Arthur Schlesinger Jr. was a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and special assistant to President John F. Kennedy. He was critical of multiculturalism and the idea that American schools should teach history through an ethnic lens. He argued that focusing too much on differences between ethnic groups undermines national unity and cultural integration. While cultural diversity should be respected, the primary goal of education should be creating a shared civic identity and sense of national unity through a "melting pot" conception of American culture and history.

1. Arthur Schlesinger:
Multiculturalism
Robyn Clarke and Ava Marron
Dr. Cacciatore
Educational Foundations

2. Before we begin…
0 Think back to your elementary/ middle school days
when you were learning about immigration and
America.
0 Which “model” of America were you taught?
0 (Keep this in mind through the rest of the slides.)

3. Who was Arthur Schlesinger Jr.?
• Mr. Schlesinger became a Schweitzer Professor of
Humanities at the City University of NY
• Close ties with the Kennedy Administration
0 Speech writer in 1960
0 Special Assistant in 1964
0 Speech writer for Robert Kennedy in 1968

4. Who was Arthur Schlesinger Jr.?
0 Continued to write historical and political accounts
0 Won 2 Pulitzer Prizes
0 He comes from a family of academics. Read what his
son thought about him:
0 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-
2614044512791302523&ei=S16YS8zWENeXlAfcgo2
MAw&q=arthur+schlesinger&hl=en&view=3

5. What do YOU think is
multiculturalism?
0 Think of the following questions:
0 What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word
“multiculturalism?”
0 How can multiculturalism be used in the classroom?
0 What are the benefits of multiculturalism?
0 Are there any negatives of multiculturalism?
0 Is teaching a pluralist “melting pot” conception of America
better than a multicultural conception of America?

6. Many Different Definitions:
0 Multicultural education is a shift away from the
“melting pot” view of society to a respect for cultural
pluralism (Vold, 2003; Webster, 1997).
0 Multicultural education values, builds upon, and
celebrates the language, race, culture, and ethnicity of
the school community (NJDOE, 2004).
0 Multicultural education should help conceptualize a
vision for equity and social justice (Suleiman, 2004)
and empower students to construct relevant
knowledge in order to act as agents of change (Banks,
1995).

7. Multiculturalism Disunity
“The point of America was not to preserve old
cultures, but to forge a new American culture”
(Schlesinger, 1992, 13).

8. Multicultural Disunity
0 Schlesinger argues that the “cult of ethnicity” has
destroyed the theory of a “united” America.
0 When taken too far, it emphasizes the ethnic group over
the country and prioritizes differences over similarities.
Then one values their minority group over the feeling of
unity/integration/patriotism for one’s country.
0 Schlesinger argued that this is what causes the most
grievous of internal conflicts such as those in the Soviet
Union and South Africa.

9. Multicultural Disunity in Schools
0 “The pot did not melt everybody, not even all the white
immigrants” (14).
0 Common Issues:
0 1) Equity,
0 2) Knowledge Construction,
0 3) Curricular Implications (social action, transformation, additive
& contributions- Banks, 2004),
0 4) prejudice reduction

10. Multicultural Disunity in
Schools
0 Schlesinger states that the issue is not to promote
cultural pluralism and Afrocentric or African history.
The issue is whether or not to teach this new history
under specific ethnic banners and according to
specific ethnic values.

11. Research on Multicultural Education
0 Aboud & Doyle (1996): Talk between friends with different
“levels” of prejudiced attitudes. Children became significantly less
prejudiced. Young children can much more easily modify racial
attitudes than older students & adults
0 Litcher & Johnson (1969): Multiethnic readers had a positive effect
on the racial attitudes of second-grade White students

12. Research on Multicultural
Education
0 New Jersey DoE (2004) Diversity and Multiculturalism:
0 A high-quality early childhood education program embraces the
heritages of the families being served.
0 The early childhood education program must provide activities,
materials, and experiences that allow and encourage young
children to become aware of the differences and similarities of the
members of the community in which they live.
0 It is important that the program administration and staff
understand their own personal attitudes and biases, be culturally
sensitive, and be willing to learn about and accept the range of
differences present in the program.

13. “Ethnocentric” Curricula
• Article in Support of • Arguments Against
Afrocentric Curriculum ‘Afrocentric Learning:
• http://www.valdosta.edu/~ca • Isolates children of color
walker/afrocentric.htm • Encourages reverse
discrimination
• Separates instead of
integrates

14. Teaching “Bad History” Quotes
0 “Its underlying philosophy is that America is not a nation of
individuals at all but a nation of groups, that ethnicity is the
defining experiment for most Americans, that ethnic ties are
permanent and indelible, and that division into ethnic
communities establishes the basic structure of American society
and the basic meaning of American history” (16).
0 “The multiethnic dogma abandons historic purposes, replacing
assimilation by fragmentation, integration by separatism. It
belittles unum and glorifies pluribus” (16-17).

15. Outside research to support
Schlesinger
0 Vold, 2003: A focus on differences to the exclusion of
similarities Swadner et al. (1995): In terms of early
childhood education, children’s “egocentrism” make it
difficult for young children to avoid superficial or
stereotypical conceptions (as cited in Vold, 2003)
0 Webster, 1997: The cultivation of “microcultures” could
lead to the dissolution of the macroculture
0 Weil, 1998: Overemphasis on and concern with issues of
assimilation and separation as they relate to racial
diversity

16. So How Should We Teach?
0 Do you think there is a balance
between the melting pot theory and
multiculturalism?
0 How do you teach history honestly
while encouraging integration and
not self segregation?
0 Do our schools focus enough on
being a unifying force?
0 How do we repair a fragmented
culture in schools?

17. More Schlesinger Info:
0 “ A cult of ethnicity has arisen both among non-Anglo whites
and among nonwhite minorities to denounce the idea of a
melting pot, to challenge the concept of “one people,” and to
protect, promote, and perpetuate separate ethnic and racial
communities” (15).
0 More quotes from Arthur Schlesinger:
0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEeD-NnOrW0
0 Article written shortly after the death of Arthur Schlesinger:
0 http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/obit/2007
/03/not_just_camelots_historian.html

18. References
--Asante, Molefi Kete. “Afrocentric Curriculm” Valdosta
http://www.valdosta.edu/~cawalker/afrocentric.htm 2010
--Arthur M. Schlesinger,Jjr.. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-
Reference/Biographies-and-Profiles/Arthur-M-Schlesinger-Jr.aspx
--Banks, J. (1995). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice. In J. Banks
& C. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education. New York: Macmillan.
--Banks, J. (2004). Multicultural education. In J.A. Banks & C.A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Handbook of
research on multicultural education, 2nd ed. (pp. 3-29), New York: Macmillan.
--Marklein, M. B. (2009, Augs 06). Sat scores show disparities by race, gender, family income. USA
Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-08-25-SAT-scores_N.htm
--NJDOE (2004). Preschool Teaching & Learning Expectations: Standards of Quality. Retrieved July 16,
2012 from http://www.nj.gov/njded/ece/expectations/
--Schlesinger, A. M. (1992). The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society. (Rev ed.).
New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
--Schlesinger's multicultural dissent. (1192, July 12). The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved from
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-06-12/news/1992164166_1_schlesinger-melting-pot-disunited
--Vold, E.B. (2003). Young children’s affirmation of differences: Curriculum that is multicultural and
developmentally appropriate. In J.P Isenberg & M.R. Jalongo (Eds.), Major trends and issues in early
childhood education (pp. 30-46). New York: Teachers College Press
--Webster, Y.O. (1997). Against the multicultural agenda. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
--Weil, D.K. (1998). Towards a critical multicultural literacy. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc..