybe. It seems, that their tolerance for other cultures is just limited to the fact, that every race or culture is tolerated as long as these people are U.S. citizens … amazing
It might be true, that Europe and Japan are not multicultural societies in the meaning that they like to keep their own culture but I think, that they are at least more tolerant for foreign cultures than the U.S., proved at least by the fact, that Europe is growing together now. We all like to stay Germans, Italians, French or whatever but we can respect other cultures and enjoy some kind of peaceful union.
Looking at the world now and the policy of the U.S., I would answer your question “Can people who experience multiculturalism be tolerant to an intolerant society ?” with a clear “No” … but it is interesting, that most of the nations, you are calling “intolerant old societies” seem to be more able to be tolerant for other cultures, including multicultural societies too.
Berndt
2008/02/09
Hi Berndt,
In Germany, I saw a Gypsy mother who was holding her little child and begging for money as well as a Gypsy family who was walking in the street barefoot on a cold day. In the U.S., where I spent a year and visited many cities, I did not see any mother holding her child and begging for money or any barefoot family walking in the street, even if I had seen many poor people there. I am wondering if German people respect non-western people or those who are from developing countries.
japaneseview
2008/02/17
hmm,in europe (is just my opinion ) most people like their own kind, officially accept others and personally dislike all.
italy and france are trade partners but their people dislike each other, italians don`t like austrians,austrians doesn`t like any other but themself, english people doesn`t like french and so on.Maybe the history is hard to be forgotten…
LostSoul
2008/08/11
Hmm, being an American citizen, I’m going to have to disagree with what Berndt said about my country. I definitely think that the American people, being from immigrant backgrounds, are more tolerant to other cultures than Europe and Japan.
Of course, the U.S. has our own distinct culture (which is a mesh of all the influences from all over the world), but we also recognize and respect other cultures as having merit. You are right that most Americans (even minorities who might be disenchanted with our country) are patriots. When in America, America always comes first, that’s true. However, that’s not being disparaging toward other nations. Tourists are more than welcome and are treated with respect. As far as immigrants are concerned, they are accepted and welcome as long as they work hard and respect our culture as being the dominant culture. Anyone from any background who moves to America can come here and have an equal opportunity to succeed, as long as they understand, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” People who try to bend America to the will of their culture, as we see happening in Europe, are NOT welcome here, and we make that more than clear. This is why I think that immigrants tend to be more successful in America. They know that they are more than entitled to hold on to their traditions and culture, but they accept the fact that U.S. laws and culture come first; this is non-negotiable.
I don’t think that Europe or Japan are more tolerant for foreign cultures than the U.S. Europe is growing together now, but only on an economic level, not on a cultural level at all. Immigrants from all over Europe and their descendants, regardless of their citizenship status, are always treated like outsiders not as worthy as white Europeans. This is a known fact. Tourists are rarely greeted warmly in Europe. In Japan, outsiders are treated with some reservations, but the Japanese people warm up to us and treat us with respect. They still treat any non-Japanese, regardless of citizenship status, as an outsider and somehow less than them.
America for the most part is nothing like that; anyone regardless of background is American if they are a U.S. citizen. We treat outsiders with respect, but they are still outsiders if they aren’t American citizens. It doesn’t make them less than us though, it’s just the reality.
Khalisa
2008/09/17