It is human nature to fear things we don't understand. Unfortunately, too often, rather than recognizing this issue and taking steps to become informed, many look for opportunities to justify their fear and the bigotry it creates. This mentality can be seen in the rhetoric around immigrants from Mexico, where the recent discussions have attempted to paint these people as criminals despite the data to the contrary. Uninformed fear over government regulations on guns has advocates hoarding firearms and rejecting even minor changes because they believe the government is coming to take their guns. But perhaps the greatest example of the fear mentality right now can be seen in the Islamophobia that has taken root in recent years.
Clearly if you are an American traveling through ISIS controlled territory there is reason to be concerned about terrorists, but here in the United States you are far more likely to accidentally kill yourself with your own gun or get shot by police than you are to die at the hands of an Islamic extremist.
In spite of this fact, there are far too many people who have never picked up a Qur'an who claim with absolute certainty that Islam runs counter to American principles and values. One recent example of this mentality is an article titled "The multiculturalism myth: World leaders ignore Islam's refusal to assimilate" by Fox News political contributor Cal Thomas.
To validate the odious ethnocentrism that follows it, Thomas opens his piece by suggesting the repugnant actions of some Muslim immigrants towards women in Europe will surely spill over to the United States unless something is done.
It's an outstanding fear-mongering tactic to use anecdotal evidence and paint an entire religion as aggressively misogynistic; but the reality is that women across Europe and the United States already face extraordinarily high rates of sexual abuse, especially when compared to Syrian women. Using rape as a tool to push a political agenda is embarrassingly irresponsible.
Of course Thomas isn't really that concerned about the threat Muslims represent to European women. The goal of his article is to scare Americans into making irrationally jingoistic decisions, because like a lot of old white conservatives, Thomas is afraid of change. So rather than discuss strategies for helping Muslims assimilate, Thomas makes a politically motivated attack on those who embrace diversity.
"What we are witnessing is the complete breakdown and failure of multiculturalism. Dictionary.com defines multiculturalism as "the preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation."
That definition contains a glaring contradiction. A society cannot be unified if it preserves different cultures and cultural identities within itself."
"Our failure to inculcate American traditions, beliefs and history, even in the native born, not to mention immigrants, is rapidly destroying the country bequeathed to us by our forebears."
The problem with Thomas' beliefs here are many. First, expecting any group of people to arrive in a new country and adopt that country's history, beliefs and traditions while totally abandoning their own within a few years is silly. History shows that assimilation takes generations. Beyond that, being Syrian or Muslim is part of who these people are. Retaining aspects of the life they have lived up until war drove them away isn't an attack on American or European values.
If Thomas was suddenly forced to leave America and live in a Middle Eastern country would he be quick to learn the local language, embrace local traditions and forsake his own values like he expects these immigrants to do? Would he stop celebrating Christmas and Easter and instead embrace Muslim holidays? Would he allow his wife to leave the house without a hijab?
There is also the question of when did we reach the pinnacle of American traditions, beliefs and values that Thomas would like to freeze in time? Were we greatest when we thought owning people should be legal? Are the traditions of a 40 hour work week, minimum wage and weekends included in the parts of America we should inculcate? Is providing universal health care, free public education and a social security net important American values. Were we harmed by the introduction of music from other continents that lead to the songs we hear today? American traditions, beliefs and values have changed over time and will continue to do so. It's asinine to suggest further changes will destroy this country.
While Thomas' stance on American traditions is uninformed and self-centered, his statement that "A society cannot be unified if it preserves different cultures and cultural identities within itself." is very disturbing. The idea that, unless we are one homogeneous society we cannot be unified is outrageous. Many people who would probably agree with Thomas' assertion are the same people who are unabashedly patriotic and believe the U.S. is by far the best country in the world. If that is the case, it should be noted that there is probably no country in the world more diverse than the United States. If the U.S. is great it is great because of this diversity and the unity it has created, not in spite of it.
The reality is that what we should really be concerned about is how we as a country assimilate immigrants and their traditions, beliefs and values to make us a better, stronger more advanced country; because, based on how we have treated many of the immigrants in the past it seems that the people who really have the biggest problem adjusting are the natives who think America is perfect as it is and go out of their way to make immigrants feel unwelcome.
The solution is understanding muslims and getting them to understand us.
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