Multiethnicity Is Divisive and Basically a Bankrupt Idea

The article by Phinney (September 1996) concerning ethnic groups commands thought. Having attained the age of 67, with a certain irritable detachment that is due to semi­ invalidism added to my view of things, I would like to point out some rather distaste­ ful aspects of Phinney's views. Let me be clear: I am a White, male, heterosexual, Euro­ pean American Jew of Eastern European origins. The whole idea of"multiethnicity" and its behavioral consequences is intellectually bankrupt and potentially fatal for this or any other society. As an undergraduate stu­ dent who lived in a Jewish fraternity house at a medium-size Appalachian university, I can recall my friends being turned down by the medical school, with the added insult of being told over the phone, "The quota is filled up for the next five years for you Jew­ boys." Although affirmative action ostensibly seeks to help the underdog, it has, in practice, ended up being a quota system, and every­ body knows it. The difficulty that Phinney (1996) had in trying to ascertain who belongs to what ethnic group merely illustrates the silliness of the whole idea. Skin color is determined by natural selection, in as few as two or three generations, by the amount of light that falls on any given population. The brighter the skies, the darker the skins of those who live there. Black people in Africa, Indians in In­ dia, Polynesians and Melanesians all tend toward dark skins. Northern Europeans and Eskimos tend toward light skin. Body shape is also determined by cli­ mate. The colder the climate, the shorter and rounder the body; the warmer the climate, the taller and thinner the body. The idea here is to conserve heat radiation. Nilotic Blacks are generally very tall; Eskimos tend to be short and round. From various sources (Cavalli-Sforza & Cavalli-Sforza, 1995), it appears likely that one's physical and behavioral states are about 30% genetic in origin, about 30% cul­ tural, and about 30% due to early experi­ ences (from birth to about five years of age). And all of these factors are constantly chang­ ing because of the pressure of natural selec­ tion from the physical, social, cultural, and familial environments (Goleman, 1995; Healy, 1990; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; tion is going to take over anyway. The notion of e pluribus enum (i.e., from the many, one) is the motto of the United States, and I am quite pleased with it. When my grandparents came to the United States, the first thing that they did was apply for citizenship. Then they found a job and learned English, which was taught to them in a pressure-cooker atmosphere by embarrassed German European, American, White, Jewish people who were taken aback by all these repulsive immigrants. Begone with the entire notion of ethnicity, says I. Emphasizing multiethnicity only accelerates the perception ofdifferences and fragments us into little groups who are fighting each other. There are more important and survival-oriented matters to consider.