Composite Culture in a Multicultural Society

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The Reality of Multiculturalism in the United States¹

Nathan Glazer

It may reflect a shift in the fortunes of ‘multiculturalism’ in the United States of America today that we are witnessing more attacks than in the recent years on what we in the United States consider ‘multiculturalism’. By multiculturalism we mean a number of things—the openness to different cultures, the welcoming of new immigrant communities, respect for the cultures of these groups and other once disrespected and marginalized groups, and the acceptance and approval of adherence to an original and authentic ancestral culture. Multiculturalism has many definitions but I think these few themes sum up what is generally meant by it, by both its adherents and its critics. We ...