Multiculturalism has received attention in recent years. Use this question to discuss cultural diversity and assimilation in the United States and Europe. Why do some people say that multiculturalism is failing? How is Americanization different than multiculturalism?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

but it could talk about the assimilation of immigrants from Europe in the United States being largely successful, but assimilation—integrating a minority group into the mainstream—is different than multiculturalism, in which cultural differences are retained, accepted, and appreciated as a part of a country’s diversity. The large wave of immigration in the 1990s and 2000s did not result in assimilation. Immigrants from China and Mexico often retain their own cultures, food choices, languages, and create subcultural enclaves where they work and live. In Europe, the need for labor resulted in similar waves of immigration from people who did not assimilate into the cultures they migrated to. This created cultural frictions which have led to protests and at times extremist violence. Those coming from poor areas of conflict, often leaving their countries under duress and using difficult means of escape, arrive only to be turned away from entrance to richer countries who do not want to accept the social burden of refugees. These developments, in which countries are less willing to accept groups from different cultures but instead fortify their borders, is what has led to the assertion that multiculturalism is a failure. Unlike multiculturalism, which involves the coexistence of people who belong to different cultural groups, Americanization is the importation of culture, which tends to destroy local culture in favor of corporate industry’s lure with standardization and cheaper prices. However local cultures can often resist or negotiate more locally appropriate versions of American culture to create cultural hybrids.