A look at the failures of multiculturalism in the face of modern social conflict.
The recent bomb attacks in London have reminded us of one important facet of international terrorism: that the enemy does not always match the stereotype we give it. On the contrary, the London bombers were by and large British citizens, did not wear the traditional Islamic garb as some of their peers, and were generally seen as mild-mannered, average young men. In short, a far cry from the image of the fiery-eyed, fist-shaking fundamentalist we have become accustomed to.…
Article comments
26 - Purple Tigress
No one should worship an aristocratic class--English or otherwise.
To say England sucks is simplistic.
The heritage of England should be respected as any other culture should.
To be sure, there is racism in England, but there is racism in most place where I have been.
27 - with karate ill kik ur ass
yeah well to each his own.....
28 - Dave Nalle
>>As a member of The Socialist Workers Party and Unite against Fascism ,I have to say this is just a cheap shot to sell a book.With so much racism around this just fans the flames of ignorance.<<
If the fact that you're a member of the SWP isn't enough to brand you as a fool and a dupe, this comment certainly does the job. The author of this article is NOT the author of the book and does not appear to be associated with it. He has a valid, meaningful point to make, and the discussion has been pretty substantial too up until the last few comments.
One of the reasons why racism continues to be a problem in some countries is that groups like the SWP basically feed on encouraging minority groups to feel oppressed and resentful whether any real oppression exists. If there aren't people who are alienated from society you need to create them so that you have fertile ground to sow the seeds of your basically out of date and obsolete ideology.
Dave
29 - ss
As Bennet said in comment 20, rascism exists in pockets, but it certainly isn't the norm. In my opinion, the great thing about that, as Natalie points out, is after the economic reality of learning a new language is accepted, you don't have to accept anyone else's culture. Not that of your homeland or your new land. You can see things for self and value what you want to, dismiss what you want to.
It's hard to totally disengage and you can't live in a vacuum, but the more you decide for yourself, obviously, the freer you are.
30 - Nancy
I don't see how language classes (and who else would pay for them - i.e. 'sponsor' them, except the state?) are detrimental to immigrants. In my area (Balt) immigrants are desperate to get into language classes, and there are 'way too few available for them, state-sponsored or otherwise. And starting w/the kids is even better, since kids learn languages far faster than most adults. Having one common language of some kind to allow everyone to communicate on some basic level is only common sense, and far from penalizing or marginalizing immigrants, it helps enable them to find decent jobs & get education. I look at arabic, & frequently think, 'this must be what it feels like to be illiterate: just scribbles on paper I can't interpret', a ghastly feeling when you're living in that culture. I recently had an incident w/a hispanic man, who had an address on a piece of paper, so I knew (eventually) what he needed: directions. But my Spanish is limited to items on a menu, and his English was even more nil. Even a drawn map didn't help, as he couldn't read the street names. I don't know if this was a function of his being totally illiterate, or just illiterate in English. Whatever, his life would certainly be easier if he had basic English to at least find his way around. Even with all the Hispanics in the area, unless he sticks to the enclaves, he's lost in the larger society, which like it or not, speaks & does business in English. If I were to move to another country, you bet your booties I'd want to be able to speak the language, & read it. Not only is that common sense, it's also (as pointed out in an entry above) 'respecting' the people of that country. Coming to the US to live and not bothering to learn the language, expecting the entire State to conform to you & your ignorance, is not only disrespectful, but arrogant & stupid as well.
A more serious problem is that immigrants who don't merge to a degree into the dominant culture also don't learn the new laws - & there are a lot of things some of them did in the Old Country that are absolutely verboten here, such as marrying your underage daughter off to an old family friend, having her circumcized, or slaughtering halal goats in your backyard. No amount of 'respecting' incoming cultures can change the fact that if they come here, they are required - it is NOT an option - to obey our laws (& yes, that's an us vs them situation) & respect them, which currently, a too-sizable number of them don't. It strikes me as hypocritical that these people come here to live, KNOW that the US is different - otherwise why would they have come in the first place? - & yet they think they're going to carry on just like back home, shooting off guns at weddings, ritually mutilating offsping, keeping their girl children illiterate & ignorant, et al. It certainly doesn't help to tell someone ignorance of the law is no excuse, when perhaps they would have obeyed it if they could have because they understood what was required of them.
Finally, I keep thinking of the disastrous experiment when my younger sister was in el. school to 'teach' her to read via phonetics. It was in effect like multilingual classes. She ended up, along w/most of her classmates, being functionally illiterate, whereas if she'd been exposed to immersion she might have had a chance. I got my languages by immersion, and for the most part that's how they're taught these days since it's been 'discovered' by the educational ivory tower experts that this system works better than any other. So why should anyone expect learning ESOL to be any different? There's a big difference between 'celebrating' multiculturalism a la Milwaukee, & having substantial populations failing to integrate into society because they can't or won't.
31 - Lumpy
Hmm, I wonder how the author would explain the role of multiculturism, in the second-worst terrorist attack on American soil?
I'm referring to Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and their bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City (and by the way they murdered a number of pre-school children that day). Those guys were ultra-conservative right wingers, white, and as American as Apple Pie.
So far, there have been no terrorist bombings from "multi-culti" US citizens, be they Cuban-Americans, Mexican Americans, etc.
32 - gonzo marx
i can'r speak on the UK here, but i would like to add one thing concerning the U.S.
no one HAS to "integrate"
that's right, read it again...this is still a relatively "free country"..folks can do as they like, as long as they don't violate any Laws...hell, they can go ahead and violate them, but they run the risk of getting caught and going to jail
but there is currently NO Law that requires someone to "integrate"
i do think it would probably be a good idea to learn the language etc...but it is NOT a requirement...let me add that i do think it is bullshit to have "multilingual" environments in our schools...there it SHOULD be "immersive"...this is especially bothersome when it adds a burden to our public school system for the benefits of a single ethnic group...many of whom are either here illeagally, or whose parents are illeagal
examples of non-integration in the US...ever been to Chinatown in NYC or SF?....go away from the main streets area, and you might as well be in another country...but the vast majority are americans, a large percentage legal immigrants...and whereas the parents might not speak english, damn certain the kids speak both chinese and english, in many cases better english than many folks born in this country...kids with a foot planted in each culture
problem with that?
it's a thorny issue, but in the US at least...there is NO legal requirement to "integrate"
like i said, it's still a free country
your mileage may vary
Excelsior!
33 - Roamerick
"Hmm, I wonder how the author would explain the role of multiculturism, in the second-worst terrorist attack on American soil?"
What makes you think I there is a link at all? Just because I'm making a point relevant to the current cultural division in the UK, it doesn't mean I'm claiming multiculturalism in its current form is the root cause of all terrorism everywhere.
Although one could argue that many of the more racist, right-wing militias in the US feel that the government is "selling out" their country to foreigners. A feeling which might be mitigated with further integration.