“When I was a teenager living in New Jersey, I would look forward to making the trip to New York City. To me, that was the center of the universe. . . I saw a lot of unconventional, different-looking people, but as New York was a diverse place forty years ago, it was precursor of what our society would become. I also remember a huge sign that loomed over Times Square: “Be Suspicious.” I think it might have been something about having discerning taste, but to me it was apocalyptic, because New York, with all its conviviality, could be a very cold place- a melting pot that never quite melted. That sign summed up what the Big Apple represented to me- a bustling metropolis teeming with people of all ethnicities, each wary of the other and everyone for himself. I managed to overcome my trepidation about encountering people who looked and acted differently from me, but it was a slow and conscientious process.”

Recent national events reinforce what we are told from our earliest years. Sadly, the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the Washington sniper and the ongoing kidnappings sup

port our parents’ advice not to trust people, not to talk to strangers, or visit certain neighborhoods. Kaplan explains, “The barrage of color-coded warnings from the Office of Homeland Security and the attorney general heighten our fears and distrust of one another, especially ethnic minorities.” We are reminded to be on the look out for suspicious looking people. Kaplan adds, “It is as if a ‘Be Suspicious’ sign has been implanted in our brain, dulling our sensibilities and draining our empathy for others.”

Not many schools have multicultural liaisons, nor do they address multicultural aspects of curricula. Teachers focus on history, art, literature and scientific contributions of Western Civilization and the material is taught to accommodate “middle-class European American learning styles,” (Brinkerhoff 315). These ideas and values often conflict with the cultural heritage children learn at home. Minority students and their parents are drawing attention to the problem and more schools hope that multicultural programs will answer the problems of racism within the classroom and increasing dropout rates of minority students (316).

In the long run, cultural diversity and change will result in improvements in quality of life; however, people sometimes find diversity and change unsettling. Increasing diversity has been mostly positive, but sometimes results in occurrences of bigotry and conflict (Ross 10). The incidents found on college campuses echoes the often silent trends in American society (11). Intervention tactics prove to be counterproductive, causing more resentment. Many institutions create speech codes or conduct codes to end hate crimes, but court rulings find some rules to be unconstitutional. The key to ridding university and college campuses of hate is continuing anti-biased multicultural education (Ross 10).

If an American responds with offense to the terrorist attacks on our country then it may be said that they display nationalism. Nationalism is a sense of devotion and loyalty a person feels, valuing one nation: its interests, laws, and cultures above those of other nations (Rubenstein 224). Our forefathers founded this nation so that they could be free to practice religion and culture without persecution. As the Declaration of Independence states, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” (Declaration). The United States of America became known as the “land of the free” and welcomed people from all over the world who sought freedom within our borders. During the World Wars, communities became suspicious

Some topics in this essay:
Community College, Cultural Relativity, Unfortunately Americans, Community Justice, Times Square, Essentials Sociology, European American, Roy Kaplan, Homeland Security, Pinellas County, minority students, multicultural education, cultural differences, national conference community, allen ix, college campuses, diversity change, “be suspicious”, own culture, september 11, conference community justice, forty-six percent 46%, ross 10,