Part I: Rethinking Schools; Part II: James A. Banks

The authors of the following two-part viewpoint discuss the benefits and challenges of multiculturalism, a value system that cultivates respect for people from diverse racial, social, and cultural backgrounds. In Part I, the editors of Rethinking Schools define multiculturalism as part of the larger struggle against oppression based on ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, and physical ability. Multicultural educators, they argue, actively confront discrimination and seek ways to foster economic and social justice. In Part II, James A. Banks contends that multicultural education gives students from various backgrounds the skills necessary to work in and contribute to a culturally diverse society. Rethinking Schools is a quarterly newspaper that advocates progressive public school reforms. Banks is director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington in Seattle...