America in Search of a New Ideal: An Essay on the Rise of Pluralism

Abstract

Demands by ethnic and cultural groups for equal power in society have increased steadily over the past two decades. The Protestant Anglo-American ideal of assimilation has failed in important ways and cannot continue to guide the policies of our social institutions. The result in education has been movements for alternative schools, community control, vouchers, ethnic studies, and bilingual programs. In this essay, the author explores the reasons behind the rise of pluralism. First he describes the elites' style of leadership by distance and their attempts to exclude or denigrate people of other than Protestant, Northern and Western European origin. The author suggests that the resulting decline of Protestant domination has left America without an ideal to direct the socialization process. In its place, he recommends support of pluralistic institutions and communities,setting policies that honor diversity as a way of maintaining unity, and, at the same time, developing a new, universal ideal.