American Cultural Pluralism and Law: An Innovative Interdisciplinary Course

Extract

During the 1987 Iran/Contra hearings, Senator George J. Mitchell of Maine spoke eloquently about the importance of the rule of law in a culturally pluralistic nation like the United States:

Most nations derive from a single tribe or a single race. They practice a single religion. Common racial, ethnic, and religious heritages are the glue of nationhood for many.

The United States is different. We have all races, all religions, a limited common heritage. The glue of nationhood for us is the American ideal of individual liberty and equal justice.

The rule of law is critical in our society. The law is the great equalizer, because everybody in America is equal before the law.

The students we teach live in what is certainly one of the most culturally pluralistic cities, and nations, in the world. They are increasingly part of a society in which this pluralism affects them either as members of cultural minorities, or as members of the so-called dominant culture who interact with many different cultural groups. As a cultural anthropologist and a political scientist teaching in a college with a focus on law and justice, we felt it important to bring to our students a deeper understanding of the possibilities and problems of cultural pluralism in a democratic, constitutional society. While Senator Mitchell's words surely express a fundamental ideal in American society, how closely these words express the reality experienced in American society is a question that had long interested us.