The United States of ?
Imagine for a minute that you moved to say, Thailand. You are living there, but speak very little, if any, Thai. You only eat at McDonalds and make no effort fit in; you do not celebrate their holidays, you don’t believe in their values and do not participate in their cultural activities. Could you rightly call yourself Thai? Probably most people would answer “no”.
Now imagine that tens of millions of people are moving to Thailand but importing their own culture along with them. Would Thailand still be the same country fifty or 100 years from now? That is why assimilation is important – culture matters.
Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tennesse, has drafted a proposal to provide government grants to immigrants who would like to learn English and American history. But the La Raza director of Immigration Policy Research, Michele Waslin, said that while the proposal “doesn't overtly mention assimilation, it is very strong on the patriotism and traditional American values language in a way which is potentially dangerous to our communities.” [emphasis added] Doesn’t sound like the words of someone who wants to be Thai.
Certainly La Raza does not represent every Mexican immigrant, and many believe it (correctly) to be a racist organization, but unfortunately a large percentage of Mexican immigrants agree with La Raza.
To quote Ann’s latest column, “This is the only country on Earth that thinks it's not sporting to consider our own interests in choosing immigrants. Try showing up in any other country on the planet, illiterate and penniless, and announcing: ‘I've seen pictures of your country and it looks great. I think I'd like to live here! Oh, and by the way, would you mind changing all your government and business phone messages, street signs and ballots into my native language? Thanks!’ They would laugh you out of the country.”
Yes, but unfortunately some people don’t get it, and think the country should change to suit the immigrants instead of the other way around. Maybe we should adopt the same immigration policies of Mexico?
Now imagine that tens of millions of people are moving to Thailand but importing their own culture along with them. Would Thailand still be the same country fifty or 100 years from now? That is why assimilation is important – culture matters.
Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tennesse, has drafted a proposal to provide government grants to immigrants who would like to learn English and American history. But the La Raza director of Immigration Policy Research, Michele Waslin, said that while the proposal “doesn't overtly mention assimilation, it is very strong on the patriotism and traditional American values language in a way which is potentially dangerous to our communities.” [emphasis added] Doesn’t sound like the words of someone who wants to be Thai.
Certainly La Raza does not represent every Mexican immigrant, and many believe it (correctly) to be a racist organization, but unfortunately a large percentage of Mexican immigrants agree with La Raza.
To quote Ann’s latest column, “This is the only country on Earth that thinks it's not sporting to consider our own interests in choosing immigrants. Try showing up in any other country on the planet, illiterate and penniless, and announcing: ‘I've seen pictures of your country and it looks great. I think I'd like to live here! Oh, and by the way, would you mind changing all your government and business phone messages, street signs and ballots into my native language? Thanks!’ They would laugh you out of the country.”
Yes, but unfortunately some people don’t get it, and think the country should change to suit the immigrants instead of the other way around. Maybe we should adopt the same immigration policies of Mexico?
posted by Steven Williams | 4:02 PM
5 Comments:
Hi, I enjoyed your article on immigration, I think this is a very important dialogue to have and that Bloggers are making the climate very democratic. Feel free to look at some of my posts on the issue at my blog www.debaterelatepontificate.blogspot.com
But the United States isn't Thailand. "American" as a culture has almost no set pattern, since it is only a couple hundred years old. America is unique as a nation because it is centered around a legal system and common legal values instead of race, like nearly all other countries.
Secondly, American culture is built by immigrants. This isn't just a feel-good bromide, its quite literal. Thai culture was built by countless generations of people living in the same place. Every major American icon or cultural practice was brought here by immigrants who did not assimilate. Even our few unique cultural contributions (jazz and rock music; baseball) directly evolved from immigrant traditions. That's not true about Thai culture or British culture or any other culture.
Well said. We bend over backwards to help immigrants learn english and fit in to the culture here. Much more so, I'm sure, than most other countries. Not only should these people be glad that we let them in, when we do, but why can't they appreciate all the help we do offer them without complaning that we don't give them enough. After all, don't they already come here because they know they get more here than where they come from?
Adam: Much of what you said is true, however, America did evolve a unique culture all is own. Immigrants did bring different aspects of their culture to the mix and over several generations an American culture grew from things like a common language, pizza, baseball, Judeo-Christian religion and values, common holidays (for the most part), respect and understanding for the Constitution, etc. Yes, race isn’t a factor which is why I never brought it up – people of all races can be American, but that must mean something more than just living on this soil and liking the concept of freedom. America can work as many races, but not many cultures.
All I’m saying is, this amount of illegal immigration is unprecedented in American history. While we did have large waves of immigrants at the turn of last century, the flow was cut off and assimilation was allowed and encouraged to take place. Today we cannot deal with those here while the border is still a sieve. If you want to fix the sink, you first have to turn off the faucet. I have no doubt that many Mexicans will eventually assimilate IF encouraged and given time and the nation is given time to absorb them.
Fast-forward to today and the dynamics of what’s happening is totally different. Today you have the multicultural crowd saying it’s okay to not assimilate, many of today’s immigrants have a sense of entitlement and privilege that the past ones did not, many immigrants basically say “screw you America, we’re gonna do what we want and you can’t stop us” and the general attitude that they have a right to be here and ignore the laws of this country. Immigrants at the turn of last century weren’t waving the flags of the countries they came from, did they? That is part of the problem, but it certainly will not get any better if we allow immigrants (legal or illegal) to stay in their own little communities and think of themselves as a country within a country. Our culture must be united and common, not just under laws, but shared values as well. If not, how can we remain strong as a nation when we are divided within by conflicting cultures not to mention language?
Thanks to all who took the time to post – much appreciated!
My thoughts are similar.I believe most of mainstream america feels the same.I believe our government will, once again, ignore us and do as they wish.I have two blogs with entries on the subject. http://npublici.blogspot.com and http://florida-usa.blogspot.com Delbert W Allegood npublici
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