The new gospel [of multiculturalism] condemns [the traditional American] vision of individuals of all nations melted into a new race in favor of an opposite vision: a nation of groups, differentiated in their ancestries, inviolable in their diverse identities. The contemporary ideal is shifting from assimilation to ethnicity, from integration to separatism ... Instead of a nation composed of individuals making their own free choices, America increasingly sees itself as composed of groups more or less indelible in their ethnic character. The national ideal had once been e pluribus unum.Are we now to belittle unumand glorify pluribus?Will the center hold? Or will the melting pot yield to the Tower of Babel? The Disuniting of America Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1991)
References
Banks, J. A. (1991).Teaching strategies for ethnic studies (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Children's Defense Fund (1995).The state of America's children yearbook. Washington, DC: Author.
Eagle, B. M. (1991).Buffalo woman comes singing: The spirit song of a rainbow medicine woman. New York: Ballantine Books.
Kluckhohn, C. (1949).Mirror for man. New York: Premier Books.
Monette, P. (1988).Becoming a man: Half a life story. San Francisco: Harper Collins.
Monette, P. (1994).Last watch of the night. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Philadelphia Inquirer (1991). With innovation, they grasp math and more in West Philadelphia.Philadelphia Inquirer, p. 7-A.
Schlesinger, A. M., Jr. (1991).The disuniting of America: Reflections on a multicultural society. Knoxville, TN: Whittle Direct Books.
Singh, N. N. (1995a, November).Unity in diversity. Paper presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, Honolulu, HI.
Singh, N. N. (1995b). In search of unity: Some thoughts on family-professional relationships in service delivery systems.Journal of Child and Family Studies, 4, 3–18.
Singh, N. N. (1995c). The quest for wholeness: Personal growth in daily life. In C. R. Ellis & N. N. Singh (Eds.),Children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders: Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Virginia Beach Conference (p. 150). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Singh, N. N. (1995d, June).Living from our center: Consciousness, spirituality and exceptionality. Paper presented at the Colloquium on Spirituality, Consciousness and Exceptionality, Sugarloaf Conference Center, Temple University, Chestnut Hill, PA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, N.N. Cultural diversity in the 21st century: BeyondE pluribus unum . J Child Fam Stud 5, 121–136 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02237935
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02237935