The word multiculturalism is defined, in my opinion,
as a mosaic or mix of cultures, races and people in the
human segment of the environmental species. Unfortunately,
in this country, America, the government and the media do
not recognize that such a mix of people exists, even though
they make up a large portion of the present-day community.
These people that are portrayed in the media are highlighted
usually in a negative or stereotypical manner. If there are
riots, killings and robberies among these "rainbow tribes,"
it is automatic Front Page news for the media ... We see
this every week on Cops, America's Most Wanted or even on
the local news every day. And when sports events are shown
on TV, whether it is basketball or football, we all know who
is shown continuously out front...As one educator put it,
"We have gone from the cotton fields to the playing fields."
In America, during the 1700s and 1800s, the Africans were
used basically as chattel slaves for monumental economic
achievements. The major crops at this time were cotton,
wool and sugar; hence the need for these Africans to work
in the fields. Because the black slave population was
outnumbering the European population, both in America and
the Caribbean Islands, there had to be a white overseer to
maintain the economic growth of England and America. Both
England and America grew by leaps and bounds with the use
of the chattel slavery "production."
Today, the cotton fields and the sugar fields have
transformed themselves into the football and basketball
fields, a modern economic device used to create huge
monumental achievements in the American communities.
Education itself is second fiddle to the popularity of
these gladiatorial sports. Children today, especially
our "rainbow tribes," are being used as players on the
"fields" instead of players of education. The overseer
has transformed himself into the head coaches and assistant
coaches of the playing "fields," and the owners have
transformed themselves into the ... wait ... the owners
are still the owners, and they're still "Europeans"!
Instead of being a "free" slave laborer, these so-called
"athletes" a.k.a. "slaves" are now "paid laborers".
Even when Nelson Mandela's picture made the front page
in the San Francisco Chronicle, that one positive event in
media history was spoiled because located below Mandela's
victorious win, was a picture of Richard Allen Davis, the
killer and rapist of Polly Klass. For me, this was like a
subliminal message to all, that even though the president
of South Africa ("Little America") is now black, remember
that these people are dangerous and always vicious--"Be
Careful, Watch Yourselves!"
America is the only country in the world that has a
large ethnic population. Yet these people are rarely focused
in the public and private school systems or the media. The
American government is at least forty years behind the times.
It does not realize what it's got. It does not realize that
the variety of people that make up this "melting pot" have
the potential to do great things. Yet it has been sanctioned
not to move ahead via budget cuts, negative media and a lack
of revision in the education system.
It is ludicrous that even though America is suppose to be
a "melting pot," the majority of the history that is taught in
schools focuses directly on European and colonial American
history. However, we must thank our are lucky stars that
tokenism is alive and well; we do have Black History Month
in February, Asian History Month in April, and Cinco de Mayo
in May. Moreover, there is so much distortion in American
European history that it is only seen as a propagandian self-
idealism of that particular culture. The truth is only a
marginal footnote and sometimes never revealed to these American
students of history. Hasn't it been proven that the truth will
set you free?
The American public, the majority of which is of ethnic
heritage, should rise up and demand that their voice be heard,
not just once a month, but every day. We are inundated with the
European way of life 24-hours a day. We too, are a great part
and parcel of the United States history! We too, lived and died
for this country! We too, suffered the pains of wanting total
freedom like our European brothers and sisters! We deserve to
let our voices be heard through true multicultural education.
Multiculturalism exists in this country and will always be
here. These "rainbow tribes" are more of American history than
American history itself. But it is up to those people to make
their voices be heard and demand the right to have their history
heard.
