Not only the United States, many countries around the world such as Canada, Australia, and France also have integrated a huge numbers of migrant workers after the Second World War and have become multicultural societies. Therefore, Ali Rattansi, an author of many books about race, culture, and racism and a Professor of Sociology at City University, London, states that multiculturalism has been used widely in different ways by central states and local authorities to refer to societies that are multiethnic. According to him, the dominant meaning of multiculturalism “had acquired by the 1980s and 1990s and referred to promote cultural variety, for example, minority languages. At the same time it focuses on the unequal relationship of minority to mainstream cultures” (Rattansi 8 and 11).The author also extends the meaning and /or varieties of multiculturalism in some “model” countries where multicultural policies accept people to express their ethnic identities on the part of public institutions such as schools, media, museums, hospitals, welfare services, and local authorities (Rattansi …show more content…
Multicultural America has been early mentioned in literature starting from the late 19th century. In the period from the Civil War to World War I, the United States had a big economic development as well as many immigration waves rushing to this country. Susan Mizruchi, a Professor of English and American studies at Boston University, emphasizes that at that time, the first multicultural modern capitalist society emerged. Cultural diversity in the young America gave this capitalist country a new aspect from those all other the old capitalist countries such as Britain, France, and Germany. Different cultures have been recounted in numerous books as Strangers in the Land, The Incorporation of America, and Creating Modern Capitalism. According to her, multiculturalism term in America first used in 1940, and it was naturally formed from that kind of multicultural society. Many immigrants, writers of color, and feminists used their literary and economic powers to inject their visions and values into the multicultural society in America (Mizruchi 2 and 4). Another author, Oliver Lawrence, a Professor of English at Texas A&M University, also agrees with Mizruchi that American diversity was discussed about in this period (Lawrence