To think multiculturalism is a myth

[PrincessMoana]

I went to a party today for a 6 year old. There were two other parties being held at the same time, with a shared play space and separate party rooms.

The attendees of the party I went to were exclusively white, European heritage.

One party was exclusively black, African heritage.

One party was exclusively Indian heritage.

Everything I see these days is about encouraging cultural integration but when it comes right down to it everyone sticks to their own type.

AIBU or was this really unusual?

YABU.

Sometimes people are in groups of mainly one race. Maybe they're relatives, or go to the same place of worship (e.g. a mosque is likely to have people of mainly Asian heritage), or enjoy speaking to each other in their first language if it's not English, or just live in an area with a large population of one ethnicity and so go to school with lots of other kids of the same ethnicity.

But in general, people do mix. I mean, my husband and I are different races and we definitely spend time together! My stepdaughter, who's of Afro-Caribbean heritage, had at her birthday party kids of many different ethnicities, coz that's who her friends happen to be. As a teacher in a fairly diverse school, I see groups of students from different backgrounds (racial and otherwise) making friends and working together all the time .

Anyway, having the same skin colour doesn't mean that they have the same heritage. Those "black African" kids could have been one from Jamaica, one from Guadeloupe, one from Brazil, one from South Africa, one from Tanzania, and a handful whose families have been here for generations.

So YABU, it's not a myth.

Here we go...

I'm in America so the country of origin thing has largely gone.

I thought it was interesting because the kids get on with all races at school and obviously we do as adults at work. I can't think of many times I've seen a bunch of people where you can just see who they are friends with and there's nothing forcing inclusion. It struck me that in that circumstance all the groups were monocultural and I was surprised.

It's not a myth. Race does not equal ethnicity or culture. A group of black or Indian or white faces doesn't automatically mean they're from the same place/background/culture. Those Indian looking faces, unless you spoke to them all individually, might have been from a multitude of south east asian countries. I personally look Asian but am Indian. Your analysis was so basic it's laughable and makes me sad as a brown person - do people only boil down to colour? Do their other cultural differences not count?

If you're in the US, posting this question on a site where most people are in the UK is going to get you a YABU because multiculturalism is alive and well here.

I'm British but I've been here long enough not to know how it is back home. Glad to hear it's better in the UK.

Yes it's a broad view to judge people on how they look but it felt awful when we all filed in to the party rooms as if we'd been sorted by colour when the kids had all been playing together in the play space. Maybe it'll be better for their generation but I really thought it was better for ours.

I'm really hoping for a YABU. I want one. I just didn't see one.

one race: humankind

Race is a social construct. If you only socialise with white people than that's on you.

Leanback, I don't. I'm an immigrant here and will be friends with any and everyone. I don't belong here and occasionally get some push back for living in a different country to the one I was born in. Maybe that's why I was so surprised to see it played out across three** groups simultaneously.

Surely"multiculturalism" means almost exactly the opposite of integration. It means a society that consists of multiple cultures existing in parallel to one another. That has always been my understanding, anyway.

A society where there are ethnic groups existing in parallel cultures sounds like what you observed, no?

Well I was at a party and a play date today with my kids here in New Jersey, USA. At the party we had it all, Indian, Jewish, Whites (Americans, Canadians, Europeans and south afrikans) and blacks (American, Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Rwandan and Kenyan). The play date of 4 kids had chinese, Indian, Hispanic and white.

I would presume your parties were either family or religious groups. When we all get together up in Canada we have 17 children and take them all for a birthday party. It's cheaper! Of course all the kids are white/mixed race.

I don't think you've understood multiculturalism, OP. It doesn't mean integration, the melting pot. It means the exact opposite, with different ethnic groups each living in its own bubble. I don't believe multiculturalism can ever lead to social cohesion and shared values. Living parallel lives can only provoke suspicion of the unknown

I live in a university town where every coffee shop is full of students from all over the world chatting and laughing.

Princess where abouts are you in the US? My cousin said something similar when they were there before they moved to Canada, but they were quite a way from a city life, more small town.