multiculturalism

Immigrant Education in America is a Series of Stories of Courage

by Jessica Lander

One in four K-12 students today is an immigrant or a child of immigrants. A high school history teacher in an immigrant-serving school argues that we need to remember the examples of past educators who defied law and prejudice to make schools places where immigrants became Americans. 

Clarifying the Census Bureau's Accounting of "White" Identity Puts Demographic Change in Perspective

by Morris Levy, Richard Alba and Dowell Myers

The 2020 Census seemed to show the white population was in freefall. But few questioned whether differences between the 2010 and 2020 censuses reflected real demographic change or simply statistical noise as the the Census makes incomplete progress toward accounting for multiracial identity.

What the ‘Majority Minority’ Shift Really Means for America

by Justin Gest

"Through a historical lens, being white in America today is like belonging to a once-exclusive social club that had to loosen its membership criteria to stay afloat."

Both the Right and Left Need to Remember Demography is Not Destiny

by Adam Serwer

The 2020 Census has fueled optimism on the left and panic on the right about American demographics. But past periods of ethnic change have shown the fluidity of racial categories defies expectations.

Scrapping the Color Code: A Post-Racial America is Inevitable

by Jim Sleeper

The 2020 Census is showing that whiteness is no longer the civic and cultural norm, but also that bureacratic color-coding can't support a version of civic Americanism that can stand up to a growing white backlash. 

Can Affirmative Action Survive the Supreme Court?

by Nicholas Lemann

The moderate Republican appointee has always served as the Justice to protect modest versions of affirmative action. What will happen in a pending case now that such Justices are gone from the court? The historical trajectory of supposedly meritocratic admissions offers clues.

Can Sports Realize Frederick Douglass's Ideal of the Composite Nation?

by Walter G. Moss

From Jackie Robinson to Simone Biles and Shohei Otani, sports have been like the point of a knife piercing myths of white supremacy. 

What Euro 2020 Has Revealed About Englishness

Sporting teams are one of the few officially English, as opposed to British, institutions. The national team's multiracial composition and embrace of social and political causes may be advancing a more inclusive form of Englishness. 

France’s New Public Enemy: America’s Woke Left

A body of American critical theory about the nexus of difference and power has proved threatening to a French intellectual elite that is historically invested in the nation's formally color-blind republican traditions even as ethnic and religious diversity exposes the gaps in those traditions. 

Liberals Envisioned a Multiracial Coalition. Voters of Color Had Other Ideas

Since the dawn of the 21st century, it has become commonplace for party leaders to talk of a rising demographic tide that is destined to lift the Democrats to dominance. The party should look at the defeat of California's affirmative action referendum as a caution that things won't be so simple. 

Princeton History Professor Says Biden Won With Unstable Democratic Coalition

Historian Matt Karp argues that the Democratic Party risks future defeat if it does not develop a strong economic populist message that appeals to Black and Latino voters. 

Trump’s Presidency May Be Over. The Effects of Trumpism on Campus are Not

The Trump presidency has raised issues about the extent of racial resentment in White America, the significance of identity politics, and the place of intellectual discovery and academic research in American life that are a long way from resolution. 

Although Now Required by California Law, Ethnic Studies Courses Likely to be Met with Resistance

by Nolan L. Cabrera

A scholar who studies racial dynamics on college campuses, argues the benefits of required ethnic studie courses outweigh their liabilities.

Is It Time for All Students to Take Ethnic Studies?

The position of ethnic studies in university curricula reflects changing intellectual currents but also longstanding battles over resources and power in higher education institutions. 

Ethnic Studies Can't Make Up for Whitewashed History in Classrooms

by Jonathan Zimmerman

"American history is ethnic studies. You simply can’t understand the United States without addressing its component races, ethnicities and religions. Sadly, the recent drive for ethnic studies demonstrates just how far we are from that ideal."

Higher Ed’s Shameful Silence on Diversity

by Hasan Kwame Jeffries

Right-wing diatribes about diversity training often ended with a call for Trump to issue an executive order banning federal agencies from holding them. So it was not unexpected when, on September 22, Trump signed an executive order forbidding diversity training within the government.

Princeton, Betsy DeVos, And The Need For a Real Debate About Race

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Although the Department of Education investigation of Princeton is likely in bad faith, Jonathan Zimmerman contends that Princeton's self-flagellation about its institutional racism reflects a rising orthodoxy, not a deep debate about how the university operates.

University of Iowa Will Halt Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training After White House Executive Order

The university's statement claimed in essence that the threat of losing federal grants and contracts could not be ignored. 

The Wages of Whiteness (Review Essay)

Hari Kunzru's review essay examines the current vogue for white antiracism (and antiracist training) through the history of whiteness as a political and academic concept, concluding that many  of the most popular books and multicultural pieties strip the idea of its structural elements and reduce it to a question of personal purification. 

‘Please Don’t Convert to Whiteness’: Johann N. Neem on Current Trends in Racism and Antiracism

Historian Johann N. Neem, an immigrant from India, decries the white supremacy unleashed by Trump but questions whether trendy antiracism discourse is encouraging white progressives to uphold the ideal of an America open to all in an interview.