Black Lives Matter: Resisting the propaganda of status quo defenders

Congress kneels for Black Lives Matter. Office of Congressman Colin Allred. In the public domain.

by Roy Eidelson

First came the new names—Breonna TaylorGeorge FloydRayshard Brooks, and others—all added one by one to the long list of tragic, unjustifiable police killings of Black Americans. Then came the batons, the pepper spray, the tear gas, the flash-grenades, the helicopters, the armored vehicles, and the rubber bullets wielded against nonviolent Black Lives Matter protesters across the United States, from Minneapolis to New York City to Portland. And then came the chorus of privileged beneficiaries of our country’s discriminatory status quo, denying and defending the reality of brutal, racist, militarized, and unaccountable over-policing.

This sequence—grievous harm and public outrage followed by false reassurances from self-serving voices—is a familiar pattern. It’s one that I’ve studied as a psychologist, focusing primarily on the manipulative “political mind games” that the rich and powerful use to preserve an oppressive and inequitable system, one that rewards the few at the expense of the many. I’ve found that these propaganda ploys often target five specific concerns in our daily lives—namely, issues of vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. Each of these concerns is linked to a key question we regularly ask ourselves: Are we safe? Are we being treated fairly? Who should we trust? Are we good enough? Can we control what happens to us?

Because these questions are so central to how we make sense of the world, it’s not surprising that the so-called one-percent aren’t the only ones for whom disingenuous answers become rhetorical weapons. The same appeals are used by other status-quo defending authorities when their apparent wrongdoing and corruption are too obvious to ignore. This is clearly the case in the current national crisis over police brutality and institutional racism, where these mind games are promoted to create the doubt and division that undermine the solidarity necessary for achieving long overdue progress.

This essay describes ten of these pernicious mind games. First, however, it’s important to emphasize a crucial point: the evidence of racial injustice in our system of law enforcement is overwhelming. Areas in which scientific research has convincingly shown that Black Americans are treated much worse than their white counterparts include the issues of police violenceprofilingmisdemeanor arrestsdrug possession arrestsplea-bargainingjury selectionsentencingmass incarceration, and death penalty cases. The manipulative appeals I examine here are all designed to shield these indisputable inequities from both our awareness and our efforts at reform.

Vulnerability: Are we safe?

Whether as passing thoughts or haunting worries, we often wonder if the people we care about are in harm’s way, and if there might be danger on the horizon. Our judgments on these matters go a long way in determining the choices we make and the actions we take—it’s only when we think we’re safe that we comfortably turn our attention to other things. Unfortunately, we’re not very good at assessing risks or the effectiveness of possible responses to them. That’s why psychological appeals targeting these concerns are a frequent propaganda tactic of defenders of the status quo. Here are two examples.

Status quo defenders regularly use the “It’s A Dangerous World” mind game in their efforts to justify aggressive action or authoritarian control. By encouraging us to imagine fraught scenarios and catastrophic outcomes, we become more obedient when we’re instructed to follow commands and relinquish our rights. Similarly, claiming that they’re keeping everyone safe from ominous threats is how extreme law-and-order advocates defend bloated budgets and military-style weaponry for police departments, and even violent crackdowns against peaceful protesters. In the same way, police representatives defend the unwarranted use of force against unarmed civilians by insisting that they themselves feel threatened and under siege, and they exaggerate the dangers they actually face by falsely characterizing a group like Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization. If we fall for these alarmist accounts, we’re more likely to conclude that outrageous transgressions by law enforcement are necessary to ensure the public’s welfare and security.

Defenders of the status quo turn to a second vulnerability mind game—“Change Is Dangerous”—whenever reforms proposed by others are likely to diminish their power or hamper their ambitions. At such times, they misleadingly argue that these new policies will place everyone in greater jeopardy. Unfortunately, this appeal often works because psychologically we tend to prefer what’s familiar to us over what’s different or new. It’s therefore no surprise that law enforcement representatives are now out in force warning us how dangerous it would be to adopt changes like reducing police budgets, or increasing community oversight of police operations, or removing the “qualified immunity” protections that prevent victims of police brutality from suing their perpetrators. When we’re persuaded by these and other unfounded claims of peril, we’re less likely to support urgently needed reforms.

Injustice: Are we being treated fairly?

Cases of real or perceived mistreatment frequently stir anger and resentment, as well as an urge to right wrongs and bring accountability to those we hold responsible. That can all be very good. But our perceptions about what’s just and what’s not are imperfect, which makes us potential targets for manipulation by those who have a selfish interest in shaping our views of right and wrong to their advantage. This is exactly what defenders of the status quo work hard to do. Consider these two examples.

Status quo defenders routinely use the “No Injustice Here” mind game to quell public outrage over their wrongdoing. They either deny that misconduct has occurred or insist that it’s been greatly exaggerated. This appeal frequently succeeds because we like to believe that we live in a just world, and that those in positions of power are fair-minded rather than driven by self-interest. So law enforcement officials will portray instances of police brutality as necessary acts of self-defense. And when the evidence of abuse is beyond dispute, they’ll then contend that there’s no systemic racism—the problem, they insist, is merely a few “bad apples.” At the same time, the “blue wall of silence” strongly discourages police officers from speaking out about the crimes of their colleagues. The public’s embrace of deceptive claims like these stands in the way of justice for those who’ve been victimized.

When their policies or actions are criticized, defenders of the status quo take advantage of a second injustice mind game: “We’re the Victims.” They brazenly complain that they’re the ones who are really being mistreated. This turning of the tables is designed to encourage confusion and disagreement among the public over who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s the victim, and who’s the perpetrator. That’s why law enforcement heads disingenuously insist that it’s the police who are actually being “oppressed” or “handcuffed” or “scapegoated” in doing their job; that “Blue Lives Matter” too yet the police don’t receive the respect they deserve from the public; and that they’re denied due process when claims of abuse arise. If these misleading appeals are successful, our concern is directed away from the actual victims of police misconduct and the institutional racism that encourages it.

Distrust: Who should we trust?

We tend to divide the world into those we find trustworthy and those we don’t. Where we draw that line matters a lot. If we get it right, we avoid harm from those who have hostile intentions, and we’re able to enjoy the rewards of fulfilling relationships. But we often make these judgments with only limited and uncertain information. As a result, our conclusions about the trustworthiness of particular people and groups are frequently flawed and problematic—especially when others with self-serving objectives influence our thinking. Here are two examples.

With the “They’re Devious and Dishonest” mind game, status quo defenders smear their opponents by portraying them as untrustworthy and lacking in integrity. In this way, they aim to undercut the public’s concern for those who are struggling by instead arguing that any claims of adversity or mistreatment are mere fabrications. This is the ploy that was used when the U.S. Attorney General dismissed protesters against police brutality as “outside radicals and agitators,” and when the President suggested that an elderly human rights activist injured by police is actually an “antifa provocateur,” and when a right-wing talk show host warned that Black Lives Matter is an extremist political party with ulterior motives to remake and control the United States. When this fraudulent mind game succeeds, our worries over misplacing our trust—and possible betrayal—lead us to disregard urgent voices of dissent.

“They’re Different from Us” is a second distrust mind game regularly employed by defenders of the status quo. By taking advantage of our tendency to be more suspicious and less generous toward people we perceive as outsiders, this appeal is designed to create psychological distance between the general public and those who are most disadvantaged by the current system. This is why spokespersons from law enforcement and conservative media move so quickly to tarnish the reputations of the Black victims of police violence by characterizing them as “thugs” and “super-predators” and by relying on racist dog whistles to promote negative stereotypes. Likewise, Black Lives Matter protesters are falsely depicted as anarchists with principles and priorities that diverge from the values of everyday Americans. If we fall for false narratives like these, our support for the abused and the outraged evaporates.

Superiority: Are we good enough?

We’re quick to compare ourselves to others, often in order to demonstrate that we’re worthy of respect. Sometimes this desire is even stronger: we want confirmation that we’re better in some important way—perhaps in our values, or in our contributions to society. But in these efforts to bolster our own self-appraisals, we’re sometimes encouraged to perceive others in as negative a light as possible, even to the point of dehumanizing them. And since the judgments we make about our own worth—and the qualities of others—are often quite subjective, these impressions are susceptible to manipulation. Consider these two examples.

With the “Pursuing A Higher Purpose” mind game, status quo defenders solicit the public’s support by claiming that their self-serving enterprises are actually aimed at enhancing the common good. We want to believe that our leaders are committed to causes with broad societal benefits, so this appeal can make us more tolerant of the outrages that they portray as merely unavoidable imperfections in the pursuit of collective greatness. In the context of police brutality, “law and order” is enshrined as the higher purpose that must be defended regardless of methods or consequences. It’s disingenuously exploited to justify not only bloated police budgets and military-grade weapons, but also the terrorizing of communities of color, the bullying of peaceful protesters, and the use of excessive force with near impunity. Too often the public is fooled when an authoritarian and racist agenda is disguised in this way.

Defenders of the status quo also use a second superiority mind game—“They’re Un-American”—in their efforts to marginalize critics. This appeal characterizes those who condemn current inequities as unappreciative of our country and the values and traditions that “real” Americans hold dear. It takes particular advantage of the public’s respect and deference toward anything framed as patriotic. When it comes to the battleground of racial injustice, we’ve seen demagogues falsely claim that taking a knee is an outrage against our flag and our soldiers, rather than a denunciation of police brutality. Likewise, Black Lives Matter is intentionally misrepresented as a violent movement controlled by terrorists out to harm the United States. And protesters outraged over monuments honoring the Confederacy and its slavery roots are depicted as seeking to destroy our “national heritage.” When these propaganda ploys are successful, reformers lose the public’s support and are also at greater personal peril from reactionary forces.

Helplessness: Can we control what happens to us?

Feelings of helplessness can sink any undertaking. That’s because believing we can’t control the important outcomes in our lives leads to resignation, which wrecks our motivation to work toward valuable personal or collective objectives. Social change efforts are severely hampered when people feel that working together won’t improve their circumstances. The belief that adversity can’t be overcome is therefore something we fight hard to resist. But if we reach that demoralizing conclusion, the effects can be difficult to reverse. Status quo defenders use this to their advantage. Here are two examples.

With the “We’ll All Be Helpless” mind game, defenders of the status quo warn that the reforms they oppose would make it impossible for us to control what happens in the future. If we fail to hold the line, they caution, we’ll all face dire circumstances without the capacity to protect ourselves or undo the damage. This deceptive appeal is used by law enforcement personnel to preserve bloated police budgets at the expense of other, under-funded community needs; to retain military-style weapons despite their role in escalating rather than curtailing violence; and to maintain “qualified immunity” from civil lawsuits for abusive police, which enables them to escape accountability for their actions. Unfortunately, the prospect of future helplessness is often frightening enough that even deeply flawed arguments against worthwhile reforms can prove persuasive to an apprehensive public.

“Resistance Is Futile” is a second helplessness mind game that powerful status quo defenders routinely use to discourage much-needed reforms. Their message is simple: We’re in charge and we always will be. When this appeal proves convincing, individuals and groups pushing for change are disempowered and they’re left demoralized, intimidated, and immobilized. That’s why we’re witnessing such fearful displays of law enforcement might—in uniformed numbers, protective battle equipment and gear, state-of-the-art weaponry, and a willingness to assault peaceful protesters. At the same time, police unions often show that they’ll defend even the worst abusers in their midst, and they readily use their political clout when it comes to local and national elections. If we believe that we can’t succeed against these seemingly invincible forces, then change efforts never get off the ground or quickly grind to a halt.

Resisting and Countering Their Mind Games

Because they’re designed to tap into our core psychological concerns, the ten mind games I’ve described here can often seem persuasive even though the arguments behind them are as flimsy as a conman’s promises. Unfortunately, as long as these manipulative appeals continue to be successful, our current criminal justice system—plagued by institutional racism and abusive law enforcement—will garner misguided support from the public.

Overturning this unjust status quo therefore depends, in part, on effectively resisting and countering these mind games. One way to accomplish this goal is through what psychologists call “attitude inoculation.” The basic idea comes from the familiar public health approach used to prevent contracting and spreading a dangerous virus. Consider the flu vaccine (or, hopefully someday in the future, a COVID-19 vaccine). When you get a flu shot, you’re receiving a modest dose of the actual influenza virus. Your body responds by building up antibodies, and this immunization is essential in fighting off the full-blown virus if it later attacks as you go about your daily life.

Status-quo-defending mind games are much like a “virus” that can “infect” us with false and destructive beliefs. So here too, inoculation may be our best defense. Having been warned that this virus is heading our way—often spread by the megaphones of powerful, right-wing, and racist law-and-order zealots—we can become more vigilant and prepare ourselves for the onslaught, not only by learning to recognize these deceptive appeals but also by being ready with counterarguments to them. Here are several examples.

In regard to their vulnerability mind games, research shows that larger police forces and aggressive tactics like stop-and-frisk do not lead to less crime and safer communities. Meanwhile, cutting massive police budgets can reduce crime by making more funding available to better address essential unmet security needs in lower-income neighborhoods, including improvements in housing, schools, jobs, and hospitals.

As for the injustice appeals, the evidence that Black Americans are victims of entrenched, systemic racism is overwhelming, from wages to wealth to healthcare to law enforcement and beyond. Likewise, it’s indisputable that people of color are disproportionately the targets of unfair and abusive policing—seen in shootings, profiling, arbitrary arrests, and more—while police officers only rarely face consequences for their misconduct.

Turning to their distrust mind games, the unarmed victims of police violence obviously aren’t the ones who misrepresent the circumstances surrounding deadly encounters—that dishonesty lies with the police officers and a code of silence that encourages cover-ups of their wrongdoing. At the same time, claims that Black Lives Matter is viewed as deceitful or deviant by the public are refuted by polls showing that the movement has broad and multi-racial support.

In regard to the superiority appeals, the idea that a “higher purpose” is served by protecting a law enforcement system that discriminates against Black Americans—at every step along the way—can only be the province of white supremacists. For much the same reason, opposing these harmful policies is far from “un-American”; the number and breadth of current protests remind us that nothing is more patriotic than standing up for democracy and equal rights.

Finally, as for their helplessness mind games, confronting police brutality and systemic racism makes our country stronger, not weaker, because it combats the inequalities that diminish a society’s cohesion, health, and security. Moreover, collective opposition to oppressive and unjust government is far from futile: non-violent civil resistance has a compelling history of producing real change around the world.

The bottom line is that we need to neutralize the manipulative messages of status quo defenders who aim to marginalize and disempower the nationwide protests against racial injustice. Counter-arguments like these are examples of the “antibodies” that can help do the trick. But just as importantly, we should recognize that there are many whose life experiences—as victims of systemic racism and targets of abusive policing—have already immunized them against the false allure of these mind games. They are particularly well-positioned to be “first responders” when it comes to inoculating others. Indeed, this is among the reasons that the voices of Black activists and community leaders deserve to be elevated above all others (including my own).Join the debate on FacebookMore articles by:ROY EIDELSON

Roy Eidelson, PhD, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, a member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, and the author of POLITICAL MIND GAMES: How the 1% Manipulate Our Understanding of What’s Happening, What’s Right, and What’s Possible. Roy’s website is www.royeidelson.com and he is on Twitter at @royeidelson.

If Trayvon Martin/Tamir Rice/Eric Garner could talk

if-beale-st-could-talk1974. Does it seem like a long time ago? A whole different era—before omnipresent computers spying on everyone, before killer drones, before ISIS? Well, maybe.

James Baldwin published If Beale Street Could Talk in 1974. If you read the book, you will have to admit that the experiences of young black men in 1974 sound very much like the travails of people of color in this country today, especially if they grow up in poverty but even if they just happen to be of the wrong color in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Although If Beale Street Could Talk is an engaging and haunting love story, it is an even more haunting story of racism, particularly institutional racism, police racism, racism that is, directly and indirectly, murderous—to bodies, to minds, to communities, to our nation.

If you want to understand better the necessity and significance of movements like Black Lives Matter, read If Beale Street Could Talk. And if Trayvon and Tamir and Eric and thousands of other young people of color whose lives were brutally ended could talk, they might want to say something like:

“Of course all lives matter. But you white people just assume your life matters, and you assume you have rights, and you demand respect for your life and your rights. If you think you’re not getting what you deserve,  you get rip-roaring mad, and you feel downright entitled to look for scapegoats and lock them up or shoot them. And sometimes you even vote for crazy people who promise to get rid of all the bad guys troubling your lives. But if you’re black, you know your life doesn’t matter one whit to millions of white people, you know you’re dispensable, and you know your life is at risk even if you’re just driving your car down the road with a broken tail light.”

For anyone who wants to understand why some people feel the need to point out that their lives matter, that black lives matter, too,  I urge you to read James Baldwin. He’s as relevant today as he was 42 years ago, and that is chillingly, distressingly relevant.

The Epic Ideological Struggle of Our Global Era: Part 2. Multiculturalism versus Homogenization

By Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D.

Multiculturalism: A Competing Ideology

Statue titled, Monument to Multiculturalism by Francesco Pirelli, in front of Union Station, Toronto, Ontario
Statue titled, Monument to Multiculturalism by Francesco Pirelli, in front of Union Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: paul (dex) from Toronto.

In my last post, I discussed homogenization, a dangerous ideology.  Today I discuss a competing ideology, Multiculturalism. An ideology is a systematic set of beliefs that  define a preferred or favored vision of a way-of-life or governance or social formation. In many known ideologies, specific assumptions, premises, and historical foundations and arguments are advanced to promote and defend the ideology’s adoption or empowerment. Uses are often made of symbols, myths, and historical events and forces to enhance the appeal of ideologies, sometimes bringing them to mythic proportions. Scores of ideologies exist, especially within the economic, social, and political areas of thought and action.

Examples of ideologies shaping individual and nation behavior include capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, feminism, Zionism, Marxism, militarism, libertarianism, state-ism, and anarchism. These examples embody different disciplinary (e.g., philosophy, economic, history, theology) and societal sectors (e.g., government, judicial, military, education, religion/faith-based) areas.

Often times, ideologies co-opt religious/faith based, moral, and media resources to further favored goals and ambitions. Nothing is as powerful as beliefs rooted in self-righteous justification in the cause of god or a supreme being. The use of force, violence, vilification, valorization, and legal advantages to promote “causes” is not uncommon. The concentration of power in an ideology’s movement can lead to excessive control and domination, gathering force as they become “crusaders” buoyed by good intentions and purpose.

The ideology of Multiculturalism is based on an appreciation and promotion of diversity among various cultural, ethnic, and racial groups. Multiculturalism considers diversity an essential resource for survival because it adds the virtues of resiliency derived from variation, alternatives, and choices in belief, behavior, and world views. It keeps options open.

When Octavio Paz, Mexican Noble Prize winner in Literature, claimed, “Life is diversity, death is uniformity,” Paz was calling attention to the fact that diversity is the very nature of life — an expression and revelation of life’s abundant manifestations and displays. I share this view, and have written of Lifeism, an ideology positioning “humans” as a part of life, rather than life’s dominant and preferred expression.

Multiculturalism as an ideology evolved in response to the events, forces, and personalities of the turbulent years and tears of change and social upheaval between 1950 and 1980. The post WWII years witnessed major socio-political changes and upheavals in the United States and the world, converging and consummating in new awareness and appreciation of the importance of diversity, justice, inclusion, political correctness, and the politics of identity. All found support in a multicultural ideology respecting human rights, equality, and dignity.

Multiple and Varied Cultures

These years experienced major cultural changes and massive social movements. There was a rising awareness — consciousness — that “culture” was a critical concept, and a major force in shaping individual and collective behavior. It became clear that “culture” was too critical to be reserved for esoteric studies of exotic tribes by anthropologists. Culture was present in the lives of all human beings, both internally and externally.

Table 1 lists some major social, economic, and political events, forces, and people shaping the emergence of contemporary Multiculturalism as an ideology.

Table 1:

Examples of Forces, Events, and People Associated with Multiculturalism

(Circa Post WW II Period – alphabetical order)

  • Assassinations and Overthrows
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • Consciousness of Ideologies
  • Counter-Culture Movements
  • Developments in Information and Communication Technologies
  • Drug Subcultures (e.g., Marijuana, Cocaine, Hallucinogens)
  • Ethno-Cultural Conflicts/Ethnic Cleansing
  • Fall of Berlin Wall
  • Feminist Revolution
  • Globalization
  • Liberation Psychologies
  • Massive International Migrations Waves
  • New Political Alliances and Unions (e.g., EU, NATO)
  • New World Order Efforts
  • Post Modernism
  • Racial Protests and Riots
  • Post WWII Colonial Wars and Liberations (Africa, India, Indonesia)
  • Refugee and IDP Problems
  • Vietnam War, Balkan Wars,
  • Wars and Conflicts in Middle-East and West Asia
  • War on Poverty (Johnson Era)

Understanding Culture

Although culture had long been a topic of study, especially in anthropology and history, social upheavals of the 1950-1980s brought an acute awareness of the socio-political contexts of culture. Colonialism was revealed not as an inevitable unfolding of change as “civilized” progress but as invasive and exploitive abuses to control and suppress mind, behavior, and social position formations. Minority populations, conquered people, and occupied nations understood the cultural relativism, and the possibilities of release and escape from the chains of dominant social, political, and economic orders.

The term “culture” became applied with accuracy and regularity as a noun/adjective: the culture of poverty, the culture of racism, the culture of violence, the culture of oppression, the culture of colonialism, the culture of war. Culture was no longer confined to an ethnic tradition or identity; it was recognized as a complex clustering of self-perpetuating historical, societal, and moral forces, shaping and being shaped, by hidden ethoses, institutions, and definitions of personhood (e.g., “institutional racism”).

Culture was now to be studied, understood, and scrutinized as an explanation for understanding past, present, and future. Social, political, and economic leaders with insights into the abuses of history maintained in dominant cultures challenged sources of domination and control. Leaders became lightning rods for social change – voices crystallizing protests, and illuminating abuses and violence inherent in power asymmetries. It was a time for change in the social fabric and the moral order.

The tolls of raising consciousness regarding marginalized people brought violence and death to many leaders. Consider the examples of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Black Panthers, Ignacio Martin-Baro, as well as elected national leaders considered threats to existing Western social orders, including Mossadegh in Iran, Allende in Chile, Mandela in South Africa, Zapata in Mexico, Patrice Lumumba in the Congo. Here William Blum’s (2004) book, Killing Hope, Stephen Kinzer’s (2006) book, Overthrow, and Chalmers Johnson (2010), book, Dismantling the Empire, become essential reading – harbingers of our future, by acknowledging past crimes and offenses. The social, economic, and political roots of “culture” became the path to for understanding injustice and resisting oppression. Multiculturalism became an ideology for correcting for history’s abuses. Colonization is always colonization of mind (Goodman & Gorski, 2014).

Multiculturalism in Counseling, Psychology, and Psychiatry

It was only a matter of time before revolutionary thinkers–including Paulo Friere (1997) in his volumes on pedagogies and Ignacio Martin-Baro (1994), in his volume Writings for a Liberation Psychology– recognized the inherent abuses associated within Western psychologies of political domination, repression, and control. Tod Sloan (1997) acknowledged this reality when he concluded Western psychology was a source for perpetuating “Westernization” as an ideology, replete with its ill-suited values and methods for a changing world.

Multiculturalism acknowledges and emphasizes the role of the distribution of “power” in every domain of human activity. All relations are ultimately about power and its distribution. Even those areas claiming immunity from political interference and power distribution are, in fact, subject to it by guiding thought and practices according to the preferences, wishes, and concerns of those in power.

The term “inclusive” became popular to describe to the importance of “including” people – giving them access and acceptance – because they had been ignored or denied a spectrum of opportunities and services. The playing field was being expanded, but it did not guarantee those in power would yield their largesse. We know that “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and this was the case in our nation and around the world as Western political and economic dominance pursued hegemony.

With hegemony came abuses of invading and occupying another nation — often a third- world nation — by imposing and infusing cultural values and traditions. It was a new way to conquer and control using American popular culture as the strategy for control and domination (e.g., individualism, consumerism, commodification, competition, materialism, celebritization, corruption, technology). This was now the pathway for forcing a “homogenization” of world cultures. Differences existed, but efforts were made to deny them because they challenged the hegemony of those in power. The task for the government/corporate system was invasion by “cultural” conquest, and “colonization of mind” (e.g., Goodman & Gorski, 2014).

Amidst an ocean of ideological struggles in a global era, it is clear “Multiculturalism” was, and is, the essential ideology for a global era! Accepting and implementing this ideology among individuals, groups, and nations remains the task of our times. In contrast to homogenization, the preferred ideology of those in power and position seeking control and domination, Multiculturalism embraces the reality of life’s diversity and differences – the beauty of variation. All other ideologies “pale” in complexion, complexity, and comparison.

Author:  Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822. He is the author and editor of twenty books, and more than 300 publications noted for challenging the ethnocentricity and biases of Western psychology and psychiatry, and for advocating peace and social justice.