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argumentative essay addressing what needs to be done to diminish social tensions in America and what needs to change in order to create a less divisive society.
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Enhancing Tolerance and Cohesion in the U.S
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ENHANCING TOLERANCE AND COHESION IN THE U.S
The last half of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st showed reduced social
tensions within the US. Election of Barack Obama in 2008 for example was considered a sign of
climax of social and racial tolerance in the United States. From then US became the world’s
benchmark for tolerance and social co-existence. In the past 9 years however social tension in the
United States has continued to rise, leading to brutal killing of minorities, increased stereotyping
and reduced tolerance towards many minority groups such as African Americans, people of
Asian descent and those of Latino descent. United States stability is highly reliant on the social
cohesion and tolerance considering that the country is the melting pot of all cultures, religions
and ethnicities. Social tension in the United States is however based mainly on racial differences
and social economic classes. Racial discrimination can therefore be eradicated by encouraging
multiculturalism in government institutions, NGO’s and the American society in general.
Conflict between economic classes can however only be resolved through economic
empowerment of lower social classes. This paper therefore tries to examine possible ways and
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challenges facing national cohesion and tolerance in order to reduce the rising social tensions in
the United States.
Issues of solidarity, understanding, tolerance and social cohesion is key to a prosperous
US society as these represent the key building blocks of peace in any culture, ethnicity or
religion. Mutual understanding and tolerance ensures that any perceived differences in group
membership, lifestyles or values do not result in social conflicts leading to violence or
discrimination. Solidarity and cohesion on the other hand connotes a sense of democracy,
enhanced unity as well as civic participation (Moody and White 2003; Putnam 2000). Even
though tolerance and social cohesion is often desirable, achieving them may mean destruction of
the very fabric of society that allowed them to co-exist together in the first place. Potential
antagonism for example exists between social cohesion and tolerance.
Most societies often achieve social cohesion by destructive means for example creating
an internal scapegoat or an external enemy. Social cohesion and tolerance in the US gained an
upwards trend in the mid-20th century to early 21th Century by this means. The Second World
War, the Cold War, the 9/11 attack in New York can be considered to be few of the factors that
have encouraged social cohesion in the United States by creating a common external enemy.
Most of these conflicts and wars have however ended. The assassination of Osama bin Laden
during the first term of Barack Obama’s administration for example formally marked the end of
US’s biggest external enemy. As much as this was actually an achievement for the United States
his death created a new challenge for US cohesiveness (Vollhardt et al.,139). Many psychology
studies have shown that once a society lacks an external enemy it starts to look for an internal
scapegoat. This could be one of the reasons for increased social tensions during the second term
of Obama’s administration reaching an all-time high since the 1960’s. Since the US cannot
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continue to rely on the presence of an external enemy to enhance social cohesiveness it is time
for the country to find ways of achieving cohesion in ways which are not exclusive or
destructive.
There are several ways in which the United States can achieve such tolerance and social
cohesion in order to eradicate the current social tension and achieve better social cohesion and
tolerance. Some of the most significant aspects to consider include: embracing multiculturalism
in education, increasing cultural awareness, enhancing tolerance through positive media
campaigns, national debate on racial equality, ethnic or cultural tolerance among others (Nesb,
1).
Embracing multi-culturist education is probably top on the listed as one of the most
effective tools of fighting social tensions especially those relating to racing segregation and
stereotyping. Sociologists believe that children are more receptive to change and therefore the
future of tolerance in the United States is highly dependent on how we educate our children.
Most public schools in the United States have embraced the multicultural approach of education
where children from all communities in the United State study together.
Since the passing of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) in 1974, schools
all over the United States have continued to embrace a multicultural approach in education hence
building a solid foundation for the future for America’s tolerant culture. Educators are extremely
instrumental in promoting tolerance as well as peaceful coexistence. Such a multicultural
approach to education creates a tolerant environment that helps young people understand the
different dimensions of diverse cultures allowing them to developing respect and even for
different cultural orientation. A good test hypothesis is the Arab-Israeli community known as
Neva Sholam translated as the Oasis of peace which created a school designed to support
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multicultural interactions. The school has greatly contributed to increased tolerance and
acceptance among the two communities not only among students but also among parents.
Increasing cultural awareness within the United States is another very powerful tool of
eradicating social tensions in the country. A war-monger needs to create a monster out of the
enemy before a country; kingdom or population is convinced to wage war on that society
(Pizarro, 11). The same principle applies to modern day United States, people need to fear or
consider the other community a monster in order to hate it. It is however impossible to fear...