The Poverty of Multiculturalism

But problems arise with “hard” multiculturalism: when every aspect of a culture without exception is considered to be above criticism; when any negative evaluation is deemed “judgmental”, “racist”, “offensive”, “oppressive”, “fascist”, “totalitarian”. If we once allow women be stoned (or forced to wear the burkha); if British police go on hesitating to investigate the “honour killing” of Asian women – and if this turning of the blind eye is urged on a plea of “That’s what they do in their culture” – then all ethical systems have been subverted and we are in “anything goes” free-fall. Wherever, on the contrary, we find healthy cross-fertilization, there we see cultures mutate, merge, appropriate features from one another.

The self-confidence of the West today has been undermined by phenomena of failure: the Holocaust; Hiroshima ; the threat of long-term ecological deterioration; the dismantling of the socialist projects of the 20^th century; the 21^st century’s consumerism, obesity, media-obsession. In a contrasting approach to all this, we should rather be taking pride in the West’s legacy of social liberalism: equality of opportunity, outlawing of racial prejudice, freedom of worship, freedom in private life-style matters such as dress (all fruits of the Enlightenment – building on Christianity’s early championing of the individual soul and of the brotherhood of man).

In Britain , people should not be content to stay mired in shame at colonialism – at an era of oppression which resulted in private racist ideas and public racist structures. Rather, people should take pride in national achievements such as: parliamentary democracy; the abolition of slavery; the refuge accorded persecuted minorities; the record of peace and tolerance.

We might further ask: Why should not the principle, “All cultures are equal”, be taken to mean that the indigenous host culture too should “keep its end up” – instead of downplaying is own claims for the sake of overcompensating the newcomers? Why, for instance, should the traditional Christmas celebration be downplayed by local authorities in favour of “The Winter Celebrations”, “Winter Fest”, “Winterval” (so that municipal funding is diverted instead to projects like a St. Patrick’s Day carnival, or an “Islamic Awareness Week”) ?

This ideological drive has left Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs in some towns in Britain arguing over their slice of the public-funding cake. It has also left the indigenous population feeling discriminated against – and sown the seeds of new rightist-party movements.

In Ireland , our minority population is still small, and we have opportunity to learn from Britain ’s mistakes. If we want to be truly anti-racist, we must learn to judge a person by the character of their soul, rather than by the colour of their skin. Of course, in order for this to happen there is required a core set of shared values.

Patrick West, a native of London , journalist and cultural historian, is the author of Conspicuous Compassion (Civitas, 2004) and The Poverty of Multiculturalism (Civitas, 2005)