Hello there
You have asked an open ended and quite far reaching question. So, I
suppose we should begin with one of those "wide brushes" and make a
sweeping statement covering it all, then get into some details.
First of all, the broad sweeping statement.
Until the late 20th century, the concept of respecting cultural
diversity was for all practical purposes, non-existent.
From the time the first primitive human threw the first stone at a
neighboring cave, to the British Empire and even now with the US in
Iraq, the winners of such an exchange, first and formost, try to force
their own way of doing things onto the loser.
The late 20th century has put the term "cultural diversity" into the
international lexicon. However, the term is given little more than
lip service by those in power, understood little (and is increasingly
opposed) by the average person (at least in the US), and is still
pretty much an accepted concept only by those of us in the
anthropological community.
Since I have no idea of where in the world you live, I will of
necessity address this issue from the viewpoint of an anthropologist,
historian and retired archaeologist living in the US. And we will
start from near the beginning.
When the earliest civilizations expanded into neighboring territory,
they took their way of life with them. They of course did not have
the modern technology with which to impose a culture wholesale, but
they did their best with what they had. The ancient Egyptian armies
marched across the regions of southwestern Asia (Palestine) under the
banner of their invisable god ("The Hidden One" - Amun). Where they
conquered, Egyptian style architecture flourished, temples were built
to Egyptian gods, and trade was modified to accomodate Egyptian
economics. The only thing that kept Egyptian culture from dominating
was that the Egyptians did not want to remain in the conquered lands.
By that I mean, the average Egyptian did not want to die and be buried
outside of Egypt for religious reasons. Therefore, while the
Egyptians were conquerers, they were not "settlers." There was no
massive migration to the new territories. These lands were occupied
by Egyptian military who were rotated back to their homeland on a
regular basis. The cultural influence on conquered lands was minimal.
The economic and trade influence was of paramount importance. This
of course did not mean the Egyptians did not consider their own
culture superior to others and it had nothing to do with any kind of
'cultural respect,' for others, it just meant the Egyptians had no
desire to remain in these lands to impose it. Egyptian conquest
before the time of the Hyksos was conducted more by merchants and
traders than it was by the military. The military presence was mostly
only for the protection of these merchants.
Later another cultural influence erupted out of Egypt, this time with
devastating results. Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) had been invaded
and conquered by the Hyksos (The Shepherd Kings) who invaded from Asia
(Palestine). They settled the delta region concentrating mostly in
the ancient area known as Goshen and their capital city was Avaris.
Much is known of their occupation from the Egyptian record itself.
First, the invaders killed all Egyptian males from the middle classes
upward to eliminate any threat of political competition and influence,
keeping alive only those of lower classes to provide a slave base to
work the land. This was the first time the concept of slavery had
been introduced into Egypt. The Hyksos formed what is now known as
the 15th dynasty. During their tenure in Egypt, they adopted Egyptian
ways and one Egyptian divinity, Seth. Seth had been traditionally the
Egyptian god of evil who made his home in the mountain wastelands of
the Sinai (and in some versions of the legend, in all desert mountain
wastelands) Through the process known as "syncretism" which is the
cultural absorption of one god into the cult or persona of another,
the cult of the god Seth merged with the 'creator' storm god the
invaders had brought with them.
The Hyksos were finally driven from Egypt by the pharaoh Amose, who
was the founder of the great 18th dynasty. It is interesting to note
that the Egyptian name Amose is "Moses" in Hebrew.
A brief history of that action:
1730 BCE - The future pharaoh Amose (Ahmose) (Amosis-Nebphehtire)
attacked the Hyksos city of Avaris but was unable to take it.
1725 BCE - Amose is now pharaoh of Egypt and the first king of the
18th dynasty. He established the first standing army in Egyptian
history. He had succeeded his brother Wadj Kheperre Kamose to the
Egyptian throne. His reign began with him taking up the war that
claimed the lives of his father and brother. He drove the Hyksos back
into Goshen and their capital city Avaris. Amose had organized
Africans and Egyptians against the Hyksos. The Hyksos nobles fled to
Jerusalem with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. Until this time, the
Egyptians had been a relatively peaceful civilization.
Amose ended the Hyksos domination of Egypt.
1720 BCE - Even after the Hyksos nobility fled, there were still
several hundred thousand Hyksos remaining in Egypt. A treaty is made
that allows the remaining Hyksos to peacefully depart Egypt. They
march back to their homeland in Asia and occupy the city of Jerusalem.
Amose and the Egyptian army followed them to make sure they did not
turn back into Egypt. He even provided some aid (in the form of
guiding) to make sure they had no reason to turn back.
Amose is called "The Avenger of the Five Wounds - the Glorious
Liberator - the Unifier of Egypt - and the Great Conqueror"
The exploits of Amose may very well be the origin of the "Moses"
legend or contributed greatly to it. Please note that I used the
phrase "may very well" rather than stating it as a 'fact.' I do not
want to get into a drawn out involved discussion of theology or
religious history here but merely address an example of ancient
cultural attitudes.
Now I need to relate that bit of history back into the question of
culture and cultural diversity again. The Egyptian version of the
story is well documented and an enormous amount of archaeological
evidence supports it. It is impossible to move a large army and a
large number of people without leaving debris and other evidence
behind. The debris and evidence is there.
On the other hand, the Hyksos, wrote of their defeat as an escape
rather than an expulsion. "Hyksos" is an Egyptian word meaning
"Shepherd Kings." The Hyksos were called "Habiru," among other names.
This ancient example of culture and cultural diversity is a blade with
two edges. When the Hyksos entered Egypt, they found the Egyptian
material culture to be superior to their own. Rather than imposing
the material culture they brought with them, they adopted the exterior
model, dress, and architecture of the Egyptians along with the
absorption of at least one Egyptian god into the persona of their own.
On the other hand, when the Hyksos returned to the Palestine area and
Jerusalem, they attempted to exterminate the surrounding peoples,
their culture and their religion.
Perhaps we can say that multi-culturalism as practiced by the ancients
was more "pragmatic" than "ideal," which would be putting it quite
mildly.
We can next take up the Greeks, the Romans, and the various cultures
of the Middle Ages, but we would be doing no more than repeating
variables on what has been already covered.
Now then, here we are in the year 2003 CE, and, for the most part, we
are still doing the same thing. We have a civilization and a
government we want to impose on another country. We went there with
the statement that we wanted them to form the kind of government they
choose. We are going to "liberate" them. However, we won't permit
some of their choices, such as an Islamic republic based on the
Iranian model, (it would not be in our best interest to do so,
actually) but we are going to force a democracy on a nation that
cannot afford it. Democracies are expensive to maintain and Iraq does
not have the discretionary funds available to maintain it. For more
about this, see my answer to the question about democracy in India:
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=76315 - if
you read that, you will have saved me a lot of writing.
On the US domestic front, cultural diversity is taking a beating with
everything from "English only" laws to certain divisions of the
growing neo-conservative movement who would end, or at least restrict,
religious belief and practice to some sort of an "accepted standard."
There are anti-immigration sentiments growing in the country again
(not for the first time). There is the "America First" movement which
states point blank that American culture is superior to any other in
the world. And there is the simple fact that culturally, the US is an
isolated nation. By that I mean, we cover an enormous territory and
only one of our two international borders is with a country which has
a visible culture fundamentally different than our own. (Mexico)
Whereas, in Europe for example, international borders are a relative
short drive away. Cultural differences abound and the Europeans do
not live in cultural isolation as do most Americans.
While many Americans do travel and do have an appreciation of, and a
respect for differences, it is still sadly true that for the average
American, knowledge of anything foreign is restricted to what they
glean from the six o'clock news which hardly presents these
differences in any kind of 'good light.'
So - that brings us down to the heart of your question; "What is the
challenge we face today?"
First and formost, is the sheer number of diverse cultures which make
up our society and which we face daily on a global basis. Ancient
societies had to deal with only one or two at a time. Even the Romans
who incorporated a wide variety of cultural differences within the
empire needed to take it only a step at a time. We, on the other
hand, face the entire world and it is coming at us all at once. This
situation is not unique to the US. Every country in the world is
faced with the multi-cultural situation, even countries as isolated as
North Korea must deal with it.
Next is how we educate ourselves and our children to relate to those
cultural differences. Here, at least in the US, we are falling flat
on our faces. As far as the public school systems, much of our
understanding of cultural differences is restricted to the debate over
"English as a second language" classes and whether or not classes
should be taught in another language in order to ensure students
actually understand the lessons being taught. There are far too many
of us who would rather a Spanish speaking Latino student (or student
speaking any other language) be drilled in English instead of getting
a good general education in the language the student understands best.
Where our fellow citizens get the idea that an English speaking,
undereducated, individual is better for society than a fully educated,
non-English speaking individual who can make an actual contribution to
bettering our lives is beyond me. (sorry for editorializing, but this
aspect of our understanding of multi-culturalism is of importance to
the answer.)
Another example of how our leaders only give "lip service" to the
concept of multi-culturalism would be this year's Good Friday
religious services at the Pentagon. While we as a society (through
our government spokespeople) mouth the words indicating respect for
other cultures, our actions (once again through our government
spokespeople) are "slightly" different.
We claim that we respect the Islamic culture and faith of the Iraqi
people and that our military intervention is not a war on culture or
religion. However, the service at the Pentagon was conducted by the
Rev. Franklin Graham who called Islam a "wicked and violent" faith.
We can count on the fact that the American military would never invite
an Imam or any other non-Christian clergy who made such vituperative
denounciations of Christianity.
Graham heads an organization called "Samaritan's Purse." No federal
funds will be used for their activities, but they do need official
permission to operate in Iraq. And at best, this organization will be
seen as an unofficial representative of the US. While we are giving
lip service to the value of respecting another culture and claim our
intervention in Iraq is not a 'religious' war, we are demonstrating
otherwise. Our national lack of understanding when it comes to other
cultures leads us down the path of national hypocrisy. It puts us in
the position of helping with one hand and harming our nation's
interest with the other. Praying on company time at the Pentagon may
offend some Americans. Imposing a provocative religious message on a
weary, war torn nation could inflame the entire world.
Our challenge today is one of understanding, one of tolerance and one
of education, one of education and one of education. I'm sorry to say
that we seem to be getting worse at the last three of those.
The challenges of cultural diversity have not changed since the first
primitive human blinked at the world.
My culture is better than your culture, my god is better than your
god, my tribe is better than your tribe, my race is better than your
race, my people are better than your people, my nation is better than
your nation and I am better than you.
It is the same old song. We have the same mentality those ancients
did. We just disguise it with high technology.
I am very glad you asked what the "challenges are" rather than what
the solution "is." For that, I would have no answer.
Also, by the nature and open endedness of your question, there are
10,000 answers that could be posted here. This is only one.
If there is a specific area you want covered, you will have to let me
know just what it is and I will address it. Otherwise an answer can
only be general in nature.
The following websites were used to assist in composing this answer.
The first site I must identify as being mine.
http://www.archaeolink.com - go to the section on cultural
anthropology and the sections on ancient history to find additional
material which may help you with your research. "Worlds of
Archaeology, Anthropology and Ancient Civilizations"
Here you will find information about the good Friday services at the
Pentagon
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/columnists/jane_eisner/5685434.htm
- website of the Philadelphia Enquirer
Information about the Hyksos
http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/thera/hapiru.html - "Hebrew
Peoples in Egypt"
More on the Hyksos expulsion by the ancient historian Josephus
http://www.touregypt.net/manethohyksos.htm - - "Tethmosis [7], son of
Alisphragmuthosis, attempted to take the city by force and by siege
with four hundred and eighty thousand men surrounding it. But he
despaired of taking the place by siege, and concluded a treaty with
them, that they should leave Egypt, and go, without any harm coming to
them, wherever they wished. After the conclusion of the treaty they
left with their families and chattels, not fewer than two hundred and
forty thousand people, and crossed the desert into Syria. Fearing the
Assyrians, who dominated over Asia at that time, they built a city in
the country which we now call Judea. It was large enough to contain
this great number of men and was called Jerusalem." - website of Tour
Egypt Net.
About cultural diversity in schools
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/miscpubs/nysabe/vol9/model.htm - "Educating
Teachers for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity" - website of New York
Association for Bi-lingual Education
A call for ending American multi-culturalism and ending the public
school system
http://www.chalcedon.edu/report/2002sep/smithwick.shtml - website of
the Chalcedon Foundation
Search - Google
Terms - cultural diversity, cultural diversity US, cultural respect,
multi-culturalism, global multi-culturalism
If there is anything I may clarify before you rate the answer (and I'm
pretty sure there will be) please ask.
Cheers
digsalot |
