Multiculturalism as a Basis for Empowerment and Societal Reform.

Overview & Synopsis

During the past 2 decades, population changes have resulted in a multiethnic society in the United States with cultural diversity beyond the imaginings of the country's founders, whose initial view of the concept of Americanism, and consequently multiculturalism, included racism and slavery. Multiculturalism cannot disunite America, because the country has never been united ethnically and cross-culturally. Multiculturalism as a social movement in America has the revolutionary potential of the Civil Rights movement. The National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) is providing courageous leadership in the effort to include multicultural content in all educational curricula in the nation's education systems. The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) has led the struggle for equity in higher education for African Americans and other ethnic minorities for a quarter of a century. NAFEO finds itself well placed to lead in the multicultural education movement, a movement that empowers the global and national reality of cultural diversity. (Contains 7 references.) (SLD)