(8 of 8)
The Western tradition contains a refutation of this take-my-word-for-it approach. It can be seen in the Greek and Roman philosophers, then again most vividly in the writers of the European Enlightenment -- Voltaire, Locke, Berkeley, all DWEMs (dead white European males), but perhaps worth a hearing < in spite of this handicap. In one way or another, they argued that the validity of any statement can be tested independently of, and in no logical way depends upon, the person who makes it. This idea, totally color-blind, is one of the greatest instruments for human freedom ever conceived. It made democracy possible, since it enabled each citizen to reach reasoned judgments, and its spirit pervades the documents that established the U.S.
Perhaps most unsettling, radical multiculturalism turns upside down the principles that drew, and continue to draw, people to America: the freedom to create a new personal identity, and the chance to become part of a nation of people who have done the same thing. There is a contradiction between these commands to be oneself while also being part of a common culture, a creative tension that has produced a literature populated by loners, rebels and misfits. Also, come to think of it, a lot of stress and nervous breakdowns. No one ever said it was easy to be an American, to learn the rules anew each day, every day.
Whatever else it may accomplish, the current debate highlights the enduring volatility of the American experiment. There is no guarantee that the nation's long test of trying to live together will not end in fragmentation and collapse, with groups gathered around the firelight, waiting for the attack at dawn. No guarantee, that is, except the examples its citizens have set -- examples not as frequent as their ideals mandate, but precious nonetheless -- of getting out of the skins of their prejudices and meeting each other as the equals they truly are.
And a very Happy 215th Birthday to us all, whoever we think we are.