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I use “reverse multiculturalism” as a term in place of something better. What I mean by this is the examination of major-culture groups within areas of studies in which minority culture is traditionally the focus. For example:
- what was the plight of white people living in Harlem in the 1920s? Was it in any way remarkably different than those living in other areas of New York?
- What were the attitudes of men working in areas traditionally assigned to women in the Middle Ages? Was this a widespread practice?
- Did new forms of racism emerge against white groups in corporate, government, and social environments post-1960 America? What is the scope of these forms?
These are just some of the "reverse multiculturalism" questions that one could ask, but there could potentially be many more. Tell me - would these kinds of issues be viable for historical studies? If your answer is "no", I ask "why not?" There are any number of schools with cultural minority group studies today, but none to my knowledge of studies dedicated explicitly to majority cultural studies (well, at least along certain classifications). Does this in itself prove the point that an under-studied area of history should be better studied?
I use "reverse multiculturalism" as a term in place of something better. What I mean by this is the examination of major-culture groups within areas of studies in which minority culture is traditionally the focus. For example:
- what was the plight of white people living in Harlem in the 1920s? Was it in any way remarkably different than those living in other areas of New York?
- What were the attitudes of men working in areas traditionally assigned to women in the Middle Ages? Was this a widespread practice?
- Did new forms of racism emerge against white groups in corporate, government, and social environments post-1960 America? What is the scope of these forms?
These are just some of the "reverse multiculturalism" questions that one could ask, but there could potentially be many more. Tell me - would these kinds of issues be viable for historical studies? If your answer is "no", I ask "why not?" There are any number of schools with cultural minority group studies today, but none to my knowledge of studies dedicated explicitly to majority cultural studies (well, at least along certain classifications). Does this in itself prove the point that an under-studied area of history should be better studied?
You would never get a job at any major university with that academic viewpoint. The view that old white men have dominated history still is way too pervasive right now. It just wouldn't fly IMHO.
Two things – first, what you say may be true, but I don't think it means that we have to buy into the status quo forever. After all, there was a point at which there were no feminist studies in academia either, but feminists didn't seem to care about that. Second, I think that a savvy scholar could hypothetically push through a reverse multicultural program of study under the guise of fairness. I don't think liberalism is driven by a set of concrete rules, but one of the guiding forces is that underrepresented people without a voice need to be given a voice; trying to stamp out such voices is unjust. Using this idea, someone could plausibly argue that the views of certain groups of people have not been given explicit attention in historical studies, and any opposition to this research could be rooted in fear, politics of power, or even racism.
While I think you have a good point and the logic behind what you are saying is good, I have to agree with Donnie that if you tried it the libs in academia would eat you for lunch. In general I think you are proposing that studying a societal majority group in the context of the members of that group living in a majority minority area (what a tongue twister) is worthwhile, and I agree. The hair in your soup is that any study of what the majority did except in terms of how they oppress minorities is looked on as inherently irrelevant in today's academic climate. If you try it good luck and I would love to know if Donnie and I are right.
