Tolerance
Tolerance refers to the act of not interfering with or conditional acceptance of behaviors or values that people consider incorrect but bearable because they are not limited. Individuals may talk of an institution or association being tolerant, friends being kind of one another, a country being tolerant of a minority faith, or a society tolerating deviant behavior. On the other hand, people who admire tolerance often behave as if tolerance were the ultimate and final cure for all a community's ills. It's important to remember that tolerance has its limits and that tolerance can turn into intolerance. People can accept significant differences in religious practice and lifestyle, for example. It is natural for people to permit others to follow their faith even if it is harmonizing with their faith, as long as they do not insist that we give to their faith or philosophy (Young, 1986). Therefore, tolerance permits for a broad range of practices and beliefs as long as people come from the same cultures. There is a restriction or limit to tolerance within the American culture. For example, most liberal-minded friends, homosexuals, and lesbians individuals are valued, esteemed, and welcomed.
Multiculturalism
The thought or idea of multiculturalism in the political philosophy and modern political discourse concerns how people respond and understand the issues and challenges connected with religious and cultural diversity. The term multicultural is used as a descriptive term to portray and distinguish the fact of diversity in a community, which is employed in the western liberal democratic societies. Although multiculturalism comprises of a variety of authoritarian prescriptive declares that it is right and fair to say that components of multiculturalism decline the model of issues such as melting pot where members of minority groups are anticipated to incorporate and absorb into the dominant culture (Young, 1986). For a model in which members of minority groups preserve and maintain their unique shared practices and identities.
For example
Theorists emphasize that multiculturalism is like-minded and not opposed to, the incorporation of immigrants into the community. Therefore, multiculturalism strategies and policies provide fairer terms of integration for immigrants. In fact, contemporary states are structured and organized around the cultural norms and language of the leading and dominant groups, which have traditionally comprised them. This leads to members of minority cultural groups face obstacles and barriers when pursuing their social beliefs and practices in ways in which members of the dominant groups do not go through. Several theorists argue that that minority groups should be tolerated through leaving them free of state intrusion and interference (Farrelly, 2003). Conversely, other theorists claim that simple toleration differences of racial groups are inadequate of treating minority groups as equal. These scholars argue that the minority groups need to be accepted, recognized, and accommodated. It is evident that multiculturalism has been used as an umbrella word, which features the political and moral claims of an extensive range of minority and marginalized groups such as women, African-Americans, and people with disabilities. A good model is the debates in the 1980s where most people argued whether to identify and accept the success of marginalized people or to expand and diversify the school curriculum.
Likewise
The current theories of multiculturalism that were established in the early 1990s centers their claims on marginalized groups and immigrants who religious and ethnic minorities such as Muslims, native people from North America, and Latinos. On the other hand, multiculturalism is also connected to the politics if recognition, politics of difference, and identity politics. All of these share a common commitment to respect and value marginalized groups and minorities and change dominant patterns of communication and demonstration. Besides, multiculturalism comprises of political power and economic interests such as demands for correcting political and economic disadvantages, which individuals suffer because of their identities of marginalized groups (Farrelly, 2003). It is important to note that culture is an open-ended, disputed concept where different categories such as race, language, ethnicity, religion, and nationality have been included and compared with the idea of culture. In fact, religion and language are at the core of many arguments and claims for cultural acceptance and accommodation by immigrants.
Criticism of Multiculturalism
Critics of multiculturalism argue that toleration demands for indifference and not accommodation. For instance, this criticism is purposed at liberal multicultural arguments of accommodation emerge from the respect and value of freedom of conscience and association. For this reason, if we were to implement and take the ideas of multiculturalism seriously, and accept moral individualism, and ontological ideas, then we only safeguard the protections of groups and not rights of individuals to form or leave coalitions or associations (McKinnon, 2012). Thus, for giving away and granting cultural groups unique and extraordinary rights and protections, which a nation ignores its responsibility to attain respect and civility, and hence undermines the rights of association. Consequently, critics argue that countries or states should not pursue cultural integration and engineering. Instead, they should pursue political indifferences towards marginalized and minority groups.
One drawback of this criticism is that
dominant groups that do not respect and value freedom of association and toleration such as the right to disconnect or get out of a group. It has a potential to lead discrimination against members of a group, and thus a nation has little control and authority to get involved or interfere in these kinds of associations. For example, indifference in political calls for an abuse of weak and vulnerable members, another example is a group such as societies that raise illiterate and unschooled children (Okin, 1999). Other examples are communities that inflict unusual punishment, and nations that impose arranged marriages. Apparently, to accept such things as a nation would mean to discard the equality values, and values of autonomy, which many liberals assume as essential and fundamental to any tolerance and liberalism worth its name.
Challenge of Multiculturalism
One of the biggest challenges of multiculturalism is a political retreat or drawback against marginalized and immigrant multiculturalism. Some theorists and philosophers researched drawback from multiculturalism in Australia and Europe that they feature and point out to lack of public support, which is founded on the restricted and limited success such as policies to improve the assimilation and integration of minorities. Nevertheless, other philosophers claim that there is a shortage or lack of proof of any such retreat (Mill, 1966). Founded on the research these theorists stated that the statutory exclusion and exceptions to anti-discrimination measures, multicultural education policies, and minority religious practices remain in place, and no adequate evidence suggested that public services are not delivered in a different language. Possibly the argument concerning retreat or drawback from multiculturalism has less to do with any substantial changes in the policies of a nation, and more is to blame because of other reasons such as increasing tension and lack of social unity among different groups in liberal democratic communities. With this in mind, public debate concerning immigrant multiculturalism needs to be pursued in a broad context, which regards the politics of race, religion, national security, and immigration. Therefore, multiculturalism becomes an easy symbolic scapegoat for public fear and anxiety when the security of a nation is threatened, and when economic situations are dangerous. In the United States, issues and concerns about the radicalization of Muslim minorities have become a focus of public debates concerning multiculturalism and immigration (Hobbes, 2009). In fact, this is correct in the face of American immigration calamity, as thousands of individuals fleeing from war and abuse in Iraq and Syria have made terrifying journeys in the United States. It is evident that Muslims are working very hard in the labor market and school in comparison to other cultural and religious minorities. Political and socioeconomic marginalization, therefore, involves the immigrants' sense of belonging. It is not an easy thing for Americans to imagine the Muslims immigrants being integrated before they make important steps toward socioeconomic incorporation. Conversely, integration is a two-way not only does the state work to integrate the immigrants, but the immigrants need to incorporate themselves to make accommodations. One challenge and obstacle of integrating immigrants is increased through public tolerability of expressions of the sentiments of anti-Muslims (Mill, 1966). Therefore, the anti-Muslim publicity campaigns and their rise of far-right political organizations together with the willingness of the media to report significantly destroys the possibility of integrating Muslims in the United States. It is apparent that the obstacles depicted by incorporating Muslims in the United States are more intricate that the integrating other immigrant groups. These challenges are because of unfair elision between the vast majority of Muslim minorities and between Islamic fundamentalists. In conclusion, it lines to these issues. Multicultural theorists need to advocate that the perception of multicultural citizenship should stand for justice and fairer conditions of integration, and not division or separation. It is the responsibility of the multiculturalism theorists to answer questions such as why multicultural citizenship is more advantageous than the citizenship that is founded on an even set of opportunities and rights for everyone? Another issue they need to answer is the policies of multiculturalism improving and fostering significant integration of immigrants and their offspring. It is imperative therefore to study the origin and development of multiculturalism beyond the western culture such as how the Western theories and beliefs of multiculturalism have been integrated and incorporated in other parts of the world. For instance, what lessons have nations as if South Korea learned from the ideas and experiences of other countries and what the kinds of multiculturalism strategies and policies are they and have adopted and implemented.
References
Farrelly, C. (2003). Introduction to contemporary political theory. Sage.
Hobbes, T. (2009). Leviathan, The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, published by Andrew Crooke/Leviathan.
Mill, J. S. (1966). On liberty. In A Selection of his Works (pp. 1-147). Macmillan Education UK.
McKinnon, C. (2012). Issues in political theory. Oxford University Press.
Okin, S. M. (1999). Is multiculturalism bad for women?. Princeton University Press?
Young, I. M. (1986). The ideal of community and the politics of difference. Social theory and practice, 1-26
