In his Sept. 18 column on multiculturalism, Alex Knepper puts forward a distorted analysis of the ideology behind the policies of multiculturalism. Knepper's claim that multiculturalists "pretend that all cultures are equally valid in the struggle towards progress" is a slap in the face - to anyone that has studied the subject. Multiculturalists do not necessarily argue that all cultures are somehow equal. Indeed, many fail to see how one can rank cultures in such a haphazard manner.
Multiculturalists simply recognize that our society draws from many cultures and that we should adapt public policy to this context. Otherwise, we are warned, social cohesion will be undermined by the conflict between the social mainstream and disenfranchised social groups, such as Los Angeles blacks or French Muslim immigrants.
Knepper does a disservice to the reader by portraying such intellectual laziness. Before criticizing the "intelligentsia," he ought to dig into the scholarly record of the civilization he so casually grants superiority and actually study its ideas.
Mihkail Romanov Junior, College of Arts and Sciences
