Multiculturalism

There's only 3 ways that a country can handle what is, in effect, the globalisation of people:1. Separatism and Apartheid
2. Melting Pot
3. Multiculturalism1 is immoral, offensive and inevitably results in violence
2 has been found to not work, by and large, people 'melt' with people like themselvesWhich leaves us with accepting the many different cultures that live in our communitities and finding ways of accommodating difference - but to do it without compromising the laws of the original country (so long as those laws are democratic and legitimate.)

Who said it was bad?

There's actually very little of that happening even after several generations - except between already like cultures. Also, immigrants come in waves, each generation has has its new immigrants. The melting pot idea may happen eventually but we're talking hundreds of generations, not a handful.

Agreed.

But it (mostly) hasn't worked.But you assumed that I thought it was bad. I don't.

Of course it will. People mate because they feel attraction, not because of government policies. But it'll take a long time. A very long time. Besides, there are no other realistic alternatives.

It may well happen - indeed, it seems likely. But, as I said, it will take a very, very long time. In the meantime, multiculturalism is what we have.

Rather obviously because we're not all shades of brown and what we have is multiculturalism with some blurring at the edges.

So?

Works? This is life, there's no test of what works, it's about muddling through messy human issues. Like democracy, multiculuralism is the worst alternative apart from all the rest. Unless you can suggest something different?

They're not examples of melting pots, they're the exact opposite - enclaves of single races living peaceably within a host country is actually an example of multiculturalism. The melting pot idea is where all races interbreed and live homogeneously.There's nothing about multiculturalism that requires mollycoddling - immigrants need to live by the laws of the country they settle in.Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.

My only concern with multiculturalism is when the laws of the majority are systematically, but informally, ignored to allow an illegal cultural/religious practice to continue because of fears of offending that community. Female Genital Mutilation is an obvious example and I think the abuse of white girls by Muslim men in Rochdale was as a result of similar feelings by the police. It's an insidious threat to a society.

FGM has been a specific crime in the UK since 1985 because it was recognised as a serious problem involving abuse of children. There have been over 130,000 children mutilated but there hasn't been a single prosecution. It's a ritual practiced by known immigrant groups here in the UK but it has been ignored by the police because it's a sensitive issue likely to cause conflict.Parents who allow female genital mutilation will be prosecuted | Female genital mutilation (FGM) | The Guardian it's beyond doubt that the police, and others, handled - or totally refused to handle - this abuse properly. To my mind, it's beyond reasonable doubt that one of the main reasons for this was the racial element. Either way, waiting for proof and hoping for the best is not going to help the situation.

Now, you don't really believe most of that; you know better than to take much notice of self-reports and n=9 can be added to the pile marked 'mildly interesting, now can we please find a representative and statistically valid sample. And the fact that the report finds the most important factor to be 'excessive cultural sensitivity' must be set aside!!The police and CPS don't have many qualms these days prosecuting domestic violence cases and even issue warrants against women refusing to give evidence, whereas 10 years ago it was thought to be equally difficult and before that it was barely regarded as a crime - hence the term 'just a domestic.' Now the police are under instruction to arrest and the CPS have targets for it.The fact is that the will to tackle the problem did not exist, if it had, ways and means would have been found and resources would have been diverted to it. The situation regarding evidence hasn't changed much but the political situation is changing now and we might finally see some movement on it. What is prosecuted and what is not is a political act and that is my only problem here - multiculturalism shouldn't be something apart. If any group in society is allowed to practice what, in other circumstances, would be regarded as offences that would attract very long prison sentences we finally get into these kind of problems.That's what is insidious - the problem is not multiculturalism, the problem is a nervous fear of enforcing the laws and therefore value systems of the incumbent nation on the immigrant population. And that creates problems of all kinds.

The evidence is that a specific law was enacted in 1985 to combat the identified problem of female genital mutilation. We now have a report saying that some 130,000 British children - mostly pre-pubescent children - have had their clitoris and labia removed (and other procedures involving stitching and pricking the labia) in non-surgical conditions by amateurs. They know that it is an illegal act; so much so that they take them out of the country to do it. It an offence that carries a 14 year term.Given the above, it's also an offence that is rather easy to find evidence of given the will to do so - rather more easily than children suffering from shaken baby syndrome; another crime we seem able to prosecute without too many concerns for the feelings of the offenders. What do you think the reason for not prosecuting such crimes are?Btw, the claim is not about racism, it's the opposite, it's a fear of being accused of racism - as the report found but you prefer not to accept, there was an excessive over-sensitivity to cultural issues. Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.