Can two people from different cultures be together?

Multiculturalism means that under the condition that human society is becoming more and more complex and information circulation is becoming more and more developed, the renewal and change of culture are also accelerating day by day. The development of various cultures faces different opportunities and challenges, and new cultures will emerge one after another. Under the modern complex social structure, we inevitably need different cultures to serve the development of society, and these cultures serve the development of society, which produces cultural pluralism, that is, multiculturalism under the complex social background.

The emergence of the word multiculturalism began in the United States in the 1980s. 1988 In the spring, a curriculum reform on the campus of Stanford University became the beginning of what later scholars called the "Cultural Revolution". [1] This reform quickly spread to the whole field of education and then caused different effects in other social fields. The academic circles discussed and debated this phenomenon. In the 1990s, due to the fierce debate, some people even called multiculturalism and related debates "cultural wars". In the field of American history research in China, from the third issue of American Studies (1992), where Shen Zongmei challenged American mainstream culture (in the article, Shen translated multiculturalism as "cultural multiculturalism") to the national social science fund project "American Multiculturalism Research" 200 1, domestic academic circles also discussed the related issues of multiculturalism. In addition to the above papers, the cultural part of the book Contemporary American Culture and Society (China Social Sciences Press, 2000, 1 1 edition) edited by Zhu Shida is also one of the important achievements. Academic circles have reached some understandings, but there are still many unsolved theoretical gaps.

I. The origin of multiculturalism

To study a problem, we must first have a clear understanding of the object of study, that is, what the problem is, and then study the significance, characteristics and limitations of the subject and other related issues. Although the word multiculturalism has been frequently used in recent years, just as "culture" and "globalization" are highly used without a recognized definition, the connotation of multiculturalism has not been clearly defined so far. In the article Origin, Practice and Limitation of Multiculturalism, Wang Xi analyzed the connotation of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism has different connotations because of its different uses in different fields. It is "not only a kind of educational thought, historical view and literary criticism theory, but also a mixture of political attitude and ideology" [2]. Although this kind of induction is comprehensive, it still fails to give a precise definition of multiculturalism and make people have a concise grasp of its connotation. Therefore, on this basis, Wang Xi draws the similarity of these usages, that is, "1, the United States is a country composed of many nationalities and ethnic groups, and American culture is multicultural; 2. Americans with different nationalities, races, genders and cultural traditions have different American experiences, and American traditions cannot be based on the historical experience of a certain nationality or group; 3. Group identity and group rights are important contents of multiculturalism and a reality that American society must face. " [3] Obviously, multiculturalism is no longer a purely theoretical discussion, but has become the starting point and foundation of education, literature and politics. On this basis, the goal points to the equality between elements, which is the so-called "group identity and group rights".

The United States is the largest immigrant country in the world, and immigrants have created, prospered, developed and strengthened the United States. The United States has never been a pure "unit" country. From the colonial period, the colonists from Spain and France constituted the earliest immigrants. Then, the Dutch, Swedes and British followed closely. Especially since 1620, when the British Puritans established the colony of Massachusetts Bay, Britain began a continuous wave of immigrants, which laid the main tone of what will be called Anglo-Saxon culture in the future. The trafficking of African blacks has expanded the composition of immigrant groups, but due to the particularity of their identity (as slaves), African culture is in a state of repression and insignificance. Later, another European Germanic also joined the immigrants from the North American continent. Because of the language barrier, this non-English-speaking people often live together and become a whole, and because of the educated and prosperous small society, they are hostile to the pioneers, but there are no more conflicts.

In this way, in the initial stage of American civilization (generally believed to be nearly two centuries before and after 1607- 1783) [4], although there were at least two immigrant groups besides the indigenous Indians, the existence of this multi-source immigrant structure did not have the voice of unit rights, and integration was the mainstream, thus forming the American nation. Of course, the existence of this phenomenon is not the same as the future, but also closely related to the historical background at that time. First of all, regional division makes each element develop independently; Secondly, all immigrant groups have the same task of developing economy and facing the most fundamental task and struggle for existence's natural environment. Therefore, racial differences and conflicts of interest are minimized, and common interests call them to work together, thus creating a brand-new American nation.

By the time American culture was mature and stereotyped, that is, from the founding of the People's Republic of China to World War II, multiculturalism was no longer regarded as a problem. During this period, immigrants still came from all over the world, and the composition and population structure of immigrants have undergone tremendous changes. Among them, there are "old immigrants" mainly from western Europe and northern Europe before the border was closed in 1890' s, and "new immigrants" mainly from eastern Europe and southern Europe after the border was closed in 1930' s. According to the attitude of the American government towards all ethnic groups, this period can be divided into the initial stage of independence and the period of restricted immigration. In the early days of independence, due to the urgent demand for labor in the United States, the United States became the embodiment of freedom, as evidenced by the Statue of Liberty. However, with the basic completion of industrialization in the United States, based on the threat of new immigrants to the job opportunities of old immigrants, the United States has entered a period of restricted immigration. One of the manifestations is the different immigration policies and laws formulated by the American government for immigrants in different periods, especially the Chinese exclusion law for a certain race (such as China and Japanese) and the different regulations on the total number of immigrants in the eastern and western hemispheres, which shows that the mainstream American society discriminates against the existing Central Asian culture in this society and extends it to the country of origin of this culture.

Accordingly, in the ideological field, the "melting pot theory" appeared in the case of the prevalence of American xenophobia. The "melting pot theory" holds that other races or nations should identify with Anglo-Saxon culture and adopt this dominant cultural patriarch. Those who don't obey assimilation should be expelled. Regardless of the defects and real intention of this view, it should be acknowledged that the "melting pot theory" reflects the dominant position of the early British people in political and economic life. They all regard Anglo-Saxon culture as the dominant culture, and demand the recognition of other nations, trying to establish a socially unified culture on this basis.

Whether old immigrants or new immigrants, as carriers of different cultures at that time, the differences between them are obvious. But at this time, there are not many different voices of various elements in the subculture state, and multiculturalism has not yet formed a climate. Generally speaking, there are the following reasons: 1, the United States has just established a unified government and country, and the integration has strengthened the dominant position of Anglo-Saxon culture; 2. Both the old immigrants and the new immigrants are of European origin, with higher cultural homology, and are not far from the mainstream of the United States in terms of race, language, culture and values, so assimilation is not a big problem; 3. After the arrival of immigrants, they devoted themselves to the westward movement and two industrial revolutions, and their personal interests were attached to the overall interests of the whole society.

However, soon, the "melting pot theory" was strongly challenged since World War I, and the "melting pot theory" that did not trust German immigrants during World War I seemed pale and powerless. During World War II, history staged a similar scene. Japanese expatriates and German-Americans have become the targets of isolation, exclusion and attack. Gradually, a view of "cultural pluralism" that opposes Americanization, British obedience and national melting pot theory and advocates cultural diversity began to appear. But it was not taken seriously at first.

This situation was substantially improved after World War II, especially after the promulgation of the new immigration law 1965, the principle of racial rationing was abolished, and the US government began to treat all races objectively and fairly. After the promulgation of this immigration law, another immigration tide was triggered. There is a significant difference between this wave of immigrants and the past: the number of immigrants from western Europe has decreased significantly, while the number of immigrants from Asia and Latin America has increased sharply, which has once again changed the original immigration structure and increased social friction. In the 1960s after the war, American society experienced unprecedented turmoil, including the black civil rights movement, the new leftist movement, the gay movement, the feminist movement, the anti-cultural movement and so on. Various social movements have climaxed one after another, various riots have emerged one after another, inter-ethnic violence is everywhere, and society is seriously divided. It was also from this period that the idea of cultural pluralism advocated by Horace Cullen (AD 65438-0924), a German Jew and young philosopher, revived with a new look, which directly led to the rise of multiculturalism.

Zhu Shida summed up the cultural conflict at this time in the article "Cultural Fracture in American Society": "1. After World War II, due to economic prosperity, the United States experienced a period of intense social evolution and transformation. American economy has developed from industrial economy to information economy. A large number of white-collar workers make a living by knowledge, information and ideological economy. A large number of middle classes of all races have risen; 2. The end of the Cold War made it possible for American conservatives to concentrate on the American cultural war; 3. With the rapid development of higher education, more and more Americans of all races accept the new ideas and concepts provided by higher education, which has changed many people's world outlook; 4. The civil rights movement and social changes in the United States in the 1960s improved women's economic and political status and made them an independent political and social force. " [5] Zhu Shida turned his attention to the United States and paid attention to the social evolution and the quality of immigrants during this period. Accordingly, some scholars have also noticed international changes and considered them to be an indispensable cause of cultural conflicts. They believe that "international politics has changed to a multipolar pattern, the self-awareness and nationalism of people of all nationalities in the world have never been higher, and the national consciousness of American minorities has been constantly aroused. They strongly feel the contrast between the value of self-existence and the actual low social status. They try their best to fight for their national status in the United States, and promoting multiculturalism is an important aspect of their work. " [6]