JSPES, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer 2005 )
pp. 203-239

Multiculturalism's Context and Ideological Implications

Dwight D. Murphey

It is becoming increasingly recognized that the changing demographic caused by large-scale immigration and the declining birthrate among the peoples of the West is challenging the long-term continued existence of Western civilization as we have known it. This challenge is given voice today by the ideology of "multiculturalism," which deflates Western culture while exalting the perspective and ways of life of non-European peoples who are coming to live in the West. This article explores the historic forces that provide the larger context for this challenge, the facts about the demographic shift that is occurring, and many (though by no means all) of the nuances and implications of multiculturalist ideology.