Who gets included in the term multicultural?

Before coming into this class when I heard the term diverse or multicultural literature my first thought probably would have been race, African Americans, Indians, Arabs, Asian, etc. I probably would not have included white and it also wouldn't have occured to me to really think too much about gender issues or ideas of religion. I have been working on the readings for our upcoming class period and I was amazed at the reaction Patrick Shannon sparked with his article. I will need to reread some of the articles again but at first the writers that were responding to Shannon's article seemed almost defensive that he said they thought race deserved the most recognition in regards to multicultural literature. It made me stop and think about my own definitions again. The Cai article goes through and lists various definitions for what multiculturalism might mean and they all have some basis and it would be extremely difficult for me to pick the one that I think is the best.

The community I came from was very homogenous in regards to just about everything, race, religion, socioeconomic status. While I love my community I have also seen some of the detrimental effects of not learning enough about other cultures. I would like to someday get a job in the same area so I can see my future role as a teacher including bring in books about many many topics to expose these children to cultures and ideas that they do not come into daily contact with. This means going beyond just racial issues and bringing in texts about different religious practices or different family lives.

This brings up an important point in my mind though. What is the main purpose of diverse literature, or does there need to be a point? Should a teacher include diverse literature in her classroom so every student can find a book that he or she can connect with on a personal level, or should diverse literature be brought into the classroom so students can explore cultures different from their own? I think both of these answers are right but they are questions I will be exploring as the semester continues.