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Diversity in America : Keeping Government at a Safe Distance
Diversity in America Keeping Government at a Safe Distance Author:Peter H. Schuck America is the first society in history to make ethno-racial diversity an affirmative social ideal rather than viewing it as a fearful menace, as almost all other societies still do. Since the 1960s, America has pursued this ideal in many forms—not only to remedy past discrimination against minorities but also to increase diversity for its... more » own sake. It is high time for an accounting. How diverse are we now and what can we expect in the future? Why do we, unlike the rest of the world, think that diversity is desirable and that more of it is better? What are the roles of law, politics, and informal social controls in promoting diversity? "Schuck … sees diversity as a tremendous natural resource for American civic life. But through laws that restrict economic freedom and institutions that squelch energetic public discourse, he thinks the government has turned this great asset into a liability. Teachers and students can't always say what they want when they want because of constitutional restraints on religious speech in school, liability to lawsuits on a range of discrimination issues and the general timidity that has followed … The connections he makes between the familiar and the unexpected, and among left, right and center, make Diversity in America remarkably original." —Peter Temes, New York Times« less