Quote:
Originally Posted by parihaka
They do not need to deny their own culture in toto, only those aspects of it which contradict our own standards. Culture is not acceptance of laws, but acceptance of laws is essential to integrate into a culture and add the aspects of your own culture which compliment it. THAT is multiculturalism.
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No. Acceptance of laws is only a small part of integration into a culture. It is values and attitudes that set cultures apart. Without the adoption of values and attitudes of the host they prevent themselves from taking on citizenship of the host nation as the dominant part of their identity; it encourages a separate identity, isolation, social exclusion, which predisposes to discrimination, racism and reaction, which further exacerbates the problem.
If you take values and attitudes away from a culture what have you got left? Some traditions and clothing accessories. If that is multiculturalism I can live with it.
There is enough variation in our culture to allow people to have vastly different habits and tastes without it being divisive. What we want from immigrants is a sense of shared citizenship and I can’t see that happening without them relinquishing the essence of their cultural identity.