What is lacking in this discussion is a definition of what multiculturalism is, absent such a definition any discussion is meaningless. I propose the following definition for multiculturalism: It is the notion that somehow, it is possible for people of different cultures to live with and amongst each other without there being a clash of different cultural values. This is patently not the same thing as assimilation, in which people of different cultures move toward accepting a single set of cultural values while at the same time remembering, even celebrating the cultural heritage of their ancestors while allowing others of different cultural heritage to do the same. Assimilation is represented by people of all cultural backgrounds celebrating St Patrick's day, Cinco de Mayo, etc. In a truly multicultural society only those of the ethnic group of the thing or event celebrated would do so, while everybody else not of that ethnicity would be excluded from the celebration.Learning and using English as a common language is not a sign of multiculturalism, that is a sign of assimilation. Speaking Spanish to Hispanics and Russian to Russians while they do not have to learn the common tongue is multiculturalism. Multiculturalism says that My culture must be accepted by the majority and goes against everything this country was founded upon. It decisively destroys the concept of majority rule because it says that minorities not only have the same rights as the majority, they actually have more. Multiculturalism is contributing to the Balkanization of America, where assimilation contributes to a strong unified country because everybody ascribes to a unified set of common core values and traditions while being open to the addition of new ones as well. Assimilation builds on a cultural foundation where multiculturalism attempts to tear that foundation down to bedrock to rebuild it in a completely new manner.
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