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The Issues That Matter |
MulticulturalismAmerica has always been a nation of immigrants. I welcome legal immigrants to America. I welcome the diversity of experiences, of ideas, and of cultures that immigrants bring. But America has some cultural values and expressions that immigrants should either accept--or not come here. EnglishOne of those values is that we have a common language, English. In places that I grew up in Southern California, the primary language is no longer English. Voting in many places in America now takes place in multiple languages. Street signs make increasing use of pictures instead of words, because so many illegal immigrants speak no English. Radio and television stations broadcasting in languages other than English enable immigrants to delay or completely avoid integrating into the dominant society. This is a very bad situation. It is bad for immigrants, because delays in mastering English will cut them off from many employment opportunities. It is bad for America because it creates a perception of us vs. them--as evidenced by the pro-illegal immigration rallies in American cities a couple of years ago in which Mexican flags were prominently displayed. This is America. You need to learn to speak English as quickly as possible. Schools can and should assist immigrant children to learn English, but the focus needs to be on learning English. Generations of European immigrants to America learned English by immersion in public schools--and didn't just learn it, but mastered it. One of my wife's English professors grew up in New York City, in a home where they spoke only Yiddish and Russian. Pandering to those who want to keep Hispanic immigrants trapped in the Spanish language ghetto is wrong. The incumbent voted against making English the official language. I would not have done so. There Is No Place For Shari'a Law In AmericaIn the last few years, a number of European countries have started to bend to the demands of Islamic extremists. Job Cohen, the mayor of Amsterdam, has called for an "accommodation" with the demands for shari'a law to be enforced in the Netherlands. The Archbishop of Canterbury believes that the British legal system will have to incorporate some aspects of shari'a law. In America, private instutitions such as Harvard are making accommodations for Muslims that they would never make for Christians, such as closing co-ed gyms to men to allow Muslim women to exercise in a sex segregated environment. Public universities, such as the University of Michigan, are spending tax money to build facilities for Islamic religious rituals. Can you imagine them doing this for Christians or Jews? In San Diego, a public school has teachers leading students in Muslim prayers during classtime--and nothing is being done about it. It would be unconstitutional and petty to pass laws that treated minority religions worse than the majority religion; it is just crazy the way that multiculturalists are prepared to grant privileges to a minority religion that is so contrary to the traditions of this country. |