America:The Multinational Society Ishmael Reed At the annual Lower East Side Jewish Festival yesterday,a Chinese woman ate a pizza slice in front of Ty Thuan Duc's Vietnamese grocery store.Beside her a Spanish-speaking family patronized a cart with two signs:“Italian Ices”and“Kosher by Rabbi Alper.” And after the pastrami ran out,everybody ate knishes.-New York Times 23 June 1983 On the day before Memorial Day,1983,a poet called me to describe a city he had just visited. He said that one section included mosques,built by the Islamic people who dwelled there. Attending his reading,he said,were large numbers of Hispanic people,forty thousand of whom lived in the same city.He was not talking about a fabled city located in some mysterious region of the world.The city he'd visited was Detroit. A few months before,I was leaving Houston,Texas,I heard it announced on the radio that Texas's largest minority was Mexican-American,and though a foundation recently issued a report critical of bilingual education,the taped voice used to guide the passengers on the air trams connecting terminals in Dallas Airport is in both Spanish and English.If the trend continues,a day will come when it will be difficult to travel through some sections of the country without hearing commands in both English and Spanish;after all,for some western states,Spanish was the first written language and the Spanish style lives on in the western way of life. Shortly after my Texas trip,I sat in an auditorium located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee as a Yale professor-whose original work on the influence of African cultures upon those of the Americas has led to his ostracism from some monocultural intellectual circles-walked up and down the aisle,like an old-time southern evangelist,dancing and drumming the top of the lectern,illustrating his points before some serious Afro-American intellectuals and artists who cheered and applauded his performance and his mastery of information.The professor was"white."After his lecture,he joined a group of Milwaukeeans in a conversation.All of the participants spoke Yoruban,though only the professor had ever traveled to Africa. One of the artists told me that his paintings,which included African and Afro-American mythological symbols and imagery,were hanging in the local McDonald's restaurant.The next day I went to McDonald's and snapped pictures of smiling youngsters eating hamburgers below paintings that could grace the walls of any of the country's leading museums.The manager of the local McDonald's said,"I don't know what you boys are doing,but I like it,"as he commissioned the local painters to exhibit in his restaurant. Such blurring of cultural styles occurs in everyday life in the United States to a greater extent than anyone can imagine and is probably more prevalent than the sensational conflict between people of different backgrounds that is played up and often encouraged by the media.The result is what the Yale professor,Robert Thompson,referred to as a cultural bouillabaisse,yet members of the nation's present educational and cultural Elect still cling to the notion that the United States belongs to some vaguely defined entity they refer to as "Western civilization,"by which they mean,presumably,a civilization created by the people of Europe,as if Europe can be viewed in 11 America: The Multinational Society Ishmael Reed At the annual Lower East Side Jewish Festival yesterday, a Chinese woman ate a pizza slice in front of Ty Thuan Duc’s Vietnamese grocery store. Beside her a Spanish-speaking family patronized a cart with two signs: “Italian Ices” and “Kosher by Rabbi Alper.” And after the pastrami ran out, everybody ate knishes.—New York Times 23 June 1983 On the day before Memorial Day, 1983, a poet called me to describe a city he had just visited. He said that one section included mosques, built by the Islamic people who dwelled there. Attending his reading, he said, were large numbers of Hispanic people, forty thousand of whom lived in the same city. He was not talking about a fabled city located in some mysterious region of the world. The city he’d visited was Detroit. A few months before, I was leaving Houston, Texas, I heard it announced on the radio that Texas’s largest minority was Mexican-American, and though a foundation recently issued a report critical of bilingual education, the taped voice used to guide the passengers on the air trams connecting terminals in Dallas Airport is in both Spanish and English. If the trend continues, a day will come when it will be difficult to travel through some sections of the country without hearing commands in both English and Spanish; after all, for some western states, Spanish was the first written language and the Spanish style lives on in the western way of life. Shortly after my Texas trip, I sat in an auditorium located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee as a Yale professor—whose original work on the influence of African cultures upon those of the Americas has led to his ostracism from some monocultural intellectual circles—walked up and down the aisle, like an old-time southern evangelist, dancing and drumming the top of the lectern, illustrating his points before some serious Afro-American intellectuals and artists who cheered and applauded his performance and his mastery of information. The professor was “white.” After his lecture, he joined a group of Milwaukeeans in a conversation. All of the participants spoke Yoruban, though only the professor had ever traveled to Africa. One of the artists told me that his paintings, which included African and Afro-American mythological symbols and imagery, were hanging in the local McDonald’s restaurant. The next day I went to McDonald’s and snapped pictures of smiling youngsters eating hamburgers below paintings that could grace the walls of any of the country’s leading museums. The manager of the local McDonald’s said, “I don’t know what you boys are doing, but I like it,” as he commissioned the local painters to exhibit in his restaurant. Such blurring of cultural styles occurs in everyday life in the United States to a greater extent than anyone can imagine and is probably more prevalent than the sensational conflict between people of different backgrounds that is played up and often encouraged by the media. The result is what the Yale professor, Robert Thompson, referred to as a cultural bouillabaisse, yet members of the nation’s present educational and cultural Elect still cling to the notion that the United States belongs to some vaguely defined entity they refer to as “Western civilization,” by which they mean, presumably, a civilization created by the people of Europe, as if Europe can be viewed in