Renowned theologian and author Michael Novak discussed how the global community will have to deal with multiculturalism in the next century in a lecture last night titled "How NOT to Do Multiculturalism - and How to Do It."
Novak's speech was part of the Rockefeller Center's annual Brooks Family Lecture.
He said the subject of multiculturalism is "one of the powerful realities of the world" that attacks the fallicies of many of the ideals upon which the United States was built.
Novak said while many praise the Age of Enlightenment as a "new paradigm of understanding," it promoted a faulty method of argument. We have become increasingly determined to find a "universal language to discuss ethical issues," he said.
He said this mentality does not allow for discussion of issues on a more reasonable level, but divides people and makes them believe their views are correct and all others are wrong.
Novak said the biggest debate of the 21st century will be finding what moral and cultural reasoning we "need to deal with diversity but maintain unity and cooperation in a free society."
He said members of many societies have either tried to become more homogeneous or more individualized.
He cited the battles to form the Soviet Union, in which various ethnic groups were forcefully joined as one nation, and the situation in the former Yugoslavia where different ethnic groups asserted their independence.
Novak said a turning point in the exchange of culture in the United States was bringing together separate ethnic groups as soldiers in World War II. He said the process continued after the war because students of different backgrounds were integrated in college.
He praised the ability of the United States to foster both an awareness of a person's individuality but also to draw the line at political separatism.
Near the end of his lecture, Novak offered seven suggestions about how to deal with multiculturalism:
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Be willing to give the sympathy to others that you would demand for yourself. Too often multiculturalists demand that others are sensitive to them only.
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Face the facts that there are truths and stereotypes about all types of people.
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Recognize the faults of people of your ethnicity. A person is not responsible for his or her ancestors' deeds. The person is not without vices either, so he or she should not stand for the ideals of his ethnicity.
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Recognize that some ethnicities are more advanced in some areas than are others.
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Do not degrade other cultures.
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Do not keep double standards.
"Don't exalt your heritage to build up your pride while you condemn others," he said.
- The point of multiculturalism is to be more human, not parochial, but recognize diversity. Keep the possibilities open.
About eight members of the Rockefeller Student Council had dinner and discussed race issues with Novak shortly before the lecture. The Council is a branch of the Rockefeller Center for Social Sciences, which sponsors student activism in public policy issues.
"His arguments were well thought-out, and I agree with his points about the fauilure of Enlightenment. But I think he didn't consider the role of race relations in multiculturalism," said Jeff Lee '97, a member of the Council.
In a post-lecture discussion, Novak spoke about people's tendency to throw problems such as the welfare state into the hands of the government.
Novak's writings on free society have influenced political and social movements around the world. He holds the George Fredrick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. and is considered a pioneer in the theology of economics.
In May, Novak will receive the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion from Britain's Prince Philip at a private ceremony in Buckingham Palace. In 1992 former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher presented him the annual Anthony Fisher Prize.
Novak received his bachelor's degree from Stonehill College, a bachelor of theology degree from Gregorian University in Rome and a master's degree from Harvard.
About 60 people, mostly faculty, attended Novak's lecture.
The Brooks Family Lecture Series was established in 1990 by Babert V. "Dexter" Brooks '47 T'49 to "support the visits of distinguished individuals from a variety of backgrounds and ideologies to address major global issues, particularly in the economic and political areas," according to a press release.
