18. MULTICULTURALISM IN CRISIS: LIBERAL-CONFORMITY, ASIAN VALUES OR UNFORCED CONSENSUS?

The African-American philosopher W. E. B. Du Bois suggested in the mid-1940s that the problem of the 20th century was the problem of the color line . It seems that, at beginning of the 21st century, the problem of the color line has become even more exacerbated. A United Nations Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance , held in Durban, South Africa in August and September of 2001 witnessed the most acrimonious of debates among delegates and the Israeli and American delegations abandoned the conference entirely. Further, the final declaration of the conference remains controversial in its demand to provide financial compensation for the human costs of slavery and colonialism. The UN conference, as well as the more dramatic spiral of violent events that have occurred since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York, seem to confirm that, in the 21st century, human foibles remain embedded in the unresolved religious and cultural conflicts of the global system.