Multiculturalism damages liberalism. (Politics).(Brief Article)

Thomas E Powers, "The Transformation of Liberalism, 1964 to 2001," in The Public Interest (Fall 2001), 1112 Sixteenth Street, N.W., #530, Washington, D.C. 20036

Multiculturalism, contends University of Minnesota (Duluth) political scientist Thomas Powers, is at its heart an attempt to change the rules by which American democracy has been conducted over the past two centuries. Among the dramatic changes advocates seek are these:

* Policing opinion. Liberals traditionally believed that the state could regulate behavior but not ideas. They thought that judges could regulate actions but not opinions, and approved of Thomas Jefferson's notion that "it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." Multiculturalists, on the other hand, believe that ideas they deem racist or sexist have to be regulated--and ultimately eliminated.

* Having government enforce group relations. Multiculturalists contend the suffering of blacks and women primarily results from a lack of "respect" and that it is the paramount duty of the state to oversee the ways ...