Civil Rights, Social Justice and Affirmative Action in Higher Education

Since the Civil Rights Movement, there have been many debates, programs, theories, and proposals for trying to create a society that is racially equal and gender equal. However, where and how to implement programs and methods are just some of the many questions surrounding the issue. Many people believe that multiculturalism and diversity must be forced within established institutions by new regulations and admissions standards, but others say that forcing diversity will only heighten the differences between genders and races and cultures and cause more opportunity for reverse discrimination.

The Multiculturalism Movement

The multiculturalism movement is one that is closely tied to a term called cultural relativity. Cultural relativity is where each culture or group is not compared to other groups and individuals are only compared within their own groups. No culture is seen as better or lower than another, and all standards are different to accommodate the different culture. Many colleges have given in to pressures and created admissions standards that compare students only to others in their own groups and not to others across the board (The diversity trap, 1997).

This cultural relativity is, perhaps, a good theory, but it has some major flaws. One of the greatest flaws is that it only reinforces the sub-standards for certain cultures by not expecting the same level of achievement from every student, but having different acceptable levels of achievement from different races or cultural groups of students. This only reinforces the differences that cause racism and sexism in the first place and also makes it harder for those admitted students to keep up with other groups in the curricula. It is no surprise that, though admissions rates are better at these institutions that employ these admissions standards, the graduation rates for different groups are much the same as before. An institution cannot simply go easy on certain groups to get them into college and then expect them to survive the more intense reality of the classes and course requirements as they stand for every student (Multiculturalism 101, 1991).

The standards for graduation from a higher education institution cannot be lowered without hurting the school's reputation and its accreditation. Legislators and administrators are complying with multiculturalism by admitting more applicants from different races and groups, but are ultimately not solving the real problem at hand. Weeds can be chopped off at ground level but they will always come back because there is a root still thriving below the surface. Multiculturalism is a great idea, but it will never achieve its goal of a diverse and equal American society without targeting the very root of the problem in the very homes and grade schools of minorities and within society's downfalls as a whole.

A Non-western Curriculum

Throughout the mid to late twentieth century, students at institutions all over the country have protested and rioted over a very western-centered curriculum, and the colleges and universities have answered by almost completely obliterating all required courses on western culture and replacing them with faux-culture courses from elsewhere in the world. The term faux-culture is justified because the courses offered dealing with non-western cultures are really just western translations of those cultures. Students will not learn the culture surrounding ancient Japanese imperial society and structure for its own sake; they will learn how women were oppressed during that time or how the samurai struggled against laws forbidding their profession or some other translation of that society into our own world view. Half of the time, the texts read in non-western cultural courses are not really the texts that are important to that culture, but are chosen for some reason that relates it to ourselves.

D'Souza is right in suggesting that if a cultural diversity is to be assimilated into the curricula, then it must include western culture as well as others, and to study them for their own sake. Only then can there really be truly informative cultural courses in higher education institutions (D'Souza & Williams, 1996).

Conclusion

The idea and theory of multiculturalism is good and it is something to strive for, but the government and institutions may be going about it the wrong way, applying multiculturalism's cultural relativity too literally. Certainly the changes are not being made at the root of the problem which only causes more dissension, resistance, and misunderstanding. All in all, the theory is sound but the practices are not.

Resources

D'Souza, D. (1991) Multiculturalism 101. Policy Review, 56.

D'Souza, D. (1997). The diversity trap. Forbes Magazine, 159(2), 83.

D'Souza, D., & Williams, W. (1996). Deliberations on the end of racism. Academic Question,9(4).