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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Section 13 Group 4 "Minority Rights"

This week's reading dealt with the issue of minority rights in relation to multiculturalism.  We discussed the importance of certain programs and aids made available to minority groups who may be marginalized by mainstream society.  We agreed that there are often times, even in a country such as America where personal freedom is valued highly, when cultural and ethnic minorities are not given the respect and equal treatment they deserve.  Therefore programs which even the playing field for such groups are important and not unfair to society at large. Kymlicka made a very clear distinction between human rights which need to be protected and cultural practices which are incompatible with the liberal democratic views she hopes to encourage.  This piece connects in many ways to the other political philosophy pieces in PB as the majority of them have dealt with the treatment of minorities who are often disenfranchised or exploited.

3 comments:

  1. Glad to be moving off these very similar topics and on to something a little different, I think i should be able to discuss the topic of tolerance a little better than our last I could with minority rights.

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  2. I found Brown's view on tolerance very interesting. I have always thought that people who push for tolerance the most seem to be the most intolerant of Christian views. They seem to want to "have their cake and eat it too." In addition, this idea played well with the other political viewpoints.

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  3. Anthony Esposito10:51 AM CDT

    I was very interested to read so in depth about tolerance. I never really thought about it, but after reading this chapter I've come to believe that tolerance is a very essential corner stone in any healthy society. If people didn't tolerate differences between each other, they wouldn't get along (Holocaust, Civil Rights Movement, etc.). I was also happy to read about something a little less political, even though tolerance could easily be mentioned in a political context.

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