May 13, 2004

UNUM:

Md. Gov. Defends Multiculturalism Remarks (GRETCHEN PARKER, May 13, 2004 , Associated Press)

Gov. Robert Ehrlich is standing by his dismissal of multiculturalism as "bunk,'' a statement that angered immigration advocates and prompted a county council to demand an apology.

On a conservative radio talk show last week, the Republican governor said he "rejects the idea of multiculturalism'' and that young immigrants should learn English and assimilate into American culture.

That prompted a Montgomery County Council resolution asking Ehrlich to apologize, saying the comments may contribute to ``a climate of intolerance.''

Ehrlich has since tried to clarify his position. ``We celebrate our ethnicities,'' Ehrlich said after a bill signing ceremony Tuesday, but Americans share a ``singular culture.''

"The last message we want to send out is to separate ourselves in different cultures,'' the governor said. ``This is a melting pot.''

But Ehrlich stood by his comments, saying his stance is a "common sense view'' that "95 percent of Americans and Marylanders agree with."


This is the vital flipside of a liberal immigration policy. Welcome many peoples, but form them into just one culture. And the problem, as the reaction to his comments reveals, is that the Left here doesn't believe in that formula, not that the immigrants come here.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 13, 2004 9:42 AM
Comments

It's not the Left has given up on the formula of assimilation, but rather that they've rejected the American culture into which the immigrants should be assimilated.

Posted by: Hunter McDaniel at May 13, 2004 10:17 AM

Nor is it just the Left that has given up on the America of our fathers; for many on the Right, you are wicked indeed if your family to has been in America for four centuries.

Posted by: Paul Cella at May 13, 2004 1:37 PM

What Hunter said.

Posted by: genecis at May 13, 2004 9:39 PM

The trick with assimilating immigrants vs diversity is keeping a balance between the core culture (assimilation) and the "multi"-cultures.

Core culture without any multi-cultures gives you the New Soviet Man or "Pleasantville" -- totally homogenous conformity.

Multiculture without a core culture gives you Yugoslavia, Rwanda, most of Africa and the Mideast, "Frogistan", etc.

Posted by: Ken at May 14, 2004 7:31 PM
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