On Multiculturalism and Privilege: A Latina Perspective

Abstract

IN THIS ESSAY, I WILL REFLECT ON THE POLITICS OF MULTICULTURALISM and the ways that institutions across the nation are implementing and defining cultural diversity with paradigms in which class, race, privilege, and power relations remain essentially unproblematized. I articulate my critique of multiculturalism as a Latina scholar who is wholly committed to this ideal. My intention is not to dismantle or invalidate this movement but to help it grow from within through a heightened awareness of the inequities, conflicts, and neocolonial structures and behaviors that need to be recognized and addressed. As Sandra Cisneros once responded to a question about why she attacked Latino men in her writings, my critique of multiculturalism stems precisely from my own faith in the object of my inquiry. The ways in which multiculturalism is implemented make it an expression and consolidation of white privilege, to use Peggy McIntosh's term.

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