ABSTRACT
The ethnicity rage in general and Afrocentricity in particular not only divert attention from the real needs but exacerbate the problems. The recent apotheosis of ethnicity, black, brown, red, yellow, white, has revived the dismal prospect that in happy melting-pot days Americans thought the republic was moving safely beyond–that is, a society fragmented into separate ethnic communities. The separatist impulse is by no means confined to the black community. Another salient expression is the bilingualism movement, ostensibly conducted in the interests of all non-English speakers but particularly a Hispanic-American project. In recent years the combination of the ethnicity cult with a flood of immigration from Spanish-speaking countries has given bilingualism new impetus. Mutual suspicion and hostility are bound to emerge in a society bent on defining itself in terms of jostling and competing groups. Most Americans, it is true, continue to see themselves primarily as individuals and only secondarily and trivially as adherents of a group.
