Am I multicultural?

Cassandra   Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:42 am GMT
I'm English and I wonder if I am multi cultural. I think I am because my ancestors were many different people like Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, French etc.
I could wish I could be called Multi-cultural because I love multiculturalism and it would have been nice if everybody were a bit multi cultural!
Travis   Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:17 am GMT
>>I'm English and I wonder if I am multi cultural. I think I am because my ancestors were many different people like Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, French etc.
I could wish I could be called Multi-cultural because I love multiculturalism and it would have been nice if everybody were a bit multi cultural!<<

Having ancestors from a whole bunch of places has nothing to do with multiculturalism, I have to say.
Franco   Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:52 am GMT
Multicultural is what you call societies. Individual can be bicultural at most, and not even totally.
Liz   Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:57 am GMT
No, individuals can be pluricultural.
Franco   Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:41 am GMT
No, they can't.
Damian in Edinburgh   Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:15 pm GMT
I can't really understand how a single individual can be "multicultural" per se. Multicultural in outlook yes, but not as a person. As has been stated already we can belong to two cultures if our parents are from different cultures. If our parents are both of the same culture/ethnic origin (as mine are) then we belong to that culture alone. But whatever our personal origins we can live in a multicultural society which most of us do nowadays - certainly in Britain and Western Europe.
Guest   Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:07 pm GMT
"If our parents are both of the same culture/ethnic origin (as mine are) then we belong to that culture alone."

Both of my parents are English but they have got different bloodline. My father can trace his bloodline back to the Anglo-Saxons and and vikings and my mother is more like French......
Jack   Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:11 pm GMT
No Cassandra, you aren't multicultural. You wonder if you are multicultural or not just because you want to be. So you are nothing but a stupid liar...
Bulldog   Sun Jun 10, 2007 1:58 pm GMT
Multiculturalism maybe a good ideal we recognise and take part in other cultures, widening our knowledge; then again it may have a negative impact valuing other cultures instead of the native one, leading to resentment and another form of segregation. Jews in Germany at one point were the most integrated minority, before unquestioned nationalism swept the country.

Others aspects include ethnic minorities losing out to newer migrants Blacks to Asians or Hispanics, as natives tend by and large to be the least affected, this has purportedly happened in both America and the UK. Then again those who have a multicultural background may have other skills, for example languages; however what happens when loyalties are divided.

By and large, I feel multiculturalism sucks, I am proud to be English and Japanese, but hate how English culture seems to be portrayed as inferior to others; and am being to see how the Celts can hate the English, by their dominance over their own culture in day to day life.
Caradoc   Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:05 pm GMT
At least us Celts r passionate about our own culture, even though you tried to destroy it. As for multiculturalism it exists as an 'Ideal' but its worked for britan rigt, ha ha ha, ALL CELTS HATE THE ENGLISH and the reason why 'English culture seems to be portrayed as inferior to others' is because it is.
Uriel   Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:54 pm GMT
You're just multiethnic, Cassandra. You still probably live in just the one culture.

I think of multicultural people as those who actually grow up in two or more cultures -- meaning that they actually learn all the different rules and nuances of behavior for each and can switch back and forth.

Examples I can think of are children whose parents work for mulinational companies and spend much of their childhood shuttling back and forth from their country of origin to their country of residence, and are exposed to both cultures by say, being formally schooled in one but playing with the kids of the other.

Children of parents with different nationalities may also learn to mingle two cultures, if they have sufficeint exposure to both, especially through travelling to visit both sides of the family.

And if you are raised in one culture but end up living in another, you will probably eventually assimilate a lot of the customs, behaviors, and expections of your new surroundings -- while retaining your originals as well.

But simply being able to trace a pedigree to ancestors of different backgrounds doesn't make YOU multicultural. Your culture is only what YOU experience.
49th parallel guy   Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:08 am GMT
let's for argument's sake say both of your parents belong to more than one culture to begin with because all of your grandparents were from different cultures, each different from the other? in that case then, what would yours be?
Jamie   Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:42 pm GMT
Caradoc, English people are mostly "Celts" too - check your history, and you just come across as a mindless racist.
Pub Lunch   Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:50 pm GMT
Probably has nothing to do with the price of bread but I'll mention it anyway. The main headlines on last night’s 10.30pm BBC news - "the government announces that it feels that immigrants to Britain should learn to speak English in order to integrate" (yes it really was the main headlines!!!!). Well I never - those cheeky Britons!! Whatever will they ask for next?

The usual suspects were opposed to it though, I mean, moving to England and learning English - it makes no sense at all does it????

Sorry, I've got the hump today. Adieu.
Victoria Andersson   Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:30 pm GMT
I agree with Pub. Why do people move to countries and not learn the language. This is crazy. You miss so much when you are not understanding the language.

Pub, why do English people go to Spain and then moan because the people just speak Spanish?. I learned all about this from my friend Jose.

Nobidy comes to Guovdageaidnu. Maybe it is to difficult to ask for directions lol. We are not multicultural we are mostly Sami people.

All this talk about celts but nobidy mentions Vikings. How odd is this??