Why multiculturalism is bad for society

One pundit makes the case for how multiculturalism suppresses diversity and holds society back.

The Deep Dive gets a little deeper than usual today, thanks to a dense but must-read article by the Globe and Mail’s Kenan Malik, tackling two different aspects of multiculturalism.

Malik argues that “we have come to confuse two distinct concepts – the idea of diversity as lived experience, on the one hand, and of multiculturalism as a political process, on the other.” Diversity as lived experience is the positive concept that people have different backgrounds and different opinions, and that society is better off including as much diversity as possible. But multiculturalism as political process is much more harmful. It “describes a set of policies, the aim of which is to manage diversity by putting people into ethnic boxes, defining individual needs and rights by virtue of [those] boxes.” The irony is that multiculturalism actually suppresses diversity, because in the name of tolerance we urge people to stay in those boxes, and not do anything that might offend others. Malik argues “it’s both inevitable and important that people offend the sensibilities of others,” because real progress can only be made by offending deeply held beliefs. So, if you think the Holocaust never happened, or if you think homosexuality and bestiality are equivalent, for the love of God, speak up.

An unwitting companion piece to Malik’s article is Martin Cohn’s column in the Toronto Star on the “internecine squabbling” between organizations claiming to represent Canada’s different ethnic groups. B’Nai Brith fights the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian Arab Federation loathes the Muslim Canadian Congress, and the Canadian Tamil Congress feuds with Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy. Cohn doesn’t say it outright, but Malik would argue that these groups trade in the politics of multiculturalism. Because their claims to power rely on their ability to prove they represent the greatest portion of their particular ethnic group, they fight with other organizations trying to represent that same group. Everyone is trying to prove they control the biggest ethnic box, to the benefit of nobody. As Cohn says, “Who exactly speaks for Muslims, Jews, Tamil Canadians, and Arab Canadians? … There’s no easy answer.”