Keep the Immigrants, Deport the Multiculturalists

[didymus]

from the WSJ:

Keep the Immigrants, Deport the Multiculturalists

. . . . .

Well, I have a theory, and it is that Americans are basically pro-immigrant but ambivalent about it. This ambivalence is reflected in polls, which of course provide different results based on how questions are asked. For example, last year a CBS News poll asked, “Should illegal immigrants be prosecuted and deported or shouldn’t they?” And 69% of respondents favored deportation. When the same interviewers asked the same respondents what should happen to illegal immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. for at least two years, and then offered a specific alternative to deportation, only 33% favored deportation; 62% said they should be given a chance to keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status.

When a separate Gallup poll asked a similar question but offered four alternatives, just 13% favored deportation, and 78% said illegal immigrants should be allowed to keep their jobs and apply for citizenship.

In other words, for all the loud talk we’ve heard in recent months, via cable news, talk radio and the blogosphere, the American public seems not to have lost confidence in the melting pot. And rightly so, because there’s plenty of evidence that assimilation is proceeding apace. True, it doesn’t always seem that way, but we all know that perceptions can sometimes be illusions.

. . . . .

If American culture is under assault today, it’s not from immigrants who aren’t assimilating but from liberal elites who reject the concept of assimilation. For multiculturalists, and particularly those in the academy, assimilation is a dirty word. A values-neutral belief system is embraced by some to avoid having to judge one culture as superior or inferior to another. Others reject the assimilationist paradigm outright on the grounds that the U.S. hasn’t always lived up to its ideals. America slaughtered Indians and enslaved blacks, goes the argument, and this wicked history means we have no right to impose a value system on others.

But social conservatives who want to seal the border in response to these left-wing elites are directing their wrath at the wrong people. The problem isn’t the immigrants. The problem is the militant multiculturalists who want to turn America into some loose federation of ethnic and racial groups. The political right should continue to push back against bilingual education advocates, anti-American Chicano Studies professors, Spanish-language ballots, ethnically gerrymandered voting districts, La Raza’s big-government agenda and all the rest. But these problems weren’t created by the women burping our babies and changing linen at our hotels, or by the men picking lettuce in Yuma and building homes in Iowa City.

Keep the immigrants. Deport the Columbia faculty.

Gimme a big AMEN!!

 

[The_Barbarian]

Sorry, no “amen” from me. The rightwing social engineers who would disassemble ethnic neighborhoods in the name of “assimilation” are completely at odds with American values.

From the start we were diverse. Dutch, English, French. Later, Irish, German, Italian, and then Hispanic (some of whom have lived here in the continental US longer than anyone of English descent). The French spoken in Southern Louisiana dates back from the 16th century, and has been there longer than English. It’s OK.

Each of those groups brought language and culture and values that were incorporated into the American way, and enriched it.

You don’t like Cinco de Mayo? How about St. Patrick’s Day? Columbus day? Like it or not, America is changing, as it has always changed. Be an American, and enjoy it; it’s the source of our strength.

It isn’t about ethnicity; it’s about American values. If diversity bothers you, do your blood pressure a favor and find someplace where it isn’t valued.

 

[system]

Sorry, no “amen” from me. The rightwing social engineers who would disassemble ethnic neighborhoods in the name of “assimilation” are completely at odds with American values.

From the start we were diverse. Dutch, English, French. Later, Irish, German, Italian, and then Hispanic (some of whom have lived here in the continental US longer than anyone of English descent). The French spoken in Southern Louisiana dates back from the 16th century, and has been there longer than English. It’s OK.

Each of those groups brought language and culture and values that were incorporated into the American way, and enriched it.

You don’t like Cinco de Mayo? How about St. Patrick’s Day? Columbus day? Like it or not, America is changing, as it has always changed. Be an American, and enjoy it; it’s the source of our strength.

It isn’t about ethnicity; it’s about American values. If diversity bothers you, do your blood pressure a favor and find someplace where it isn’t valued.

WOW! I agree with The Barbarian.

My kids get spanish twice a week in Elementary school. I’m glad. I want them to have every possible advantage and understanding the language of over 50 million americans could come in handy.

As for who this guy is blaming, maybe he’s just upset with his mother and father in law since they are both University professors in Eastern “liberal” universities.

As for me, whose ancestor came here alone, poor and hungry, and probably landed in Canada and walked across the border illegally, I feel more a sense of brotherhood and kinship with the millions of Catholic mexicans coming here, than the millions of Catholics in Country clubs (which would have excluded them 25 years ago for being Catholic) talking about evil liberal leftist elites.

 

[The_Barbarian]

Think multiculturalism weakens America? Ask the Japanese code breakers, who intercepted radio transmissions between Navajo soldiers using their traditional language in WWII.

They never did figure it out, and it was a huge factor in the victory in the Pacific. We could break their code, but they couldn’t break ours.

 

[Leeta]

Yes, being bilingual is great and laudable. I am too. We need to observe the laws though. Everyone should be able to speak and understand English who wants to become a citizen. Everyone else in the world wants to do so even if they never come to the US!

Clinton ordered all government documents printed in every possible language, even ballots! That needs to go.There is no point in having a ballot printed in a foreign language because knowledge of English is necessary in order to participate in our society! If they are not citizens, they have no business voting. If they can’t speak of understand English there is no point in trying to become a citizen.

I lived in a foreign country and we had to apply for residence permits every year and then every three years thereafter. Also, my husband’s employer had to apply for a work permit for my husband with every job. The last time he could not get one, so we had to leave. I find nothing unreasonable about this.

 

[Leeta]

Yes, being bilingual is great and laudable. I am too. We need to observe the laws though. Everyone should be able to speak and understand English who wants to become a citizen. Everyone else in the world wants to do so even if they never come to the US!

Clinton ordered all government documents printed in every possible language, even ballots! That needs to go.There is no point in having a ballot printed in a foreign language because knowledge of English is necessary in order to participate in our society! If they are not citizens, they have no business voting. If they can’t speak of understand English there is no point in trying to become a citizen.

I lived in a foreign country and we had to apply for residence permits every year and then every three years thereafter. Also, my husband’s employer had to apply for a work permit for my husband with every job. The last time he could not get one, so we had to leave. I find nothing unreasonable about this.

 

[rlg94086]

Sorry, no “amen” from me. The rightwing social engineers who would disassemble ethnic neighborhoods in the name of “assimilation” are completely at odds with American values.

From the start we were diverse. Dutch, English, French. Later, Irish, German, Italian, and then Hispanic (some of whom have lived here in the continental US longer than anyone of English descent). The French spoken in Southern Louisiana dates back from the 16th century, and has been there longer than English. It’s OK.

Each of those groups brought language and culture and values that were incorporated into the American way, and enriched it.

You don’t like Cinco de Mayo? How about St. Patrick’s Day? Columbus day? Like it or not, America is changing, as it has always changed. Be an American, and enjoy it; it’s the source of our strength.

It isn’t about ethnicity; it’s about American values. If diversity bothers you, do your blood pressure a favor and find someplace where it isn’t valued.

I sort of agree with you. I believe assimilation is important, but I agree with you that the separate neighborhoods and language are an American tradition. The next generation generally speaks both English and their parent’s native tongue. The third generation may or may not speak both languages, but they do speak English.

I think the only problem with “multiculturalists” and where I agree with the author of the article, is when they try to push the idea of the whole country becoming bilingual Spanish due to the high number of immigrants with Spanish-speaking origins. This is new for the country and IMHO unnecessary.

Most immigrants want their kids to learn English, because they know the advantage to their kids to speak the lingua franca of the United States. Personally, I think the best thing we can do as Catholics is to embrace the new immigrants as fellow Catholics and help them to learn English, so we can worship together and become one community. Certainly, if we can learn Spanish, that would help us in that goal. Certainly, if we can share in each others’ cultural traditions, we will all be richer for it.