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Article: Limits to pluribus, limits to unum: unity, diversity, and the great American balancing act. (Multiculuralism and Diversity)
- Article from:
- National Forum
- Article date:
- January 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Since its inception, the United States has engaged in a continuous, delicate balancing act involving varying and sometimes conflicting principles. One of those balancing acts has involved the alternatives posed by pluribus (pluralistic and individualistic) and unum (unifying and cohering) imperatives, both deeply embedded in our nation's history and its Constitution. Such pluribus values as freedom, individualism, and diversity live in constant and inevitable tension with such unum values as authority, conformity, and commonality. However, this historical balancing act has involved more than values. Intersecting the pluribus-unum value tension has been the pluribus-unum ...