Schools Should Celebrate Multi-cultural "Salad"
by Bonnie Benard

Research clearly demonstrates that if we are to truly address the issue of substance abuse in ethnic minority populations, we must face head-on the underlying dynamic of racism in our society. What is equally clear is that to create a society that values and nourishes its cultural diversity, we must create environments for children from infancy on that are characterized by respect for difference and by high expectations of success for all children. While public policies targeting discrimination and segregation are essential at all governmental levels--local, state, and national-- if we are committed to fighting racism, we cannot wait for policies from "above" to propel us. Rather, as in any successful change effort, we must "think globally" but "act locally," starting" where we are with what we got." This means taking action right in our own schools and communities.

While the school is often unfairly scapegoated and certainly forced to bear the burdens of social problems created by our political and economic systems, as well as the responsibility for their amelioration, the school, as the major institution for socialization in our society, is a critical arena in which inequality is perpetuated."Schools are the instruments by which people control access to more specialized micro-cultures and to the power and privilege they confer," wrote Ward Goodenough in a 1976 article in Anthropology and Education Quarterly. Historically, schools have played a significant role in denying minorities access to the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in American society.

Essential to living and working in increasingly culturally diverse schools, workplaces, and communities is a perspective that cultural diversity is not a problem or crisis but rather an incredibly exciting opportunity enabling every American to experience other peoples and cultures.

In fact, when discussing the issue of multi-culturalism or multi-cultural education, we must remember we're not only concerned with creating opportunities for ethnic minority youth. Rather, even though inextricably intertwined with this concern, we're concerned with empowering all youth through cross-cultural interaction, with changing the hearts and minds of the dominant culture, beginning with preschool children, to not only respect difference and appreciate other cultures but to learn cross-cultural literacy and competency as well.

The current popular metaphor to describe this perspective of multi-culturalism is that of the "salad bowl" or "fruit salad" in which each vegetable or fruit retains its integrity and yet contributes to creating the whole. This perspective will allow us to develop a truly culturally transformed society that celebrates its diversity.An attitude that celebrates diversity is the foundation upon which a school can be culturally transformed and the principle around which all school change efforts are organized.

So, just how do we proceed in this endeavor? From a review of the extensive literature on "multi-cultural education," five components appear to be essential to creating a culturally transformed school community:

• Active involvement of the school community
  
• School policy
  
• Redistribution of power and authority within school and classrooms
  
• High expectations by teachers
  
• Curriculum issues: infusion, language study, individual learning style, and personnel

If we are truly concerned with prevention of problems such as substance abuse, delinquency, and teen pregnancy, we as a nation must commit ourselves to ensuring that all people have access to health care, child care, housing, adequate nutrition, education, and employment opportunities. We must make our commitment and exert our collective will to ensure that two ends are achieved: all youth are given the opportunities to celebrate their respective cultures as well as the opportunities to experience academic success. If we make these two goals inseparable, wrote Yolanda Moses in a 1990 article in Education and Urban Society, "Education will move from being in crisis to being what it can and should be: the seed ground for a more just and vital culture."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For a complete discussion of multi-culturalism in schools, Benard's paper, Moving Toward a "Just and Vital Culture": Multi-culturalism in Our Schools, is available from the Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities, 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204, (800) 547-6339, ext. 486.In California, call SWRL, (213) 598-7661, or FWL, (415) 565- 3000.[From Western Center News, June 1991, Vol.4, No.3].