The normative vision of the national community as a confederation of ethnic
groups with ‘unique’ identities and equal status validates the idea of group rights
in the distribution of important public benefits.35 Multiculturalism regards the
liberal precept of non-discrimination on national, racial or ethnic grounds as
inadequate for achieving equality for minority groups.
In the United States, the failure of the civil rights movement to overcome
entrenched racial inequality despite ending legal discrimination fuelled the rise
of cultural nationalism and a push for race-conscious policies in the black
community in the late 1960s.36 Massive immigration from Latin American and
Asia then enlarged the groups with an interest in multiculturalism’s programme
of redistribution. And in the post-colonial era, the international legitimacy of
the principle of self-determination gave moral authority to demands for cultural
recognition.
As a result, a policy agenda supporting multiculturalism emerged. Its central
tenet is state action to promote the equal standing of minority groups.
Accordingly, multiculturalist proposals include, among others, affirmative
action policies, the right to educate one’s children in one’s native language, the
recognition of the customs of different groups in law, public support for
autonomous cultural institutions, and the allocation of public space to
accommodate the different preferences of the country’s diverse ethnic groups.