Grant: Is multicultural education more than just talk?
By Dave Msseemmaa
Associate Editor
What is multicultural education?
Dr. Carl A. Grant pulled his hand up to his chin in a pondering pose, slowly tilted his head back, and thought for a moment before answering.
"Different people would tell you different things," he told an audience March 28 in the Cultural Centre.
About 75 students, faculty, and community members attended to hear Grant’s presentation titled Multiculturalism in Higher Education: Rhetoric or Commitment?
The veteran University of Wisconsin – Madison professor and expert on issues of diversity in education said with all the confusion about what multicultural education is, it’s easy for people to feel uncertain about it.
"Some say it’s afro-centric, some say it’s pluralistic…They say, ‘well, what are you doing about multicultural education,’ and we say, ‘we’re having a taco party,’ and they call that multiculturalism," said Grant, raising his voice with a questioning tone.
In his 26th year at UW – Madison, Grant has written or edited 20 books and more than 100 articles and reviews. Grant doesn’t let the arthritis in his hip that gives him an unsteady gait slow him down – Grant, who had just returned from Greece in mid-March, has lectured on four continents and at dozens of colleges and universities stateside.
"I used to spend most of my time writing, but there’s more teaching and traveling in my life right now," said Grant. "Part of what I say is based on my teaching, part on my research and writing, and part on service. These are the three pillars and one supports another like the foundation of a building."
Diversity is not about blending into one macro-culture, said Grant: "I said I will not assimilate. I am an African-American and no matter how hot the pot gets, I will not melt."
Grant challenged those who undermine the importance of multiculturalism in education by asking them to look at the needs of groups. For some organizations, multiculturalism is about equality, and for others it’s about people it’s about people getting along, he said.
"Organizations need to know what they want," said Grant. "With open access, we want to let anyone in the community enter, But some people need more than that.
"Equality is that open door. But equity is…where justice goes along with equality. It’s fairness," he said, summing up his parable about a king and a servant.
Following his 10 a.m. speech in the Cultural Centre, Grant held a short Q & A session and when the audience was at first hesitant to throw out questions, Grant offered one: Who should be included under the umbrella of multiculturalism?
"Some say the problem is race and class, and a little bit gender. Yeah, these are front-and-center, but I’d say able-ism and sexual orientation are in that, too," he said.
Lori Mavity, an early education major from Ladd and member of POWER, asked what an appropriate age to begin introducing children to multicultural ideas is.
"The beginning," said Grant, who told of how he would "steal" his three-year-old grandson away from his daughter and give him as much exposure to other cultures as he could through the stories he hears, the movies he sees, and the books and pictures he looks at.
"(For teachers) there are times when you do have to get in someone’s face, but hopefully you have a program where people can see the wisdom in it," said Grant.
Grant was hosted by the college’s Diversity Committee and co-sponsored by the Student Government Association and POWER.
In the last two years, the committee, which sponsors a diversity-minded presentation each year, has invited SSE Communications, which showed a series of vignettes, and former Chicago Bulls star Bob Love, who spoke about racism and diversity.