Western Immigration Policy: Assimilation or Reverse Assimilation? When illusions create a recipe for disaster. William Kilpatrick
Since 2017, approximately 800,000 people in Mozambique have been displaced by advancing Islamic jihadists. Not to worry, though. Mozambique is a long way away, and besides they have a different culture. They don’t have a 200-year-old tradition of freedom of religion and free speech as does the U.S.
Over the past twelve years, 43,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed by Islamic terrorists. No cause for alarm, however. Nigeria, is a long way away, and they don’t have the long tradition that the U.S. has of the rule of law and the protection of civil rights.
In Burkina Faso this year, an entire village of almost 8,000 people were forced to flee jihad violence. But there’s no reason for you to lose any sleep because Burkina Faso is a long way away…
Well, not really that far away. The flight time from Washington, DC to the capital of Burkina Faso is only slightly longer than a flight from Washington to Rome, and only two hours more than a flight to Paris.
Speaking of Paris, a recent Harris poll of French people revealed that 61 percent think that white, European, Christian populations are being threatened with extinction by immigration from Muslim and African countries. Asked about whether they were worried about the idea of a “Great Replacement” (a deliberate replacement of native Europeans by Muslim and other migrants), 67 percent replied that they were.
Of course, things aren’t as bad in France as they are in Nigeria and Burkina Faso; nevertheless, since the massive spike in Muslim migration in 2015, France has seen an alarming spike in jihad attacks, large and small. These have ranged from the Bataclan Theater attack which left 90 dead and over 400 injured, to the beheading last year of a French school teacher in broad daylight.
I’m not sure if the British have been polled about the “Great Replacement,” but they also have reason to be worried. The fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen to the lowest on record. At 1.58 children per woman, it’s well below the 2.1 rate needed to maintain a stable population.
On the other hand, the fertility rate of non-UK mothers has been going up. According to the Office of National Statistics, 51.3 percent of live births in Manchester in 2020 were to non-UK-born mothers. In Cambridge it was 58.2 percent. In Kensington and Chelsea, 69.9 percent. And in Westminster, 72.8 percent. Of course, “There will always be an England,” but it’s beginning to look like it will be largely populated by the descendants of immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, and other points on the Islamic compass.
If you live in a high-gated posh community in England, that won’t be a problem—at least, not for a while. And if you live in the illusory bubble of those who believe that all cultures equally prize tolerance and mutual respect, it might take a while longer for your bubble to burst.
But if you live in the English Midlands where tens of thousands of English girls have been raped and prostituted over the last 15-20 years by Pakistani grooming gangs, your bubble has probably already burst—not only your illusions about multicultural harmony, but also your illusions about British authorities and British elites. That’s because for many years, the authorities did their best to cover-up the rape epidemic. Why? Because the truth would have undermined the established narrative about the benefits of diversity and immigration.
European elites, including media personalities, academics, politicians, government officials, and even bishops have long pushed the idea that immigrants would enrich European life by (supposedly) adding much-needed diversity. Moreover, the elites reassured citizens that a steady stream of immigrants would keep the economy humming and the welfare coffers full. But, as it turned out, Muslim migrants took far more out of the welfare system than they put in. As for multicultural enrichment, Europeans soon encountered numerous forms of diversity they hadn’t expected: polygamy, child marriage, FGM, honor killings, acid attacks, beheadings, and much more.
As the recent poll of French citizens reveals, Europeans may now be waking up from their long dream of intercultural harmony. Ironically, however, many Americans still live in dreamland. For decades, American elites, like their counterparts in Europe, have been touting the benefits of immigration. For many of the elites it’s become a form of virtue signaling. The more they campaign for open borders, the more open-minded they will appear. The number of immigrants who enter the country doesn’t seem to concern them; nor does the migrants place of origin. Everything will work out, they tell us, because, under the surface, we’re all brothers and sisters. As the elites see it, the only obstacle to successful assimilation is bigotry on the part of Americans.
An example of this elite mindset can be found in an unsigned editorial in the August 31st Washington Post entitled “Afghan refugees will know indifference, bigotry—and also kindness—in America. They will also make it better.” Well, undoubtedly some will, but the Post laid it on a bit thick: “[Afghans] will become as thoroughly American as their native-born peers, and their energy, ambition, and pluck will be an enduring gift to their new country.”
American bishops hold similar sentiments. Perhaps remembering that their own ancestors were immigrants from the “Old World,” they are, for the most part, in favor of increased immigration. Shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Migration lamented the stinginess of the new administration: “The number of refugees who will be welcomed this year is far short of what we can do as a country and is not an adequate response to the immense resettlement need.” Which makes one wonder if they still teach math in the seminaries. Can America assimilate an “immense” number of migrants? Isn’t it obvious that Western European nations have already taken in far more migrants than they are able to assimilate? Isn’t it also obvious that in Europe a process of reverse assimilation is underway? Rather than Muslim assimilation to European culture, Europeans are increasingly being forced to bend to Islam. The French fear that a “Great Replacement” is underway is well-founded. And Americans need to pay attention.
Among the many things to be learned from the European experience is that volume matters. Since the benefits of immigration are often expressed in culinary terms—a “salad bowl”, a “hearty stew”—let’s illustrate the downside of mass immigration with a culinary example that is easily understood. When you add a pinch or two of salt to a bowl of soup it enhances the flavor. But if you add a cup of salt, the soup is ruined.
The French are learning that their social engineering “chefs” deserve to be kicked out of the kitchen. Americans need to learn the same lesson — and soon.
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