Issues associated w/ multicultural societies

Issues associated w/ multicultural societies

1. RACIAL, ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS TENSIONS

   • racial, ethnic, religious, language differences lead to tension between groups. lack understanding of eachother
   • racial violence problem e.g after london bombings threats on muslims increased
   • sometimes opposition to certain customs & religious practices e.g debate in uk about banning burqa

2. HOUSING

   • immigrants have low paid jobs in inner city areas. result many live in low cost housing, w/poor living conditions and overcrowding issue
   • children of immigrants become trapped in low cost housing, difficult to move away.
   • many ethnic population live in communities where they can socialise w/ members of own ethnic group and access to religious buildings , indi feel safer in these communities
     • ethnic segregation - racialtension
   • when ethnic minority groups spread out - adopting culture of larger group - cultural assimilation. members of minority group feel like they're losing own culture

3. ECONOMIC

   • immigrants claiming benefits for unemployment and housing & putting increased pressure on public cause resentment among other members of pop
   • in uk many immigrants work long hours for low salaries compared to UK born ppl.
   • when high levels of unemployment, racial tension can arise e.g some ppl feel immigrants are taking jobs that should go to uk born ppl. others feel immigrants doing job uk born ppl dont wanna do

4. LANGUAGE

   • in uk, immigrants who dont wanna speak english often struggle to find job. also struggle to fit into society
   • children & grandchildren of immigrants more likely to speak english and integrate into society. can cause tension in ethnic group as older members of group may feel culture being eroded

5. EDUCATION

   • some schools, most of children come from one or more ethnic minority groups, students may need extra help, provide english lessons
   • faith schools: teach children according to religion,. ppl argue cause segregation between different groups
   • holiday patterns, meals and timetable may need to be altered for ethnic minority groups. e.g some schools in london had to close to allow muslims to have time off to celebrate festival

6. BRADFORD - MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY

   • city w/ diverse mix of cultures . places of worship for many different religions & large number of cultures & festivals
   • 78%white, 18% asian, 1.5% mixed ethnic, 0.9% black, 0.2% chinese, 0.2% other
   • REASONS
     • international centre for textiles in 19th century. immigration - work in mills.
     • 40's & 60's gov encouraged immigration to meet labour shortages, immigrants came from pakistan, caribbean, africa
       • 70% ethnic minority pop pakistani due to chain migration
   • ISSUES
     • ECONOMIC - emplyment rate 76%, 49% of ethnic minority men, 23% women
     • HOUSING - ethnic groups concentrated, overcrowding issue
     • TENSION - good relations between ethnic groups, 2001 riots after demonstration by anit nazi league
     • EDUCATION - mix of children from different ethnic backgrounds have specialist language staff to help those who cant speak english