What is Multiculturalism? Its hard to define such a term as it has a multitude of meanings focused around Class, Gender, Ethnicity and Economics. Recently David Cameron has attacked multiculturalism for 'failing to deliver' what it promised decades ago. Personally I don't agree with Dave but I'm not going to then attack his opinions, otherwise a cycle of disagreement will occur and nothing will really be said. However a study published in the Guardian today has revealed some interesting statistics showing just how decided the population of Britain is over the effects and benefits of multiculturalism.
The study grouped individuals into one of six groups, and are as follows:
• Confident multiculturalists, comprising 8% of the population, who are most likely to be graduates and entirely comfortable with Britain's multicultural society.
• Mainstream liberals, 16% of the population, who are educated and "see immigration as a net benefit" to Britain and only differ from the first group in their enthusiasm about multiculturalism, according to the report.
• Identity ambivalents, 28% of the population, who come from less affluent backgrounds and include black minority ethnic groups. "They are more likely to be working class, to live in social housing and to view immigration through the prism of its economic impact on their opportunities and the social impact on their communities," the report says. This group tend to identify with Labour.
• Cultural integrationists, 24% of the population, who are older and more prosperous. They are likely to have concerns about the "impact of immigration on national identity and about immigrants' willingness to integrate". They are more likely to identify with the Tories.
• Latent hostiles, 10% of the population, who are more likely to be older and not educated to university level. "For them, immigration has undermined British culture, public services and their own economic prospects," the report says.
• Active enmity, 13% of the population, who tend to be unemployed and unskilled. They tend to be "opposed to all ethnicities or religions other than their own", the report says.
I find the figures interesting but not at all surprising in 2011 Britain, what I would like to focus on briefly is the reasons given for why individuals are or are not prejudice. One of the main reasons given for a disparity in the acceptance of multiculturalism is a University education (or at least further education). Now, many arguments have been made that education is not above all the protagonist of defeating ignorance, and maybe so, but it defiantly works in ways which gives individuals a broader outlook on culture and a greater understanding of immigration. Additionally attending a university - such as Lancaster - which has a high intake of foreign students, provides a value experience of how act and react to differences in cultural ideology.
So what am I getting at exactly? Well I believe that as a student I have been given a superb opportunity to investigate race and the politics of race, also to have day to day interactions with individuals who don't share my background or upbringing but still share the value of learning and positive critical thinking. In this sense I think that I and universities have a responsibly to help people in the 4th-6th groups above to understand what multiculturalism is and what benefits it provides not just Britain but a contemporary globalised world. As of September next year students will be required to pay up too £9000 a year for their education and so I believe that students should be reimbursed not only in the increase of the standard of education that their chosen university provides but in 'improving' the society that they will be contributing towards after they leave higher education (hopefully). Therefore universities could provided free services to non graduates including lectures and seminars surrounding multiculturalism and educating those who wish to learn more about others cultures. 23% of the people surveyed in the study are 'unskilled' and/or 'uneducated' and many of an older generation where racism existed in free flow.
Ignorance is cruel, it isolates and is intolerant, is it not worth paying taxes for education and integration, even economist and conservatives can see the potential benefits of a society which works together.
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