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By the way,

> encouraging large populations to refuse to assimilate into their host society?

In my experience this kind of argument is originated and pushed predominantly by socially sheltered racists and nativists (or those pandering to them), as a fear-based rhetorical cudgel, with little factual basis. Literally the same arguments were made about every generation of immigrants in the past, including my own Irish ancestors, Germans, Swedes, Italians, Poles, etc., all of whom successfully “assimilated”. My friends who are 3rd generation Guatemalan or Chinese or Egyptian or Pakistani are largely culturally indistinguishable from the 5th generation Italians or the 7th generation English.

The rhetoric happens to now focus on Latin Americans and Muslims, as those are the groups currently trendy for the right to demonize.

Of course African Americans have been getting heaps of abuse for centuries now, and down to today have faced more systematic racism than other groups, so there are various entrenched policy problems involved in helping their communities succeed (but it’s definitely not because they “refuse to assimilate”).




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