ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 investigates diversity in the United States through the 1980s and 1990s. The United States was regaining much of its confidence after hitting rock bottom in the 1970s, in the process renewing the ideological power of diversity. At the same time, however, what some called a “new tribalism” could be detected, an evolution of the fragmentation of the previous decade. Through the 1980s, the struggle over national identity became increasingly contested as the traditional narrative steeped in a white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant view of the world was challenged by alternative perspectives.
By 1990, there was little doubt that the “culture wars” were proving to be a major divisive force across the country. Issues relating to race and, more generally, the subjects of both multiculturalism and cultural pluralism became main topics in the national conversation. “We the peoples” was an apt riff on the first words of the preamble of the Constitution, illustrating the nation’s sharp turn toward pluralism. The balance of national identity had shifted, with many wondering if there was any common ground among the American people.
