Creative Nonfiction Blog by Brenda Gaines Hunter

Are the Riots in England the Product of Multiculturalism?

I take issue with the idea that the rioting in London and the shootings in Norway signals that multiculturalism doesn't work. What it is shows it that cultural monopolies in diverse societies do not work. White people are still making the rules. They decide what is valid knowledge, valid self-expression, civilized behavior, etc. That is not multiculturalism, but integration, and minorities can only integrate to the extent that hegemony is able to take hold via being given the opportunity to learn and share in the majority's cultural capitalism.

Anders Behring Breivik is a Squatter, too

The press is implying that we should empathize with right-wing zealots like Anders Behring Breivik, the suspect in the murders of 76 young people who were attending a youth camp in Norway. He is being likened to Tim McVeigh, America's home-grown Oklahoma City bomber. We are being told that perhaps they have something important to say, something that we should or should have listened to, that our lack of attentiveness is what drove their extremism. However, this argument overlooks the fact that given the total number of people in a particular country, and even when stratifying for various levels of education, etc., their views are no more informed nor creative than most people's and, therefore, their views are no more important than others', and they don't have anything new to say.