Identifying with multicultures

But other cultures are not just amusing sideshows to be read about in books.  They are the collective accumulation of life-experience of a section of humanity, no different to us.  They developed aspects of their lives that we didn’t develop and we develop aspects that they did not.  They explored certain areas and we explored others.  When we respect and appreciate each other, we can pool this accumulated experience and produce a super culture that takes in the best of everything.  This is what multicultural children bring and this is a salient benefit of the exposure to other cultures in our schools, workplace, neighbourhoods, parks, meets and other interactions.

Often, what we appreciate the most about other cultures is the food, the rich palate, the taste sensations, the countless variety of culinary delights, as if the most celebrated human contribution is that which fills the stomach.  We are happy to accept or tolerate them when they serve us food or transport us in taxis to our chosen destinations, we are even willing to accept them as security guards, but rarely as equals.

When we refuse to accept minorities as equals, we in fact compel them to find equality and self-esteem in groups from their own cultural backgrounds.  We limit their ability to integrate by reducing their opportunities to access jobs and accommodation and yet, we complain that they are unemployed or live in close proximity with each other.

Yet Australia is fortunate in that it has no exclusive ghettos for minorities, even those areas that have the highest concentration of the latest arriving minority can still boast of a diversity that clearly outlines the open nature of our society.

This all means that we have painted a pretty good big picture, even if from time to time, parts of that picture appear a little glum because a self-appointed self-righteous social engineer attempts to splash the canvas with unrealistic fears.

It is perhaps the fight for dignity by those minorities that keeps us focused on our main purpose in life which must be to live and work in harmony with each other and to manage our differences in such a way as to ensure that we benefit from them as a nation and that the basic human rights are not usurped from any individual within our fair land.

Pragmatically, an understanding of different cultures is very enriching for our nation, it opens up more markets for us and as a result, provides a boost to our economy.  It also contributes to our collective knowledge and lays claim to what we must begin to see as a human heritage and this is the accumulated wisdom of every nation.  This accumulated wisdom was developed through their own unique experiences, just like we developed ours.  Sharing it and appreciating its enriching qualities just makes it that much better.

I am not afraid from our Aussie children who exhibit appreciation of other cultures, rather, I am enriched by them and I will do my utmost to boost their ability to find harmony with all their various layers of identity.  The society that allows them to find that harmony is the society that will harness its benefits.  The society that seeks to suppress or strip away those layers of identity is the society that divides and marginalizes its members to its own detriment.  It certainly makes a great deal of sense to treat multiculturalism as an enriching asset for which we should be very grateful and which we must protect and whose virtues we must extoll to the rest of the human family.