I have heard that Canada has actively supported multiculturalism, and that have heard that it works very well.

joeS

There is nothing wrong with a nation that has immigrants from many cultures. The United States is such a nation. But when the cultures are encouraged to remain separate, with members identifying with their original culture, it creates divisiveness, political pandering and violence. It also tends to cause members of the newly arriving cultures to live in relative poverty by preventing their assimilation into the full society. Notice how Berkeley abandoned Columbus day (a national holiday of special interest to Italians) in favor of indigenous peoples’. This is the kind of pandering that is dangerous. By the way, I have attended a number of Native American (they call themselves Indians, btw) ceremonies, having lived in the Southwest almost my entire life, and we wonsider them a colorful treasure.

Multiculturalism also is based on the flawed assumption that all cultures are of equal value. The proof of this flaw is trivial, but the effects of it are devastating to the unity and common purpose of a democracy.

The “mixing pot” model of America was based on the assimilation of immigrants into an English speaking society, with a particular legal system and judeo-Christian values. Immigrants left behind their identity as members of other societies and joined ours (sometimes this took a few generations and they often faced early discrimination).

The success of America shows the value of the mixing pot. I personally have German, Irish, British, American Indian, and who knows what else ancestry, and this is not at all unusual.

This being said, we have ethnic celebrations. Here in Arizona we have Cinco de Mayo celebrations – from Mexico. St. Patrick’s day is an Irish tradition. We don’t extinguish the external cultures, but rather assimilate small pieces of them.

There is nothing wrong with a nation that has immigrants from many cultures. The United States is such a nation. But when the cultures are encouraged to remain separate, with members identifying with their original culture, it creates divisiveness, political pandering and violence. It also tends to cause members of the newly arriving cultures to live in relative poverty by preventing their assimilation into the full society.

It also is based on the flawed assumption that all cultures are of equal value. The proof of this flaw is trivial, but the effects of it are devastating to the unity and common purpose of a democracy.

The “mixing pot” model of America was based on the assimilation of immigrants into an English speaking society based on a particular legal system and judeo-Christian value. Immigrants left behind their identity as members of other societies and joined ours (sometimes this took a couple of generations and they often faced early discrimination).

The success of America shows the value of the mixing pot. I personally have German, Irish, American Indian, and who knows what else ancestry, and this is not at all unusual.

This being said, we have ethnic celebrations. Here in Arizona we have Cinco de Mayo celebrations – from Mexico. St. Patrick’s day is an Irish tradition. We don’t extinguish the external cultures, but rather assimilate small pieces of them.

What’s wrong with Multiculturalism?