In the spring of 2004, Maryland Gov. Ehrlich got a lot of press for attacking multiculturalism. Most people who criticized him did so on moral grounds.

Most of the criticism of Maryland Governor Ehrlich's multiculturalism comment attacks his intolerant moral position. I agree with those criticisms, but let's not forget that his position is also self-defeating. European civilization, which those like him acclaim, was the result of a massive multicultural experiment called the Renaissance. Europeans eagerly gleaned knowledge from Muslims and others. Then some Europeans came here to North America and prospered, largely due to other cultural borrowings, from corn and rice production to smallpox inoculation to the African-based music that is a major export today. Meanwhile, the Ottoman and Chinese Empires, which had turned inward to enjoy their own "superior" cultures, were dismembered. Now, as Americans turn inward in our own moment of global power, we find ourselves increasingly isolated, for example by our lack of Arabic-speaking professionals. Ehrlich's attitude is not only unkind and unfair, it also undermines our society's chance for survival in the 21st century.

Larry Yates

May 12, 2004