Middle-of-the-Road Approach Could Work.

• Position: US race relations - Brief Article

As the U.S. enters a new millennium, Martin Patchen, professor of sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., argues that Americans must move beyond rhetoric to really understand race relations. He says the nation has tried assimilation, which is the idea behind the melting-pot theory. Many people in this country support multiculturalism, which emphasizes ethnic differences. He maintains that both methods can present problems. "However, there is a middle-of-the-road approach that should probably be considered."

Cosmopolitanism--while recognizing different ethnic groups--puts the emphasis on individuals. This is a concept that has arisen in recent years, and Patchen suggests it as a possible compromise between those who would erase ethnic differences and those who want to celebrate them. "A cosmopolitan society would recognize and respect ethnic differences, but not promote them. Culture and ethnicity would not necessarily determine the 'master identity' for any person. Rather, each individual would be seen and treated in terms of a variety of social identities, only one of which is ethnic origin."

Cosmopolitan thinkers believe that dividing everyone into a few categories--such as white, African-American, Hispanic, and Native American--is too arbitrary and restrictive since the categories don't recognize various ethnic mixtures...