Multiculturalism

The most meaningful support for multiculturalism has come from intellectuals, such as those represented in this book, who have discovered greater meaning about the American past by incorporating the concepts driving multiculturalism. The essays in this book engage the word and its meanings, as varied as they are, in an effort to add and expand on the dialog for this ever increasingly vital concept. However, this is not a book aimed at debates. Instead, readers will immediately discover that the content of each essay generally makes use of multiculturalism as a way of examining history and social themes, while providing a broader and perhaps deeper view of nineteenth century American life and thought. One hopes, however, that the book will be a source of encouragement for others interested in the book's more general goal. That goal, which in fact belongs to all of us, is to recognise excellence found in the cultures of the historically neglected, but not exclusively, claim excellence where it is found, and position it so that it can contribute to a fuller understanding of the human condition. Contributors include Susan Alves, Barbara J. Ballard, Jeannine DeLombard, Juniper Ellis, Joe B. Fulton, Henry Louis Gates, Richard E. Greene, Richard Hardack, Julie Husband, Gillian Johns, Verner D. Mitchell, Christine Palumbo-DeSimone, Janet Shannon, C. James Trotman, Matthew Wilson, and Julie Winch