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THE
SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Volume XXVIII
Friday, April 3, 1953
Number 14
Cultural
^J^emocracy as a ^orce in
Editorial
By NORMAN SHAPIRO
Rabbi, Beth Tzedec Congregation, Toronto, Canada
Our
rjCiueS
On this continent the “melting pot” theory has held sway
for many years. The advocates of this concept expect all foreign
immigrant groups to disappear, and later reappear as Anglo-
Saxons of the second degree. The exponents of this way of life
predicated their hopes on the fusion of all peoples in the melt
ing pot or cauldron of nations with the end result that they
emerge as Americans or as Canadians.
In more recent years a new and finer concept of cultural
pluralism or democracy is
displacing the “melting pot”
theory. The devotees of this
outlook state that all cul
tures and all peoples have
a right to exist side by side
and contribute to our coun
try’s greatness. This new
philosophy means that mul
tiple but harmonious loy
alties are consistent in the
Canadian and American
pattern of thought and liv
ing.
In fact it is now generally
recognized in many circles
in America and more par
ticularly in Canada (with
its bi-lingual and bi-racial
approach) that the "melting
pot” theory never really
worked out in practice.
Even the oldest Canadian
and American elements
have retained and have
been maintaining their her
editary characteristics un
changed for as many as
seven generations. The pro
ponents of the new “cul
tural democracy” ideal feel
that if the “melting pot”
theory worked it would not
be for the best interests of our country because true Canadian-
ism or Americanism (in their opinion) means unity and not
uniformity. Cultural pluralism, is as one can see, based on a
universalism which looks upon loyalties to family, race, reli
gion, nation, and mankind as concentric circles blending into
one another. As one prominent American author, Oscar Janow-
ski, put it, our American ideal should rather be expressed “in
terms of an orchestra in which each racial group like an orches
tral choir contributes its
special different tone to the
rich ensemble of the whole.”
In this matter it should
be almost a redundancy to
repeat that a person’s po
litical allegiance as a Ca
nadian or American citizen
is one and indivisible. But
at the same time it must be
borne in mind that multiple
(diverse) cultural loyalties
are not only possible and
desirable, but immeasurab
ly more valuable than the
single track variety of cul
ture.
In this connection as we
turn to Jewish life on the
Canadian and American
scene today, we find that so
much of the chaos and con
fusion in our midst stems
largely from the repudia
tion of the ideals contained
in the “cultural pluralism”
theory.
As we look about us one
cannot help but be chag
rined and appalled by the
manner in which Jewish
life is torn assunder by dis
sension and strife. I refer
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The Southern Israelite