Editing Multiculturalism (section)

== Americas ==
===Argentina===
{{Main|Demographics of Argentina|Immigration to Argentina}}
[[File:Buenos Aires - San Telmo - Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa - 20071215a.jpg|thumb|[[Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, Buenos Aires|Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in Buenos Aires]]]]

Though not called ''Multiculturalism'' as such, the [[Constitution of Argentina#Preamble|preamble of Argentina's constitution]] explicitly promotes [[immigration]], and recognizes the individual's [[multiple citizenship]] from other countries. Though 97% of Argentina's population self-identify as of [[Argentines of European descent|European descent]] and [[mestizo]]<ref name="CIA">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/argentina/ |title=CIA – The World Factbook – Argentina |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref> to this day a high level of multiculturalism remains a feature of [[Culture of Argentina|Argentina's culture]],<ref name="Faulk2012">{{cite book|author=Karen Faulk|title=In the Wake of Neoliberalism: Citizenship and Human Rights in Argentina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOGrGui0j0sC&pg=PA99|year=2012|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8391-0|page=99}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.argentina.ar/_en/culture/ |title=Argentine Culture Rich and Diverse |publisher=Argentina.ar |access-date=10 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531161309/http://www.argentina.ar/_en/culture/ |archive-date=31 May 2011 }}</ref> allowing foreign [[festivals]] and [[holidays]] (e.g. [[Saint Patrick's Day]]), supporting all kinds of art or [[cultural expressions]] from [[ethnic groups]], as well as their diffusion through an important multicultural presence in the [[Media (communication)|media]].
In Argentina there are recognized [[regional languages]] [[Guarani language|Guaraní]] in [[Corrientes Province|Corrientes]],<ref name="Corrientes-5598">{{Cite Argentine law|jur=CN|l=5598|dl=2326/2004|date=22 October 2004 |url=http://www.senadoctes.gov.ar/leyes-texto/Ley5598.doc }}</ref> [[Southern Quechua|Quechua]] in [[Santiago del Estero Province|Santiago del Estero]],<ref>{{cite book |title=La educación intercultural bilingüe en Santiago del Estero, ¿mito o realidad? |publisher=Cámara de Diputados de la Nación |page=1 |url=http://usuarios.arnet.com.ar/yanasu/Ley5409.html |trans-title=La cámara de diputados de la provincia sanciona con fuerza de ley. |quote=Declárase de interés oficial la preservación, difusión, estímulo, estudio y práctica de la lengua Quíchua en todo el territorio de la provincia [..] |language=es-AR |access-date=21 May 2022 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807005056/http://usuarios.arnet.com.ar/yanasu/Ley5409.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Toba Qom language|Qom]], [[Mocoví language|Mocoví]], and [[Wichí languages|Wichí]] in [[Chaco Province|Chaco]].<ref name=kom>{{cite Argentine law|jur=CC|l=6604|bo=9092|date=28 July 2010}}</ref>
According to the [[National Institute for Indigenous Affairs]] published on its website, there are 1,779 registered indigenous communities in Argentina, belonging to 39 [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] peoples.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/derechoshumanos/inai/mapa | title=Mapa de pueblos originarios | date=10 November 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cultura.gob.ar/dia-internacional-de-los-pueblos-indigenas_6292/#:~:text=Ellos%20son%3A%20Atacama%2C%20Chan%C3%A9%2C,Tehuelche%2C%20Tili%C3%A1n%2C%20Toba%20(Qom | title=Los Pueblos Originarios en Argentina, hoy }}</ref>

=== Bolivia ===
[[Bolivia]] is a diverse country made up of 36 different types of indigenous groups.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwgia.org/en/bolivia|title=Bolivia|website=iwgia.org|language=en-gb|access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> Over 62% of Bolivia's population falls into these different indigenous groups, making it the most indigenous country in [[Latin America]].<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bolivia/|title=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|website=cia.gov|language=en|access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> Out of the indigenous groups the [[Aymara people|Aymara]] and the [[Quechua people|Quechua]] are the largest.<ref name="auto3"/> The latter 30% of the population is a part of the [[mestizo]], which are a people mixed with European and indigenous ancestry.<ref name="auto4"/> Bolivia's political administrations have endorsed multicultural politics and in 2009 Bolivia's Constitution was inscribed with multicultural principles.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-50958-1_3 |chapter=Paradoxes of Multiculturalism in Bolivia |title=The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Latin America |year=2016 |last1=Canessa |first1=Andrew |pages=75–100 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |location=New York |isbn=978-1-137-50957-4 }}</ref> The [[Constitution of Bolivia]] recognizes 36 official languages besides Spanish, each language has its own culture and indigenous group.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bolivia.justia.com/nacionales/nueva-constitucion-politica-del-estado/primera-parte/titulo-i/capitulo-primero/|title=Justia Bolivia :: Nueva Constitución Política Del Estado > PRIMERA PARTE > TÍTULO I > CAPÍTULO PRIMERO :: Ley de Bolivia|website=bolivia.justia.com|language=es-BO|access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> [[Bolivian culture]] is celebrated across the country and has heavy influences from the Aymara, the Quechua, the Spanish, and other popular cultures from around Latin America.

=== Brazil ===
[[File:Multiculturalismo.jpg|thumb|House with elements of people from different countries, including [[Russians]] and [[Germans]], in [[Carambeí]], [[South Region, Brazil|south of the country]], a city of [[Dutch people|Dutch]] majority]] 
[[Brazil]] has been known to acclaim multiculturalism and has undergone many changes regarding this in the past few decades. Brazil is a controversial country when it comes to defining a multicultural country.<ref name=PewJuly2013>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/18/the-most-and-least-culturally-diverse-countries-in-the-world/|title=A revealing map of the world's most and least ethnically diverse countries|last=Morin|first=Rich|date=18 July 2013 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]|access-date=29 December 2024}}</ref> There are two views: the [[Harvard]] Institute of Economic Research points to the fact that Brazil has a large mixed-race population, while researcher Erkan Gören of the [[University of Oldenburg]] notes that virtually all [[Brazilians]] speaks [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]].<ref name=PewJuly2013/>

Cities such as [[São Paulo]] are home to migrants from [[Japan]], [[Italy]], [[Lebanon]], [[Portugal]], and [[Africa]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neira |first1=Marcos GARCIA |title=Possíveis relações entre multiculturalismo e teorias curriculares da Educação Física |trans-title=Possible relations between multiculturalism and curricular theories of Physical Education |journal=Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana |year=2017 |volume=22 |issue=79 |pages=41–55 |url=https://www.redalyc.org/jatsRepo/279/27956721004/html/index.html |language=pt }}</ref> There is a multicultural presence in this city, and this is prevalent throughout Brazil. Furthermore, Brazil is a country that has made great strides to embrace migrant cultures. There has been increased awareness of [[anti-blackness]] and active efforts to combat racism. However, there is still a lack of school engagement in these matters.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wade|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Wade|title=Blackness, Indigeneity, Multiculturalism and Genomics in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico|journal=[[Journal of Latin American Studies]]|date=2013|volume=45|issue=2|pages=205–233|doi=10.1017/S0022216X13000011|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-latin-american-studies/article/abs/blackness-indigeneity-multiculturalism-and-genomics-in-brazil-colombia-and-mexico/F558D3A68CE227FD2EC862E2F64815E4|url-access=}}</ref>

===Canada===
{{Main|Multiculturalism in Canada}}
[[File:Sikhs on the move!.jpg|thumb|[[Sikhs]] celebrating the [[List of Sikh festivals|Sikh new year]] in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]]]]

Canadian society is often depicted as being "very [[Progressivism|progressive]], diverse, and multicultural," or a [[just society]] that formally acknowledges several different [[cultures]] and [[beliefs]].<ref name="Cotter2011rt">{{cite book|author=Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter|title=Culture clash: an international legal perspective on ethnic discrimination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AcvVUevrMYC&pg=PA176|date=28 February 2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-1936-5|page=176}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/foundation_gr6/blms/6-4-4a.pdf |title=The Just Society |publisher=Government of Manitoba |author=Pierre Elliott Trudeau, as cited in The Essential Trudeau, ed. Ron Graham. (pp. 16–20) |access-date= 6 December 2015}}</ref> Multiculturalism, however, is a misnomer often misidentified as a societal ideal with its associated natural moral sensitivity, whereas it functions as a political instrument for diversity management under official policy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fleras |first=Augie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSk7EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |title=Canadian Multiculturalism @50: Retrospect, Perspectives, Prospects |date=2021-07-26 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-46656-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Sikka2014v">{{cite book|author=Sonia Sikka|title=Multiculturalism and Religious Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4NLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|year=2014|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=978-0-7735-9220-9|page=237}}</ref> Multiculturalism was adopted as the official policy of the [[Government of Canada|Canadian government]] during the premiership of [[Pierre Elliott Trudeau]] in the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by factors such as the militant politics of Québécois nationalism, rising Indigenous discontent over the assimilationist policies outlined in the 1969 White Paper, the threat of American cultural annexation, the need to secure ethnic votes in immigrant-rich urban centers, and the appeasement of other European ethnic groups.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsINAAAAQAAJ&q=multiculturalism%20and%20Pierre%20Elliott%20Trudeau&pg=PA205|title=Place/culture/representation|first1=James S|last1=Duncan|first2=David |last2=Ley|publisher=Routledge|pages=205–06|year=1983|isbn=978-0-415-09451-1|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Li |first=Peter S. |date=2003-02-24 |title=Cultural Diversity in Canada: The Social Construction of Racial Difference |url=https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/rp02_8-dr02_8/index.html |website=Department of Justice, Research and Statistics Division |place=Ottawa}}</ref> 

Multiculturalism is reflected in the law through the [[Canadian Multiculturalism Act]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/charter/charter.text.html|title=Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Being Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982)|publisher=Electronic Frontier Canada|year=2008|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212155200/http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/charter/charter.text.html|archive-date=12 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/C-18.7/FullText.html|title=Canadian Multiculturalism Act (1985, c. 24 (4th Supp.)|date=14 November 2010|publisher=Department of Justice Canada|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-date=18 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218032814/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/C-18.7/FullText.html?noCookie|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Canadian multiculturalism is often seen as cherishing immigrant ways of life from outside the country, and as such, it is looked upon with admiration resulting in dismissing of most critics of the concept.<ref name="WhiteSimeon2009iu">{{cite book|author1=Linda A. White|author2=Richard Simeon|title=The Comparative Turn in Canadian Political Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATny9O-I6bwC&pg=PA102|year= 2009|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-1428-7|page=102}}</ref><ref name="Tierney2011ytg">{{cite book|author=Stephen J Tierney|title=Multiculturalism and the Canadian Constitution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fY078NtGPkAC&pg=PA66|year=2011|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-4007-1|page=66}}</ref> The [[Broadcasting Act (1991)|Broadcasting Act of 1991]] asserts the Canadian broadcasting system should reflect the diversity of cultures in the country.<ref name="Raboy">{{cite book|last=Raboy|first=Marc|title=Media Divides: Communication Rights and the Right to Communicate in Canada|year=2010|publisher=University of British Columbia Press|location=Vancouver|isbn=978-0-7748-1775-2|page=104 |author2=Jeremy Shtern |author3=William J. McIveret}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Mahtani|first=Minelle|title=Representing Minorities: Canadian media and minority identities|journal=Canadian Ethnic Studies|year=2001|volume=33|issue=3}}</ref> This conceptual transition of multiculturalism is also reflected in Canada's official discourse, where attitudes about “multiculturalism” have shifted to focus on “diversity,” driven by increasing immigration rates. It now emphasizes Canada's growing multicultural makeup and the diversity of ethnic and racial groups within the country adhering to a politics of recognition, rather than a politics of interrogation that could have been instrumental in addressing dominant power dynamics and the privileges that affect marginalized groups.<ref name="polls">{{cite web |url=http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/research/por-multi-imm/sec02-1.asp |title=A literature review of Public Opinion Research on Canadian attitudes towards multiculturalism and immigration, 2006–2009 |publisher=Government of Canada |date=2011 |access-date= 18 December 2015}}</ref> [[Multiculturalism in Canada]] is often globally recognized as one of the country's significant accomplishments in diversity management, and a key distinguishing element of Canadian national identity.<ref name="Sikka2014v" /><ref name="Caplow2001a">{{cite book|author=Theodore Caplow|title=Leviathan Transformed: Seven National States in the New Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRunB0w4G-EC&pg=PA146|year=2001|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=978-0-7735-2304-3|page=146}}</ref>

In a 2002 interview with ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', [[Aga Khan IV|Karīm al-Hussainī]], the 49th [[Aga Khan]] of the [[Ismaili|Ismaili Muslims]], described Canada as "the most successful [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralist society]] on the face of our globe", citing it as "a model for the world".<ref name="GlobeMail20020202">{{cite news |author=Stackhouse, John |author2=Martin, Patrick |page=F3 |title=Canada: 'A model for the world'|url=http://ismaili.net/timeline/2002/20020202a.html |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=2 February 2002|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref> He explained that the experience of Canadian governance—its commitment to pluralism and its support for the rich multicultural diversity of its people—is something that must be shared and would be of benefit to all societies in other parts of the world.<ref name="GlobeMail20020202"/> ''[[The Economist]]''  ran a cover story in 2016 praising Canada as the most successful multicultural society in the [[Western world|West]].<ref name="The Economist">{{cite news |title = The last liberals Why Canada is still at ease with openness |newspaper = [[The Economist]]|date=29 October 2016|url = https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21709291-why-canada-still-ease-openness-last-liberals |access-date = 10 November 2016}}</ref> ''The Economist'' argued that Canada's multiculturalism was a source of strength that united the diverse population and by attracting immigrants from around the world was also an engine of economic growth as well.<ref name="The Economist"/> The influence of the transitioned ideology of multiculturalism in the public sphere has led many public and private groups in Canada to work toward supporting both multiculturalism and recent immigrants to Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/evaluations/multiculturalism-program/section-3.html|title=Evaluation of the Multiculturalism Program|last=Immigration|first=Refugees and Citizenship Canada|date=10 June 2012|website=aem|access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref> In an effort to support recent Filipino immigrants to Alberta, for example, one school board partnered with a local university and an immigration agency to support these new families in their school and community.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://bild-lida.ca/journal/volume_2_2_2018/supporting-reconnecting-immigrant-families-with-english-language-learners-in-rural-schools-an-exploratory-study-of-filipino-arrivals-to-alberta/|title=Supporting Reconnecting Immigrant Families with English Language Learners in Rural Schools: An Exploratory Study of Filipino Arrivals to Alberta |first1=Gregory|last1=Tweedie|first2=Anja|last2=Dressler|first3=Cora-Leah|last3=Schmidt| access-date=17 November 2018|date=12 November 2018 }}</ref>

===Mexico===
[[File:Mexico City 335.jpg|thumb|[[Teotihuacan]]]]
[[Mexico]] has historically always been a multicultural country. After the betrayal of [[Hernán Cortés]] to the [[Aztecs]], the [[Spaniards|Spanish]] conquered the [[Aztec Empire]] and colonized indigenous people. They influenced the indigenous religion, politics, culture and ethnicity.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The Spanish opened schools in which they taught Christianity, and the Spanish language eventually surpassed indigenous languages, making it the most spoken language in Mexico. Mestizo was also born from the conquest, which meant being half-Indigenous and half-Spanish.<ref>{{cite web|last=Page |first=Index |url=http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1932-ethnic-diversity-in-mexico |title=Ethnic diversity in Mexico : Mexico Travel |publisher=Mexconnect.com |date=20 May 2011 |access-date=1 July 2013}}</ref>

[[Mexico City]] has recently been integrating rapidly, doing much better than many cities in a sample conducted by the Intercultural Cities Index (being the only non-European city, alongside [[Montreal]], on the index).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/cities/index/Mexico_en.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – Mexico City PR rev[1&#93;-1.doc |access-date=1 July 2013}}</ref> Mexico is an ethnically diverse country with a population composed of approximately 123 million in 2017. There is a wide variety of ethnic groups, the major group being [[Mestizo]]s followed by [[White Mexicans]] and [[Indigenous Mexicans]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.investigacionyciencia.es/revistas/investigacion-y-ciencia/matemticas-del-planeta-tierra-585/el-impacto-del-mestizaje-en-mxico-11442|title=El impacto del mestizaje en México|work=Investigación y Ciencia|access-date=25 July 2018|language=es}}</ref> There are many other ethnic groups such as [[Arab Mexicans]], [[Afro-Mexicans]] and [[Asian Mexicans]].

From the year 2000 to 2010, the number of people in Mexico that were born in another country doubled, reaching a total of 961,121 people, mostly coming from Guatemala and the United States.<ref name=IO_1>{{cite web| title=Informativo oportuno (Spanish text)| url=http://www.inegi.gob.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/contenidos/Articulos/sociodemograficas/nacidosenotropais.pdf| url-status=dead| date=May 2011| volume=1| issue=2| access-date=13 November 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427100913/http://www.inegi.gob.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/contenidos/Articulos/sociodemograficas/nacidosenotropais.pdf| archive-date=27 April 2013}}</ref> Mexico is quickly becoming a [[melting pot]], with many immigrants coming into the country. It is considered to be a [[cradle of civilization]], which influences their multiculturalism and diversity, by having different civilizations influence them. A distinguishable trait of Mexico's culture is the [[mestizaje]] of its people, which caused the combination of Spanish influence, their indigenous roots while also adapting the culture traditions from their immigrants.

=== Peru ===
[[Peru]] is an exemplary country of multiculturalism, in 2016 the [[Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática|INEI]] reported a total population of 31 million people. They share their borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Bolivia, and have welcomed many immigrants into their country creating a diverse community.
[[File:Tambomachay, Cuzco, Perú, 2015-07-31, DD 93.JPG|thumb|Tambomachay, Cuzco, Peru]]
Peru is the home to [[Amerindians]] but after the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Spanish Conquest]], the Spanish brought African, and Asian peoples as slaves to Peru creating a mix of ethnic groups. After slavery was no longer permitted in Peru, African-Peruvians and Asian-Peruvians have contributed to Peruvian culture in many ways. Today, Amerindians make up 25.8% of the population, [[Mestizo]]s 60.2%, [[White people|White]] 5.9% and 4.8% is composed by [[Black people|Black]], Chinese, Japanese and others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.countryreports.org/country/Peru/population.htm|title=Peru population. Demographic data, ethnic groups population and demographics from Peru – CountryReports|website=countryreports.org|language=en|access-date=26 July 2018}}</ref> In 1821, Peru's president José de San Martín gave foreigners the freedom to start industries in Peru's ground, 2 years after, foreigners that lived in Peru for more than 5 years were considered naturalized citizens, which then decreased to 3 years.

===United States===
{{See also|Multicultural education|Race and ethnicity in the United States}}
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Mulberry Street NYC c1900 LOC 3g04637u edit.jpg
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| image2            = Chinatown manhattan 2009.JPG
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| caption2          = [[Little Italy (Manhattan)|Little Italy]] (top, {{circa|1900}}) in New York City abuts [[Manhattan's Chinatown]].
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[[File:NewYorkStreetScene-People.JPG|thumb|right|250px|People waiting to cross [[Fifth Avenue]]]]
[[File:Many ways in which New Yorkers say "Merry Christmas" or its equivalent. LOC 3797854913.jpg|thumb|270px|{{center|Poster from 1907:}} '''The many ways in which [[Demographic history of New York City|New Yorkers]] say "[[Merry Christmas]]" or its equivalent''';<br/> in [[Arab Americans|Arabic]], [[Armenian Americans|Armenian]], [[Chinese people in New York City|Chinese]], [[Croatian Americans|Croatian]], [[Czech Americans|Czech]], [[Dutch Americans in New York City|Dutch]], [[Esperanto]], [[Finnish Americans|Finnish]], [[Belgian Americans|Flemish]], [[French Americans|French]], [[Irish Americans in New York City|Gaelic]], [[German Americans|German]], [[Greek Americans|Greek]], [[Yiddish]] (labeled as "[[Hebrew Christian movement|Christian Hebrew]]"), [[Hungarian Americans|Hungarian]], [[Italians in New York City|Italian]], [[Japanese in New York City|Japanese]], [[Lithuanian Americans|Lithuanian]], [[Norwegian Americans|Norwegian]], [[Polish Americans|Polish]], [[Portuguese Americans|Portuguese]], [[Romanian Americans|Romanian]], [[Russian Americans in New York City|Russian]], [[Slovene Americans|Slovene]], [[Spanish language in the United States|Spanish]], [[Swedish Americans|Swedish]], [[Turkish Americans|Turkish]] and [[Ukrainian Americans in New York City|Ukrainian]].<br/><small>''"[[Nicknames of New York City|Gotham]]'s citizens have been called "The Sons of Elsewhere", and their language that spoken at the [[Tower of Babel]]..."''</small>]]
Although official multiculturalism policy is not established at the federal level, ethnic and cultural diversity is common in [[Rural diversity|rural]], suburban and urban areas.<ref>Jeffrey Lehman, ed. ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America'' (3rd edition; 6 vol. 2014) [https://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?N=197&Ntk=P_EPI&Ntt=508676737550071330333596981793254059&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial Online]</ref>

Continuous mass immigration was a feature of the United States economy and society since the first half of the 19th century.<ref name="Isaacs2007">{{cite book|author=Ann Katherine Isaacs|title=Immigration and emigration in historical perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5asNot0c5kwC&pg=PA38|year=2007|publisher=Edizioni Plus|isbn=978-88-8492-498-8|page=38}}</ref> The absorption of the stream of immigrants became, in itself, a prominent feature of America's [[national myth]]. The idea of the [[melting pot]] is a [[metaphor]] that implies that all the immigrant cultures are mixed and amalgamated without state intervention.<ref>Zangwill, Israel. ''The Melting Pot'', 1908.</ref> The melting pot theory implied that each individual immigrant, and each group of immigrants, assimilated into American society at their own pace. This is different from multiculturalism as it is defined above, which does not include complete assimilation and integration.<ref name="Suárez-OrozcoSuárez-Orozco2005">{{cite book|author1=Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco|author2=Carola Suárez-Orozco|title=The new immigration: an interdisciplinary reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a05uTxwIC4EC&pg=PA39|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-94916-3|page=39}}</ref> The melting pot tradition co-exists with a belief in national unity, dating from the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|American founding fathers]]:

<blockquote>Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people – a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs... This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties.<ref>[[John Jay]], ''First American Supreme Court Chief Justice'', [[Federalist No. 2|Federalist Paper No. 2]]</ref></blockquote>

[[File:President Clinton's Initiative on Race.jpg|thumb|Staff of President Clinton's [[One America Initiative]]. The President's Initiative on Race was a critical element in President Clinton's effort to prepare the country to embrace diversity.]]
As a philosophy, multiculturalism began as part of the [[pragmatism]] movement at the end of the 19th century in Europe and the United States, then as [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|political]] and [[cultural pluralism]] at the turn of the 20th century.<ref name="CaputiFoster2006">{{cite book|author1=Peter Caputi|author2=Heather Foster|author3=Linda L. Viney|title=Personal construct psychology: new ideas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RUXgzHqfOwC&pg=PA18|date=11 December 2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-01943-6|page=18}}</ref> It was partly in response to a new wave of European imperialism in sub-Saharan Africa and the massive immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans to the United States and Latin America. Philosophers, psychologists and historians and early sociologists such as [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], [[William James]], [[George Santayana]], [[Horace Kallen]], [[John Dewey]], [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] and [[Alain Locke]] developed concepts of cultural pluralism, from which emerged what we understand today as multiculturalism. In ''Pluralistic Universe'' (1909), William James espoused the idea of a "[[plural society]]". James saw pluralism as "crucial to the formation of philosophical and social [[humanism]] to help build a better, more egalitarian society.<ref name=Boening>{{cite news |last=Boening |first=Astrid B. |title=Euro-Islam&nbsp;– A Constructivist Idea or a Concept of the English School? |newspaper=European Union Miami Analysis (EUMA) |volume=4
|issue=12 |pages=3–10 |publisher=Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence |date=May 2007 |url=http://www.miami.edu/eucenter/Boening_EuroIslam_EUMA2007edi.pdf |access-date=30 September 2009 }}</ref>

The educational approach to multiculturalism has since spread to the grade school system, as school systems try to rework their curricula to introduce students to diversity earlier – often on the grounds that it is important for minority students to see themselves represented in the classroom.<ref name="Volk2004">{{cite book|author=Terese M. Volk|title=Music, Education, and Multiculturalism: Foundations and Principles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaeuLCnJLXAC&pg=PA160|date=14 October 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517975-0|page=160}}</ref><ref>[http://www.communitynewspapers.com/miami-beach/miami-beach-diversity-at-work/ Jesse Kirkpatrick. (2011). ''Miami Beach: Diversity at Work''. Miami Beach News. Retrieved from communitynewspapers.com]</ref> Studies estimated 46 million Americans ages 14 to 24 to be the most diverse generation in American society.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jayson|first=Sharon|title='Colorblind' Generation Doesn't Blink at Interracial Relationships|newspaper=USA Today|date=7 February 2006}}</ref> In 2009 and 2010, controversy erupted in Texas as the state's curriculum committee made several changes to the state's requirements, often at the expense of minorities. They chose to juxtapose [[Lincoln's second inaugural address|Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address]] with that of Confederate president [[Jefferson Davis]];<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/17/AR2010031700560.html Historians speak out against proposed Texas textbook changes] Michael Birnbaum, 18 March 2010.</ref> they debated removing Supreme Court Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]] and labor-leader [[Cesar Chavez]]<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124753078523935615 The Culture Wars' New Front: U.S. History Classes in Texas], Stephanie Simon, 14 July 2009.</ref> and rejected calls to include more Hispanic figures, in spite of the high Hispanic population in the state.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change], James C. McKinley Jr., 12 March 2010.</ref>

According to a 2000 analysis of [[domestic terrorism in the United States]], "A distinctive feature of American terrorism is the ideological diversity of perpetrators. White racists are responsible for over a third of the deaths, and black militants have claimed almost as many. Almost all of the remaining deaths are attributable to Puerto Rican nationalists, Islamic extremists, revolutionary leftists and emigre groups."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hewitt |first=Christopher |date=March 2000 |title=Patterns of American terrorism 1955–1998: An historical perspective on terrorism-related fatalities |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546550008427546 |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1080/09546550008427546 |s2cid=146734761 |issn=0954-6553|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Twenty years later, far-right and white racists were observed as the leading perpetrators of domestic terrorism in the U.S.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/escalating-terrorism-problem-united-states |title=The Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States |website=Center for Strategic & International Studies |date=17 June 2020 |first1=Seth G. |last1=Jones |first2=Catrina |last2=Doxsee |first3=Nicholas |last3=Harrington |access-date=29 April 2023}}</ref> According to a 2020 study by the Strategic & International Studies, right-wing extremists are responsible for the murder of 329 people since 1994<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pasley |first=James |title=Trump frequently accuses the far-left of inciting violence, yet right-wing extremists have killed 329 victims in the last 25 years, while antifa members haven't killed any, according to a new study |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/right-wing-extremists-kill-329-since-1994-antifa-killed-none-2020-7 |access-date=23 August 2023 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref> (over half due to the terrorist bombing of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oklahoma City Bombing |url=https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing |access-date=23 August 2023 |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation |language=en-us}}</ref>

==== Effect of diversity on civic engagement ====
A 2007 study by [[Robert D. Putnam|Robert Putnam]] encompassing 30,000 people across the US found that diversity had a negative effect on civic engagement. The greater the diversity, the fewer people voted and the less they volunteered for community projects; also, trust among neighbours was only half that of homogenous communities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/|title=The downside of diversity |website=The Boston Globe|language=en|access-date=31 December 2018}}</ref> Putnam says, however, that "in the long run immigration and diversity are likely to have important cultural, economic, fiscal, and developmental benefits", as long as society successfully overcomes the short-term problems.<ref name="Putnam, Robert D. 2007"/> Putnam adds that his "extensive research and experience confirm the substantial benefits of diversity, including racial and ethnic diversity, to our society."<ref>{{cite news|last=Berlett|first=Tom|url=https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/robert-putnam-says-his-research-was-twisted/30357|title=Harvard Sociologist Says His Research Was 'Twisted'|date=15 August 2012|work=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]}}</ref>[[File:San Carlos de la Barra Fort, Isla de San Carlos, Estado Zulia, Venezuela.jpg|thumb|Bartizan in Venezuela]]

=== Venezuela ===
Venezuela is home to a variety of ethnic groups, with an estimated population of 32 million, {{as of|2018|lc=y}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/venezuela-population/|title=Venezuela Population (2018) – Worldometers|website=worldometers.info|language=en|access-date=27 July 2018}}</ref> Their population is composed of approximately 68% mestizo, which means of mixed race.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Venezuela.html|title=Venezuela|website=nationsencyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=27 July 2018}}</ref> Venezuelan culture is mainly composed of a mixture of their indigenous culture, Spanish, and African.<ref name="auto5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.slideshare.net/jenny78/venezuela-sociedad-multietnica-y-pluricultural|title=Venezuela sociedad multietnica y pluricultural|website=slideshare.net|language=en|access-date=27 July 2018|date=18 October 2012}}</ref> There was a heavy influence of Spanish culture due to the Spanish Conquest, which influenced their religion, language and traditions. African influence can be seen in their music.<ref name="auto5"/> While Spanish is Venezuela's main language, there are more than 40 indigenous languages spoken to this day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.studycountry.com/es/guia-paises/VE-language.htm|title=Los idiomas de Venezuela|website=Studycountry|language=es-ES|access-date=27 July 2018}}</ref>

=== Colombia ===
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2024}}
[[Colombia]], with an estimated population of 51 million inhabitants, is populated by a great variety of [[ethnic groups]]. Approximately 49% of its population is [[Mestizo Colombians|Mestizo]], 37% [[White Colombians|White]], 10% [[Afro-Colombians|African descent]], 3.4% [[Indigenous peoples in Colombia|Indigenous]] and 0.6 [[Romani people|Romani]].

It is estimated that 18.8 million Colombians are direct descendants of Europeans, either by one of their parents or grandparents. Mainly from Spain, Italy, Germany, [[Poland]] and England, they represent 37% of its population. The [[Arab people|Arab]] descent also predominates in the country. The [[Syrian Colombians|Syrians]], [[Lebanese Colombians|Lebanese]] and [[Arab Colombians|Palestinians]] are the largest post-independence immigrants to the country, so much so that Colombia has the second largest [[Arab diaspora]] in [[Latin America]], with a little more than 3.2 million descendants, which represents 6.4% of its population.