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Recently, I stumbled upon some articles — likely written by folks not so bright as to heed your advice on ignoring multiculturalism — who wrote about you in relation to race, gender and homosexuality, and it got me curious. As a person of color but a fan of your sage wisdom, I was wondering if you could ease this smoldering cognitive dissonance. Twitter, statistics, research and even my own personal experiences suggest that racism isn’t a myth and diversity should be fostered. But now I’m quite unsure, so I wrote this open letter, hoping you, your staff or someone else might respond.

“At Stanford and beyond, the campaign to impose ‘multiculturalism’ amounts to nothing less than a war on Western civilization and, beyond it, a war on the very idea of civilization.”

I perhaps love this wonderful foreword to your book and I apologize if you’ve felt that we multiculturalists have provoked a thought war … versus perhaps an actual physical colonization. You see, I’m from Canada and unwittingly, a socialist. Though American now, I will say that my inclusive and equality leanings often get the better of me.

I’m curious if you’ve heard of perhaps Eastern civilizations? India for example has produced many marvels of art, music and maths. We of course welcomed Western civilizations with open chests, perhaps even chests of gold. While it’s true things didn’t work out so well for us with colonialism, I don’t know that I’m willing to go to war about it with multiculturalism. I take it quite seriously when you say “a war on the very idea of civilization,” as I would dread anything less than this Western civilization I call home.

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Q1: How do we end the “War on Civilization?”

“What’s gone wrong? The basic problem is that a racist past cannot be undone through more racism. Race-conscious programs betray Martin Luther King’s dream of a color-blind community, and the heightened racial sensitivity they cause is a source of acrimony and tension instead of healing.”

The Case Against Affirmative Action

MLK Jr. 5'x6' Watercolor @yungrama

I’m not sure if it was your intention to #ReclaimMLK, but I believe the hashtag was meant to perhaps provoke a different interpretation of his writings. Perhaps you’ve conflated affirmative action with racism. What do you make of companies disclosing their race and gender profiles while undertaking efforts to increase representation.

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Q2: Should I worry that workplaces which promote diversity will only worsen racism and sexism in the industry?

“…Perhaps the real problem with affirmative action is that we are pretending to solve a problem that no longer exists. Moreover, there is a growing sense that if affirmative action has not succeeded in ending discrimination after 25 years of determined implementation, then perhaps it is time to try something else.”

The Case Against Affirmative Action

I’ll take you at your claim that Stanford’s admissions are not racist, despite research on implicit association biases in hiring, housing, financial loans…even sensations of pain! But as you suggest, discrimination no longer exists in Silicon Valley. Might it be that affirmative action has helped remove it? In India for example, affirmative action has seen the inclusion and rise of lower castes into power, which would have otherwise been impossible. I’m of an open mind so perhaps India is outdated and “it’s time we try something else.” I’m sure you’ve put a good deal of thought into this by now. I would simply love to hear your marvelous solutions.

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Q3: How do we solve the problem of racism and sexism if it doesn’t even exist anymore?

I have not yet purchased The Diversity Myth, though you’ve raised my intrigue and whet my appetite for your book with chapters such as:

Christopher Columbus, The First Multiculturalist

Multiculturalism as Conformity

The Victims Curriculum

Race and “Institutional Racism”

Busy Doing Nothing

Duping and Duling

The Culture of Blame

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Q4: Perhaps you would send me a copy of your book so I may continue this inquiry further.

Sincerely,

Dominic Vikram Babu

An aspiring monoculturalist

This essay was written one evening shortly after MLK Day to bridge the misunderstandings between Silicon Valley & it’s “Multiculturalists.”