Forced Multiculturalism

To me, there is something unsettling about forced multiculturalism.

But first let me define what it is. Forced multiculturalism is when you go out of your way trying to "diversify" something. For example, lets say your church has been majority white for the last 100 years. Lets say that the those in charge of the church feel it would make their congregation look better and have even more respect if they were diverse. So they go looking for minorities. They try to make their church appealing and mask it up to be this diverse place. They are basically hunting and shopping for minorities.

Why is this so unsettling to me? Because the reality is, there is a reason that church has been white for 100 years!

When you have to go out of you way to diversify something, there is a good chance that that "something" isn't exactly accepting of minorities.

The church I used to go to was heavily white. When I was a little kid, I was one of maybe 2 or 3 other blacks. That was about as diverse as that church ever got.

When I went back there temporarily between 16 and 18, I found that the church had more black people then when I left (I was 9 when I left because my mom didn't have time to go to church anymore and I was a kid so I didn't want to go). The church is still mostly white, but it has definitely improved racially.

I don't know if the church became more multiracial due to hard campaigning or if it was because it is the only reasonable church, and is one of the biggest ones in the area.

But I have read stories where churches and other places tried to force multiculturalism on everyone. One way to make a white person more racist against minorities is when you force them into a multicultural situation when they don't want to be or are not ready to be.

You can't create acceptance when one party feels they are being forced to tolerate and accept something. It makes them feel victimized. There are basic racial codes we should all follow such as not harassing people or hurting them or doing wrong to them. But to force them to like different races or different cultures, is breeding them to be more racist.

That is why I don't feel comfortable in places where multiculturalism is forced. You can usually tell it was forced when you find yourself getting the cold treatment.

When multiculturalism happens on its own, it feels so much better. People are more tolerant and seem much more interested in knowing about different lifestyles and cultures. These are the people that don't seem to be phased by the idea of multiculturalism.

But in a church example, how could multiculturalism happen? Using my 100 year old white church example again, lets change the multicultural scenario. Lets say this time a black family moves into the area, and of the church options available, they find they like what that white church has to offer. They go to it and while they stand out and get stares, no one is too angry about it. Lets say that the black family recommends to others about this church and they come along. Slowly on its own, the church becomes more multicultural and the whites of that church warm up to the people much more because they don't feel imposed on.

Does it always work that way? No. Sometimes whites want their church to be white. They will often make it loud and clear.

But in places such as the south, one shouldn't be too surprised by white churches. Its pretty common there. Remnants of a racist past, plus the fact that white churches are in white areas (and whites make it clear they don't want black neighbors even if they are similar to each other). On top of that, white churches are very different from black churches.

I myself, only went to a white church growing up because of my white family.

But in the end, forced multiculturalism is not helpful to an already racially sensitive situation.