can educate others around them. Young people typically have large social networks, whether they are in the form of social media, in-person friendships, or professional connections. If ideologies of acceptance are shared through such networks, inclusive thinking can eventually shape the way people work. For example, cultural biases could be gradually reduced in corporate hiring practices.

Ultimately, through the study and sharing of ideas, young people can deconstruct social practices and narratives that do not value multiculturalism. It may sound cliché, but young people truly are the future, and they have the potential to build a more accepting and conscientious society.

Your question is very relevant and complex. Many right now are placing the onus on young people—or "the youth," as you say—to help bring about greater solidarity in a multicultural society. How should they do this? One way you might want to think about it is through allyship.

There are so many articles and books about what an ally is and what makes a good or bad ally. Of course, when we say ally, we generally mean that you're on their side, you have their best interest at heart, and you want them to flourish.

This gets kind of complicated, though.

All demographics are composed of specific and unique individuals. For example, what's good for one Black person might not be good for another Black person. Let’s think about Jay-Z. He benefited from his ownership in the Barclays Center (the recent sports and entertainment center built in Brooklyn). Other people of color, though, did not benefit. They saw the influx of stores take away their businesses and the pricing of their housing go up.

What we’re trying to say is this: it's not like you can take one person from a specific race or culture or country and have them represent that entire demographic.

Thus, we might say that being a good ally means building a deep relationship with people of different cultures and beings. It means not just seeming them as a symbol of an oppressed minority, but viewing them as dynamic humans with nuanced interests and goals that might not always coincide with the other people in their demographic.

Think about white people. Do all white people want the same thing?

This is such an important question.  I think that young people need to talk less about tolerance and more about acceptance, that they need to focus more on how people are alike than on how they are different, and that they need to be genuinely interested in the various cultures of those around them. 

As I listen to the discussions swirling around me about multiculturalism, I hear a great deal of discussion of tolerance.  That seems foolish to me.  It implies we are merely putting up with something, which is hardly the road to togetherness.  We should not be putting up with people because they are different from us. We should be accepting them and accepting multiculturalism in general. I don't understand the value in not accepting people who are different from me. They are people, and each must be judged on his or her own merits, not on the basis of difference.  If our youth would abandon this notion of tolerance and start working on acceptance, that would be a very good start. 

Social and professional relationships and communities are built upon commonalities. When we look for ways we are like another person, we can get along with pretty much anyone. When we have an ice-breaking activity in my classes on the first day, I am looking for commonalities, between myself and each student and amongst all the students, so we can have common ground as our foundation for learning. A classroom is a community of learners. Similarly, in the workplace, when a new person comes on board, no matter how that person is different from everyone else, there is something he or she will have in common with others, perhaps similar schooling, perhaps something as superficial as tastes in food or dress. There is always something that we can find in common with others, although it does not mean we should disregard differences. Young people should be working on this. 

We should be interested in differences in others, to learn about another religion, another country, another tradition.  If the interest is genuine, questions will be welcomed, not perceived as rude.  I had a student once who was married in India, and we begged her to bring her wedding photos to class. None of us had ever been fortunate enough to attend an Indian wedding, but we learned so much about the rituals and the beauty of them this way.  If all young people are sincerely interested in learning about others, that is a means of drawing closer together, too.

Perhaps I live in a bit of a bubble, but it does seem to me that the up and coming generation is making a greater contribution to a world of togetherness than previous generations have done. I see young people daily, and for the most part, they all get along very well, at least in the classroom.  I try to urge them to accept, rather than tolerate, to look for common ground, and to be interested in the people around them.