Sunday, December 10, 2006
blair on assimilation
In a blunt way, Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain in case you've been under a rock, declared that immigrants have a "duty" to assimilate. Considering that Britain has a very large immigrant population and has been tip-toe-ing carefully around dealing with them, this is astronishing. In a long article, the U.K. Telegraph quoted him as saying that Muslims need to have "equality of respect" if they want to live in Britain, that they need to treat women better, that they need to adhere to the rule of law, and that they need to learn and use the English language. He added that if they they don't choose to do these things and are not prepared to conform to "the virtues of tolerance", they should stay away. He champions difference, cheers the celebrations of different cultures but only within the context of British society's "essential values", namely "belief in democracy, the rule of law, tolerance, equal treatment for all, respect for this country."
"Conform to it; or don't come here. We don't want the hate-mongers, whatever their race, religion or creed. . . . If you come here lawfully, we welcome you. If you are permitted to stay here permanently, you become an equal member of our community and become one of us. . . . The right to be different. The duty to integrate. That is what being British means."Since Blair and Bush are such good friends and share ideologies, perhaps we can expect a similar statement from Bush soon.
Labels: reflections
Post a Comment