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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Larry S. who wrote (77513)	8/23/2012 10:58:00 PM
From: John	5 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

I asked you this before, but you ignore the question. Let me ask you once again... Please explain how diversity and multiculturalism are strengthening mechanisms. Specifically, how do diversity and multiculturalism strengthen the United States and our society? Thank you.

To: Larry S. who wrote (77513)	8/24/2012 9:41:55 AM
From: lorne	1 Recommendation Respond to of 103300

Farhad Khosrokhavar Multiculturalism in Europe ces.fas.harvard.edu In Europe, multicultarism can be analyzed at two different levels. At the level of daily life, it has become a matter of irreversible diversity and in that respect, it cannot be put into question. Even in France where the successive scarf issues have ended up in excluding the scarf from the public places (government schools but also the administration in general and many other semi-governmental institutions), there are tightly knit scarves in many poor suburbs and living places of orthodox Muslim populations. Another level is that of the public opinion and institutional decision making bodies (parliaments, municipalities, public administrations etc.). Here, there is a deep crisis of multiculturalism after september the 11th, bombings in London as well as the killing of Theo Van Gogh and the Madrid Bombings. The two major countries where multicultural policies are part of the government policies, The United Kingdom and Holland, are putting it into question in its many different aspects. In the public opinion, the so-called question of Islamic fundamentalism is becoming one of the most debated topics in Europe. -The daily life level In spite of the banning of the veil in the public institutions in France, partly in reaction to it and partly because of the development of new communities in France, in many suburbs and Muslim districts (places where sizeable number of Muslims live) the veil has become a part of the clothing of orthodox Muslim women. This is certainly not a phenomenon related to multiculturalism since many people resent this attitude of the Muslims and from their perspective, wearing the veil or the “Qamis” (the traditional cloth of some Muslim groups)or having a beard is synonymous with the rejection of “integration” into the French society. This view of the Islamic clothing is nowadays much more widespread among many European citizens than before the September the 11th and the Madrid and London bombings of 2004 and 2005. Some groups of Muslims, in their turn, build up “safe heavens” where they can attend to their daily prayers and live according to their orthodox view of the religion which is viewed by many non Muslim citizens as “fundamentalist”. There is an increased rigidity regarding Islamic religious practices among the Europeans. In England, the veil issue has become public and many people push towards some legislation in order to prohibit the use of the veil in public places or government bodies. In Holland, the most restrictive law against the law is being discussed and if approved, the veil will become illegal in the public sphere. In Belgiun, Germany and Switzerland, veil is more and more is seen as a sign of rejection of the citizenship and in many German Länder and in Switzerland, female teachers cannot wear a scarf at school. In France, the veil is practically banned not only at government schools (école publique), but also in the public administration. There is a suspicious attitude on the part of many politicians which is the consequence of the European societies’ increasing stiffness towards Islamic identity. -The institutional level The legal banning of veil from government schools in France and by extension, from the institutions creates a situation where every woman wearing the hijab (be it a simple scarf or a total niqab) is suspected of “fundamentalism” (or “intégrisme”). This induces a kind of rift between the orthodox Muslims and the other citizens, contributing to the former’s closing ranks and living in closed knit local communities. This, in turn,