Whether Multicultural Literature should become a requirement in the High School curriculum

Introduction

In the modern world where there has been enormous technological advancements and improvements, people have been capable of interacting in the entire globe. For instance, the United States is full of individuals from other nations as well as backgrounds. Upon wondering of the unorthodoxy of such people, one may want to understand them, which is facilitated by learning multicultural literature which helps in that. By definition, multicultural literature refers to literature that features themes and characters from countries around the globe (Bista, 2012). Such exposure is therefore of great importance because firstly, it helps learners in fostering empathy which aids in coping with racism. Secondly, multicultural literature helps in curbing stereotyping, thereby shaping the identity of such students stronger. Despite this, some people argue that multicultural literature should never be a requirement as it exposes other cultures hence making students assailable and vulnerable.

Multicultural learning is of considerable significance as it helps in fostering empathy towards the culture of others where it helps individuals see the other's perspective hence putting themselves into their shoes. Such is quite evident in the short story "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes after which a young boy is caught stealing a purse from a lady where the woman catches him and shows empathy towards the boy, He regrets his attempts to steal the purse (Hughes and Freeman, 2011). Such a scene shows the power of empathy in helping reshape an individual's life just the way the boy did after being provided with the chance to dialogue with the lady. It is therefore vivid that literature readers should similarly learn to do the same through giving others the opportunity to explain their situations instead of perpetuating and punishing their misdeeds.

Multicultural literature is also essential in helping high school learners form their identity through the confidence gained by reading on their cultural practices. With such confidence, students are capable of sharing their culture with people from different cultures with no shame, which is of much help in curbing racism and stereotyping. The learners are also able to face the reality of life in the world by having the information on those things that happened in the past and what to expect in the future. For instance, "Desiree Baby" by Kate Chopin provides with a discussion on the way a white father indignantly forsakes his wife who is of white ethnicity because they together had a child with characteristics of black race (Kate, 2015). Such is of importance because it explains the way discordant relationships between different races were before the American Civil War, a time when the book was published. Multicultural literature hence helps the learners perceive the perils that result from social construct which might influence them to discontinue such racial biases after learning about the chaos that emanates from it.

Despite the positive views, some people's opinion is that multicultural literature is responsible for making students vulnerable towards culture. These people argue that students would make fun of the culture of others after learning about it. It is, however, worth to note that although such a claim could be valid, it is never the intent or purpose of multicultural literature (Bista, 2012). Others argue that is multicultural literature does not help in coping with racism as it makes the learners develop more fear for racism. Although there could be some truth in it, the literature provides students with the idea of how to react if they face such situations.

Conclusion

It is therefore evident that multicultural literature should be a requirement in high school since it helps the students with numerous vital characteristics in life. A good example is fostering empathy and the shaping of identity, which aids them in coping with stereotyping and racism in a better manner. Besides these, it also has many other benefits and hence should be implemented in high school. Such would be a significant step in making the world a better place by ending global violence where people live in peace.