Was asking an Honors History Class what they thought was the most important issue facing America. Patrick, a kid from Africa, said “differences.” In another class, a young black female student said in a pained voice, "we are different." Indeed we are a people with differences: different politics, different religions, … different cultures. Not just here; worldwide, humans are wrestling with this question: how to live with our differences? Can we humans, after all the eons, change enough, enough to accept our differences?
Lately, much of the country has come to believe that someone's sexuality is not really our business; we accept people for what they are. Not ignore, not tolerate, nor demand that people change; but accept. Yet, there are still areas of America where most of the people think that they know how people should act, should think, ... that they have the right to demand that all others change. Does anyone have the right to tell someone else that they must change? Must assimilate?
Time was, most would have said that assimilation was the time proven solution; that a minority should adapt the culture of the majority with the culture of majority only slightly affected. The mechanism for this change went along the lines often depicted in literature: the immigrant parents lived in clusters of immigrants, were suspicious of others and subject suspicion. They may have squabbled with those of different ethnicity, culture; even called each other names. Their children played together, went to school together; took on some of the ways of the majority; and, sometimes, got married, or, even married someone of the majority. Voila, in a couple generations, the immigrant families had assimilated; the dominate culture had gained a few new dishes to enjoy, and added a few new words, a few new phrases, to their vocabulary. A minority was asked to assimilate into the majority.
What is to be asked of the majority? In modern democracies, governments accept that any and all minorities should be integrated into, be of equal membership in, the whole. What role does integration play in assimilation? Is assimilation even possible in a segregated society?
What if aspects of a minority's culture, religion beliefs, … are in direct conflict with those of the majority? Does a minority that believes in female genital mutilation — FGM— have an inherent right to practice FGM in a society where the majority strongly opposes the practice? To what extent does a majority have the right to impose standards for behavior? Even in an accepting society there needs be be norms,limits, bounds, … these norms, limits, bounds, …, by definition,being subjective. All well functioning societies have norms, limits,bounds, … Cultures, beliefs, impede change.
In the United Kingdom, in Holland, in Germany, in France, in the United States, … we are seeing significant opposition to large flows of immigrants. We hear those in opposition called xenophobic. They say that they fear that their dominant culture will be overran with that of the immigrants (and that they fear the loss of their jobs to the immigrants).
What empirical evidence do we have? When immigrant flow rates are low and controlled, is there more and better assimilation? Less effect on wages? When immigrant flows are high and uncontrolled, is assimilation slowed? Is there greater effect on wages? What is the effect of the barrios, the China Towns,the inner city ghettos, the gated enclaves,… on assimilation? How related, the barrios, the China towns, the inner city ghettos, the gated enclaves, …? Some here in the US are more than one hundred years old. Do they impede or enable assimilation? Or, do they provide an alternative?
What happens to a society when,collectively, the minorities outnumber the majority? Is England still English? Is France still French? Is Germany still German? Is America still American? Are such societies stable? What happens to civil discourse? Public behavioral norms? In supermarkets and department stores? In politics? Is it possible for a society to be changed completely? For an advanced society to become third world? And, given the vagaries of climate change: What happens when the immigrant minority is from a more advanced culture?
The importance of these questions came to the fore with the recent onslaught of immigration into Europe, and is being played out in referenda/elections throughout Europe and the United States. The pending further, and of greater scale,dislocations caused by global warming/climate change and globalization makes their answering imperative. What will resulting cultures be like? At what point does the existing culture become more like that of the immigrant? What is the tipping point? Can the centre hold?
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