The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society [Hardcover]

Arthur Meier Schlesinger (Author), Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

In this updated and expanded edition, Arthur Schlesinger argues that the image of the American nation as a cultural melting pot in which differences of race, wealth, religion and nationality are submerged in democracy is being replaced by an orthodoxy which celebrates difference and abandons assimilation. He argues for caution in the race to a politics of identity. He examines the international dimension and the lessons learned from other polyglot countries which have been fragmented by cultural divisions: among them, the former Yugoslavia, Nigeria and Canada. Schlesinger finds evidence that efforts to preserve a plurality of cultures in the US threaten to have the same effect.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this updated version of a modern classic, acclaimed historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. strikes a blow against radical multiculturalism. The rising cult of ethnicity, he argues, threatens a common American identity, imperiling the civic ideals that traditionally have bonded immigrants into a nation. Various chapters criticize bilingual education, Afrocentrism, and the use of history as group therapy for minorities. Schlesinger raised eyebrows when he first published this book in 1992 because of his impeccable liberal credentials as a one-time assistant to President Kennedy and long-standing academic champion of FDR's New Deal. This new version contains all of the original volume's edge, plus a few extras, including an appendix containing "Schlesinger's Syllabus," 13 books "indispensable to an understanding of America." Titles from this eclectic list include The Federalist Papers, Tocqueville's Democracy in America, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Mencken's American Language. The Disuniting of America remains an essential book for readers interested in the American character as it enters the 21st century. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly

In this forcefully argued essay, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Schlesinger contends that America as melting pot has given way to an "eruption of ethnicity . "
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Rev Sub edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393045803
• ISBN-13: 978-0393045802
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,245,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Those in the Social Sciences, April 23, 2002

By 

Justin Evans (West Wendover, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society (Revised and Enlarged Edition) (Paperback)

This book is one of the most compelling reads of non-fiction I have ever come across. Without a doubt, this is one of few books I found of real use in college, and I continue to read and reflect upon it to this day. In fact, I would call this book essential for any social studies curriculum.

Arthur Schlesinger takes the issues of a new PC nation and puts them into real perspective. He is both pro-culture and pro-heritage, but he stands against the idea that cultural identity means a seperation of the American People. Taking on a myriad of topics, Schlesinger explains with great simplicity, straight-forwardness, and honesty how multi-culturalism can be taken too far, taken to absurd conclusions. Essentially, Schlesinger is letting us know that not everything is best when it is presented through the eyes of multi-culturalism.

I read the book in a single sitting. Once I started to read, I was drawn in more and more. Even if you don't agree with his premise, Schlesinger writes in such a way that there is no ambiguity to what he is saying. Knowing Schlesinger's politics for some may make this all the more shocking, but I have to ask those who oppose the message of this book whether they are upset that he is saying these things in general, or if they are upset because a "liberal" is saying these things.

In my opinion this book is of critical importance to understand the second half of the 20th century in America.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courageous, May 4, 2003

By 

Brett Williams (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society (Revised and Enlarged Edition) (Paperback)

Schlesinger served the Kennedy administration, heavily involved in advancing Civil Rights. Any memory of pre-1960s America justifies his passion. Even lynching of Blacks was not illegal until Truman made it so in 1948 and images of fire hose and German Shepard attacks on peaceful Black protestors or their White supporters remains a stark memory. His book, however, is an alert to those of reason regardless of affiliation that the movement has run off its tracks. But that hasn't stopped its wreckage from continuing to plow a path of ruin through its original intent. As Schlesinger puts it, "A culture of ethnicity has arisen to denounce the idea of a melting pot, to protect and perpetuate separate ethnic and racial communities." Its underlying philosophy is that America is not a nation of individuals but a nation of groups, he says; ethnicity is the defining experience; division into ethnic communities establishes the structure of American society and the fundamental meaning of American history. "Multiethnic dogma abandons historic purposes, replacing assimilation by fragmentation, integration by separation." Our modern movements succeed where the Klan failed.

Referencing multiculturalism he asks if it is the school's function to teach racial pride? When does obsession with difference threaten identity? Since this 1993 book this obsession has become an educational standard. Our calendar is split into months for one race pride or another (except white and European). It starts early - believing the purpose of history is therapeutic. He notes, "Once ethnic pride and self-esteem become the criterion for teaching history then certain things cannot be taught." Schlesinger asks the question, "Why does anyone suppose that pride and inspiration are available only from people of the same ethnicity?" One wonders.

Schlesinger's core warning is the same as that of the Founders, that "the virus of tribalism lies dormant, flaring up to destroy entire nations." But that has not stopped the derailment of Civil Rights. As Schlesinger notes, Black America's valid leaders - like so much from the Left that began for the right reasons - have been hijacked for the benefits of opposition, not unification.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Astute analysis from an icon., November 24, 2001

By 

Dave Huber (Delaware, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society (Hardcover)

Schlesinger isn't just "another conservative" lamenting the onslaught of multiculturalism. He genuinely believes in the now out-of-vogue "melting pot" vision of America, which obviously infuriates many modern liberals. After all, "melting pot" implies "white" and "male." Heaven forbid. Arguably, the most important aspect of the melting pot vision is the governmental and legal system of the United States. Modern liberals and various interest groups are trying to change this presently (which is their right, of course), but disturbingly trying to also rewrite its history. For instance, as Schlesinger writes, the New York State curriculum has mandated that study of the American Founding include reference to the "Haudenosaunee political system" -- in effect, the Iroquois Confederation. Schlesinger correctly notes that this "influence" on the Constitution's Framers was "marginal," and on European intellectuals it was non-existent. (After all, wasn't it virtually only Ben Franklin's quote, after visiting the Iroquois, that said essentially, "If they can do [create a confederation], why can't we?") But, no other state has as effective an Iroquois lobby as New York.