Effects of a Multicultural Society

Beginning in the early 1900s the United States was known as the melting pot. The phrase was used to describe
the assimilation of immigrants coming to the United Sates. The term implies that different cultures living
together join each other and become one. At first it makes sense that in a multicultural society, each culture
plays a unique and integral part in itevery culture is reflected. Immigrants coming to the United States would
adapt to a new culture and natives accept new practices that the other cultures have, eventually merging to
form a hybrid culture. Unfortunatelyaccording to Paul Haggis, Sam Woodhouse, and Brian Ascalon Roley
this is not how a multicultural society looks like. Through their work of art, they tell a different story, they
claim that in a multicultural society, there is no homogenous culturethere is no melting potinstead,
cultures live amongst each other, but do not live with each other. Different cultures live a parallel life, there is
no interaction, and when they do interact, they collide; their differences bring them apart.
In the movie Crash, Paul Haggis takes us to a world where people are not at all accepting of other cultures. He
illustrates what the reality of living in a multicultural society really is. He begins the movie with a car accident
in which a Mexican and a Korean woman are involved. As soon as they step out of the vehicle they bombard
each other with racial insults instead of asking if they are okay. Crazy Mexican! Kim Lee exclaims, I call
immigration on you! Look you do my car! Ria replies by making fun of her English, fueling the racial
argument. The crash is an analogy to the bigger picture. It represents the damage that different cultures do to
each other when they allow cultural differences to stand in the way. Haggis wants us to understand that this is
what really happens to people living in a multicultural society. Instead of blending cultures, they group
together and identify only with those that look and have the same customs that they have. They live confused,
they do not understand other cultures, and they are mad at each other because they feel that they are being
excluded. They are afraid of each other.
Haggis shows us that people try to ignore other cultures. They prefer to ignore each other most of the time, but
when there is an opportunity, they drive each other apart. When Farhad and his daughter Dorri are buying a
gun to protect their shopwhich was recently vandalized and robbedthey talk to each other in their native
language because they dont know how to choose a bullet type, but the gun store owner, an American white
male, says to Farhad, Yo, Osama! Plan a jihad on your own time. What do you want? In this scene the gun
store owner obviously does not understand Farhad, he is uncomfortable with this because he feels left out and
does not know what to do. Farhad replies, I have a right, I am an American citizen. Although Farhad and his
daughter are both indeed American citizens, the gun store owner refuses to sell Farhad a gun and has him leave
his store. It is clear that the store owner dislikes the Farhad for one reason or another, they do not get along just
because they are not from the same culture. This is what Paul Haggis wants us to take away: In a multicultural
society, cultures collide with each other because members of opposite cultures cannot understand the other
culture. People live with a mistrust of other cultures which leads to discrimination against people who are not
part of the dominant culture.
Throughout the movie we observe people that are afraid of cultures that is not their own. After being carjacked
by two black menPeter and AnthonyJean Cabot becomes afraid of people belonging to other cultures.
When her husband, Rick Cabot, has the locks in their home changed by a Hispanic young man, Daniel, she
demands to have the locks changed again, And you could mention that wed appreciate it if next time they
didnt send a gang member. Rick attempts to make Jean understand that Daniel is not a gang member, but she
insists, Right, and he isnt going to sell our key to one of his gang-banger friends the moment hes out the
door. In this scene Jean represents the typical person living in a multicultural society. She is quick to judge
based on how people look and unconsciously excludes herself from other cultures because she is afraid of what
she is going to discover. Her prior experiences prevent her to accept others because her negative encounter
with other cultures drove her to think that everyone outside her culture, where she feels comfortable, is the
same. In this way, Paul Haggis addresses stereotypes; he tells the viewer that when cultures live amongst each
other, cultures collide because the stereotypes are the driving force their interactions. Jean doesnt know that in

fact Daniel is a loving husband and father, who is working hard to provide for his wife and five-year-old
daughter. He wants to protect them from the crime in which they used to live in. Paul Haggis suggests that in
reality Jean and Daniel are no different, but her fear is what keeps her from accepting him.
Although this movie presents a lot of racism and clashes between cultures, Paul Haggis also shows us the other
side of the story. When people put an effort to understand each other, they come to realize that they need each
other. In the movie, Maria, a Latina woman, and miss Jean, a white woman, end up as best friends because
they start to understand each other. When Miss Jean falls off the stairs, Maria helps her and takes her to the
hospital and takes care of her despite Miss Jeans stereotypical and racist beliefs about the Latino and black
community. Miss Jean sees that Maria is not any different than she is and perhaps better than the people she
calls friends. Once people from different cultures understand each other, in a multicultural society, they can
live in harmony and accept each other as the people that they are.
In the play Bordertown by Sam Woodhouse, stereotypes, discrimination and racism are explored in a humorous
way in order to raise awareness about the issue to the audience. In the beginning, three characters present the
issue of racial profiling. When two Mexican Americans cross the border, the American militia man gives the
Mexicans a hard time and takes them a lot of time to believe that the men are both American citizens. When
they finally believe them, they attempt to incriminate them for the possession of illegal drugs. When he
Mexicans deny possession of drugs the militia man says, Dont lie to me now, because if you lie to me, you
know whats gonna happen here, tell me the truth (11) The militia man is not border patrol, he is an
American citizen taking action to stop illegal border crossing, but the Mexicans he captures turn out to be
Americans, nonetheless he keeps trying to prove that they are not American. This is what happens in a
multicultural society, people want to associate physical appearance to nationality, but the reality is that this is
no longer true. After all that is what makes a multicultural society multi-cultural. People from different cultures
should be living together, but instead people keep trying to keep each other out of their lives.
Where does this all lead to? It leads to racial hate. In a later part of the play, the Chinese man talks about how
America is a racist place. He says, The first occasion when I realized the social differences here in San Diego
was when we saved enough money to buy a bigger housethe broker told us that the owner didnt want to sell
it to us because we were Chinese. (21) The Chinese man represents the minority in a multicultural society
where people from the dominant culture look down upon them and believe that having them is a disgrace to
them. The author is showing the viewer how discrimination affects people and what a multicultural society can
become. The dominant culture restrains minorities from basic liberties that should be granted to anyone in the
United States, but as we observe in the play this does not happen. There is one culture that is always dominant
and controls everyone.
As a whole the play attempts shows us that a multicultural society causes people to turn against each other.
Though it is expected that people would be interested in learning about other cultures that surround them, what
really happens is that people blame other cultures for tragedies and they cant live together. Similar to Paul
Haggis, Woodhouse emphasizes that when cultures live together, there is a clash of cultures. People do not
understand each other because they are afraid of what may happen next.
In the book American Son by Brian Ascalon Roley we also see a similar depiction of what a multicultural
society looks like. The novel tells a story about two half white and half Filipino brothers living in Los Angeles,
who are desperate to find their true identity. While in school, Tomas, the eldest, did not want people to find out
that he is Filipino and pretended to be white surfer and later on, a Mexican gangster. Gabe, the youngest,
describes him as the son who keeps [their] mother up late with worrycovered in gangster tattoos (1) and
describes himself as the son who is quiet and no trouble. (1) Throughout the book Gabe expresses his

disapproval of his brothers behavior; he dislikes how he treats his mother, and the life full of crime and hate to
other cultures that he leads. However, after running away, Gabe becomes more conscious about the racial
inequality and discrimination that they face as Filipino and at the end, he too follows his brothers steps. He is
also embarrassed to be found that he is a Filipino and tells the truck driver that his mother is the maid and that
his aunty, a white woman, is his mom. The boys exemplify the realities that kids in a multi-culture society have
to endure. They try to figure-out who they are because they are afraid of the repercussions of being identified
with the wrong culture which results in experiences such as those they see in their own mothers life.
The reason Gabe and Tomas turn violent and insensitive is due to watching others take advantage of the
defenseless Asian lady which their mother represents When their mother Ika bumps her car to the yoga moms
new Land Rover, the yoga mom gives Ika a really hard time about it and demands her to pay Eight-hundred
dollars for it. Seeing their mother humiliated in front of all the parents at the school, Tomas and Gabe decide
take matters in their own hands and beat Ben Feinstein, the yoga moms son, and threaten him unless he holds
his mother from asking for money to fix her car. Ben makes fun of Ikas speech and this fuels the boys violent
behavior, they become upset because others insult the culture they come from.
In all the three works, each respective author tells us that living in a multicultural society is not at all like many
imagine. It is filled with racial hatred, cultural clashes and misunderstandings. People do not accept each other
for who they are and each person is labeled with a certain group. They all suggest that despite a mutual need to
live together, cultures repel each other and create boundaries they dare not cross. Multiculturalism, as
presented by them, leads to chaos and separation and individuals lost, trying to figure out where they belong.
However, it living in a multicultural society does not have to end up this way, as Paul Haggis noted, at first
people do not want to accept each other, but it is something good that must be done. When people put an effort
to accept other cultures, they will realize how much they need each other and understand that multiculturalism
is good.