The Contributory Role of Geography

Settlement geography and cultural landscapes, two well-established themes of human geography, have taken on renewed importance in the study of the United States. The examination of regional cultural patterns, such as the distribution of Hispanics in the American Southwest, Germans in Texas, and Mormons in the Salt Lake Region are a few examples of the geographic research tradition. More recently, however, the following have garnered increasing attention and include new, as well as traditional, perspectives: racial and ethnic diversity related to recent immigration patterns, the relocation of racial/ethnic groups within the United States, and the persistence of group segregation, isolation and concomitant socioeconomic inequalities. Cultural conflict, resulting from the competition for geographic space, is a continuing theme in this research. Newer emphases include the analyses of various forms of inequities experienced by racial/ethnic minorities across geographic space (Frazier, Margai, and Tettey-Fio, 2003), the nature of cultural landscapes where various racial and ethnic groups share space, including urban landscapes in transition (Stewart, 1999), and the analysis of functional relationships that are creating new cultural and urban forms (Li et al., 2002). This newer orientation is rooted in geographic traditions; however, it also recognizes the importance of power relationships among and between cultures and subcultures of a nation, including their significance in shaping the day-to-day lives, experiences, and landscapes of racial/ethnic groups that comprise that nation. As such, this geographic perspective is part of an evolving study of multiculturalism. This introductory chapter examines the emergence of multiculturalism in the United States as an ideological stance as well as an educational tool that seeks a better understanding of the increasingly diverse nature of the U.S. society, the persistent inequalities between the groups and the different ways in which these problems can be resolved. The contributory role of geographic themes, research and applications in achieving these educational objectives is also examined.