era of ideological conflict subsides, humanity enters. . . a possibly more dangerous era of ethnic and racial animosity.
Schlesinger says that America in the past has stood as an example of a federal, multi-ethnic society that worked. but he seems to believe that this is no longer the case. The U.S. has worked because it has been able to offer answers to the question of what reasons are there for different ethnic groups to see themselves as part of the same nation. Schlesinger now sees an eruption of ethnicity in America, which may have many good consequences, but which he also believes has many bad consequences:
The multiethnic dogma abandons historic purposes, replacing assimilation by fragmentation, integration by separatism. It belittles unum and glorifies pluribus.
Schlesinger's concern is echoed elsewhere by historians, sociologists, journalists, and political leaders, but it may be that the doomsayers are being premature. For one thing, there are considerable differences between the ethnic divisions in places like Bosnia and the separatism noted between American cultures at this time. The Bosnia-type divisions are based on ancient animosities as much as on self-identification with a certain culture. That is,
...