I̢۪M IN A CLASS devoted to multiculturalism. My classmates choose to regard it as a cultural Holy Grail. If there̢۪s a class about it, it has to be good, right?

To them, multiculturalism seems to be the culmination of the lengthy century-and-a-half of American racial protest that would date back to the first New England abolitionists. Multiculturalism is the end-all and be-all, and there̢۪s no further we can go towards equality.

I told my peers that I thought multiculturalism was bad. I met stunned silence.

After gasping slightly, the professor told me my thoughts were interesting. We moved on without broaching the topic further.

Had I explained myself, I’d certainly agree with my peers on one point — multiculturalism is quite a lot like a Holy Grail. It certainly has quite a story to tell, but it’s first and foremost a relic.

After all, it was nearly a half-century ago that Malcolm X summarized, to an especially receptive audience, his rationale for black unity.

“Whites can help us, but they can’t join us,â€Â he said in his smooth, approachable style. “There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity.â€Â

Ethnic unity made sense for that generation as a way to maintain one’s identity while fighting for equal rights under the law — almost 40 years ago. Odd, then, that his words would still ring true to a great many Americans focused on any sort of ethnic unity these days.

Do Americans forget that black-white unity — and by extension, unity among all Americans — was still the eventual goal?

By now, the multiculturalism that advocates individual ethnic unity is nothing if not outdated.

Racism still exists, but it̢۪s sufficiently under the surface to be unaffected by any multicultural agenda.

Its goal could never be to defeat all racism. Racism is more the fault of humanity than of society. What we can defeat, and what we have largely defeated already, is open racism.

Institutionalized racism was overturned by the Supreme Court decades ago, and it̢۪s largely shunned among a generation-and-a-half of Americans. Self-imposed racial barriers and ethnic unity did all that, but these things don̢۪t do much of anything now.

What more can multiculturalism accomplish?

If you̢۪ve noticed, there̢۪s still racial division and tension. Ethnic groups who insist on remaining distinct from the rest of the country won̢۪t help matters.

Ethnic solidarity of any kind won̢۪t eradicate racism any more than genocide would eradicate a culture.

I’m not saying that the melting pot should not face homogenization — that genocide of culture would dissolve the flavor from American culture. Our melting pot, and the ethnic barriers within it, could still stand a good amount of pasteurization. They taste more of a bitter poison than of a sweet justice.

Malcolm X was closer to the militant end of the civil rights movement, yet even he advocated eventual white-black unity. His plan of attack was just a little different.

It̢۪s not too much of a stretch to argue that students here and everywhere should really be concerned about American rather than ethnic unity in our lifetimes.

How will our generation change anything if we strive to be exactly the same? Our parents̢۪ and grandparents̢۪ racial identity shouldn̢۪t hold meaning for us just because it held meaning for them.

I don̢۪t say this to stir up the chunks still left in the melting pot, but I just know I̢۪m the first target for the unthinking mob of raw fury that would respond.

They̢۪re probably poised to attack my figurative throat in anticipation, and will be the first to notice that my throat has white skin.

What could I know of race, being white? What could I understand about stereotyping, because as a white man I obviously have a privileged, upper-middle-class background? What could I possibly have to say about multiculturalism, even though by being labeled white I̢۪m denied my distinct British, German, Polish and Irish heritages?

Here’s what I do know about multiculturalism, now that one too many lessons have been shoved down that intolerantly white throat — it should be more than cheap exercise in labeling.

America is ready to move on from this sort of tired multiculturalism. It served its purpose a long time ago, and hasn̢۪t helped much since.

Remember: it was always meant to be a stepping stone to equality, not a shallow substitute.

Benjamin Baxter is a post-baccalaureate student working toward his high school credential in social science. He is a fan of puns and bad jokes — a fondness with which the staff of The Collegian is, unfortunately, well-acquainted.