"Multiculturalism - Tolerance of Intolerance"

Sydney M. Williams

Thought of the Day

“Multiculturalism – Tolerance of Intolerance”

February 8, 2011

While I would have preferred a different venue than Munich, I applaud and give credit to David Cameron, Britain’s coalition Prime Minister for the landmark speech he gave condemning multiculturism. Too often, political leaders, afraid of offending potential voters or fearful of being accused of racism, have tip-toed around the question of being tolerant of intolerance.

While the United States does not have the same problems of assimilation common to Europe, we do suffer from political correctness, an attitude which creates its own problems like permitting immigrants, especially Hispanics, to study in their own language, disadvantaging them when they get out of high school in the search for a job or in applying to a university.

European multiculturism emerged from the precepts of well-intended liberals, who felt it would be wrong to impose Western values on those from different cultures. However, its consequence was to consign those immigrants to communities that became segregated, which made assimilation difficult, if not impossible. As David Cameron said, “To oppose multiculturalism is not to demand the extinction of other cultures. It is to state the obvious: that the laws, conventions and customs which govern a society must be the same for all members.” For example, in Britain, laws and customs provide “equal rights for men and women and they protect children against exploitation by child marriages.” If that offends Muslim culture, so be it. If they choose to live in the U.K., they should abide by the laws and customs of their adopted country.

Some have accused the Prime Minister of fomenting Islamophobia. However, to equate his remarks with those from extreme right-wing groups, like the anti-Islamic English Defence League or the British National Party, is disingenuous. It serves no one, other than extremists who use segregation, and the hate it instills, to further their own cause.

Mr. Cameron went further. He suggested that a society that is open and tolerant must be honest. He called for a “muscular liberalism.” “A genuinely liberal community does much more; it believes in certain values and actively promotes them…this is what defines us as a society: to belong here is to believe in them.”

In 1964, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Barry Goldwater, in accepting the Republican nomination said: “I would remind you that extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. And, also, let me remind you that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Similarly, one could say about European multiculturalism: a muscular defense of western liberal thought is no vice, while apathy toward the intolerance of others is no virtue.