Resisting Cultural Fusion In The 1985 Canadian Bombing

Resisting Cultural Fusion All countries view themselves by their ideas, resulting in a sovereign theme of multiculturalism. Society lacks an "absorptive capacity," therefore treating cultural diversities as illegitimate, thus promoting an us vs. them mentality within the culture. So, even though cultural diversity transforms a culture, American culture exhibits the tendency to resist cultural fusion. American culture like other various cultures lacks an “absorptive capacity,” treating intercultural diversities as illegitimate. Mukherjee illustrates this idea of absorptive capacity in the 1985 Canadian bombing. She states, “A terrorist bomb. . . blew up. . . killing 329 passengers, most of whom were Canadians of Indian origin. The prime minister of Canada at the time. . . phoned the prime minister of India to offer Canada's condolences for India's loss.” (Mukherjee, 2014, P. 2) The prime minister of Canada failed to see that Canada suffered a loss, as these slain individuals had citizenship in Canada rather than India. Countries often

them” mentality, causing discord within the ethnic community. This type of mentality manifests violence. Cultural balkanization results when a society fails to recognize the dangers of an “us vs. them” mentality: “We need to discourage the retention of cultural memory if the aim of that retention is cultural balkanization.” (Mukherjee, 2014, P. 4) Cultural balkanization splits apart regions into smaller, often hostile, divisions, as a result, a society can not stand united. When a “we” mentality replaces the “us vs. them” mentality, society has the opportunity to grow through cultural mongrelization. Mukherjee excitedly explains, “as a nation, we have not only the chance to retain those values we treasure from our original cultures but also the chance to acknowledge that the outer forms of those values are likely to change.” (Mukherjee, 2014, P.