ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the complexities of defining American culture in a multicultural nation and world. It also discusses American multicultural society in the context of the first goal of multicultural education, which is understanding the cultural differences in how students see, know, and interrelate with knowledge and society. The book explores differences in ways of seeing, knowing, and interrelating with world of Native Americans, Hawaiians, and Puerto Ricans. It deals with the issues of biculturalism and multicultural minds. The book also presents various questions to the class after examining the material on mobility into the power elite. They are should multicultural education focus on preparing students to succeed in the economic system? should multicultural education focus on maintaining diverse cultures? and can multicultural education preserve diverse cultures while preparing students for economic success in the dominant culture?
