One thing is certain: It is a Labour Party volte face of potentially far-reaching proportions.
In a speech yesterday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that immigrants had “a duty” to assimilate into mainstream culture. He also presented a series of requirements for ethnic minorities who wished to call themselves British.
These include “equality of respect” — especially better treatment of Muslim women by men — allegiance to the rule of law and a command of English.
The Daily Telegraph characterized Labour’s reversal as the end of multiculturalism.
If newcomers weren’t willing to subscribe to longstanding British traditions of tolerance, they should stay away, Blair said.
“Conform to it; or don’t come here. We don’t want the hate-mongers, whatever their race, religion or creed.
One self-described Canadian red tory blogger expressed mixed emotions about changes.
To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of it. Part of me has an appreciative sympathy with the core sentiment, but I can also see its more problematic aspects that contradict our long-standing tradition of respecting diversity and free expression. There’s something a bit troubling about the notion of integrating “with the mainstream of society” by force of law.
Frankly, I don’t see this. Tolerance, after all, is a value closely bound with the rule of law, one of the greatest achievements of Western civilization and one of the factors that have contributed to our becoming the most democratic, prosperous and technologically advanced civilization in the world.
Shouldn’t immigrants who come to the West to share in these achievements be expected to subscribe to the values that made them possible in the first place? Is this really asking too much?
1 response so far ↓
Mike Tuggle // December 11, 2006 at 2:44 pm |
Should immigrants be forced to conform to Western culture?
Red Tory said, “There’s something a bit troubling about the notion of integrating “with the mainstream of society” by force of law.”
Yes, it is troubling. Superficial assimilation solves nothing. Here’s the problem — in a healthy society, immigrants want to shed their old identities in order to become new people, to become a full member of the vibrant, self-confident culture of their new, chosen homeland. But in a country where the ruling elite openly wars against the culture and traditions of its subject population through a top-down imposition of official multiculturalism, the culture and traditions of the host country are now viewed as things to be ashamed of, which is why the powers that be are doing their utmost to replace them. Who would want to assimilate to a self-loathing culture?
The aim of today’s immigrants is purely mercenary. Rather than resembling the old image of the teary-eyed immigrant at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, today’s immigrants are more like the Huns and Vandals making their way to Rome. They covet the standard of living of Western nations while wanting to retain their old allegiances and identities, all with the blessings of the governments of their host countries, who aim to weaken social cohesion, the better to exploit uprooted populations, and to provide cheap labor for big business.