Paris Fallout: America is Still a Melting Pot - And That is a Good Thing

Paris Fallout: America is Still a Melting Pot - and That is a Good Thing

Coming off of the heels of the most deadly attack in Paris in years, anger-fueled questions have arisen about the role of Muslims and Islam in the Western World. The answers to these questions give us a glimpse into how well the U.S. integrates other cultures into our society - and how despite the naysayers we still stand out as an exemplary global model of success in this regard.

The "melting pot" analogy for the United States goes back over a century, when the world still regarded the U.S as a new promised land for those seeking refuge. It essentially implies a blending of cultures together into a new, distinctly "American" culture that sheds the prejudices of the homelands in favor of freedom.

That all sounds overly-poetic and patriotic, I will admit, which is why many have started to claim that "melting pot" is and always has been an over-simplification and culturally insensitive. Some have taken to calling the United States a "salad bowl", where all of the ingredients are in one place but aren't quite blending together. 

Some even take it a step further and claim that the United States "has no culture". 

However, I would argue that one must look no further than the continuing successful integration of Muslims into American society in order to gain a perspective of just how powerful our culture is, and why the melting pot is still very real - and something we should be proud of.

WHO WERE THE PARIS ATTACKERS

Bullet hole left from the Paris attacks

Friday left over 130 Parisians killed in what were the most deadly attacks on the country since WWII. Eight terrorists struck throughout the night, using a combination of small arms and bombs to instill fear throughout the French capital.

Who were these terrible attackers that could do such a thing to civilians?

Several of the attackers were born in either France or Belgium and had lived there most of their lives. Only a few came as refugees from Syria.

This of course begs the question, as it always does,  how could individuals born and raised in a westernized, comparatively rich nation commit such atrocities on their own people?

This question is, of course, is what leads to anti-Islamic sentiments across nations impacted by terrorism. That fear that your Muslim neighbor, who seems normal, could be hiding a dark secret about planning something terrible. 

The answer to why European-born nationals could commit these crimes is complicated, and it has as much to do with national identity as it does with extremist ideology.

They key lies in how Europe as a whole tends to treat migrants from other countries. Europe has not had a century of "melting pot" ideology behind its immigration systems. So their policies and culture, while decidedly liberal and open armed, are far less effective in building a system of integration. 

The European progressives, similar to U.S. progressives, emphasize culture and the importance of not "white washing" immigrant traditions. Unlike in the U.S., European progressives have been in control for several decades.

Being so careless regarding immigrating cultures is fantastic on paper and in the halls of your University. In practice, it is ruinous to a country's identity and security. Instead of a melting pot, you get the salad bowl that some would prefer, and immigrants such as Muslims, instead of being integrated, are separated out from the majority in enclaves that breed distrust of the system that put them there.

WHEN IN ROME...

Despite this picture, Rome's fall had less to do with a battle of swords and more with a battle of culture

I hate to belabor the examples to the ancient Roman Empire, but integration was something that they did very well. In fact, there was a whole word invented for the process there: "romanziation." the Empire didn't fall because barbarian hordes stormed over the walls. The barbarians were already there. The Empire fell because they stopped integrating them. 

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." This quote has been attributed to St. Ambrose during the 4th century - Rome's final full century - and it's meaning is deeper than just a catchy phrase. 

The quote in one line describes integration from an ancient perspective. When you go to the place of another, adopt their ways if you want to be successful.

Areas conquered by the armies, filled with natives, were Romanized until the cultural differences were near unrecognizable. The Roman lifestyle, one similar to the one we enjoy today (minus the technology), was sought after by the barbarians on the borders who saw it as a way to wealth and luxury. In fact, dozens of "native" populations in the Empire did integrate. The Empire spanned from Spain to Russia - for that entire segment of land to have one identity wasn't just impressive. Today, it would be impossible.

Slowly but surely the political climate spiraled out of control and individual barbarian tribes were being given more authority in their areas than the Roman government as a whole. It was only a matter of time until the formality of a Roman Emperor overseeing it all was abolished.

In 476, 100 years after St. Ambrose had lived, it was. By that point, it was merely a formality. The lands that the barbarians had inhabited were long since something entirely different, stripped of a "Roman" identity and instead identified wholly as one of the tribes which inhabited it.

...JUST BE YOURSELF

Imagine if the quote had ended with the text above instead of with "do as the Romans do?" Could the Roman Empire have existed, let alone lasted for 500 years?

Unfortunately, this is the Europe we have today. So obsessed with multi-culturalism and political correctness (and on a more cynical note, votes), that they ignore the very thing that defines them as individual countries - a unified culture.

Herein lies Europe's issue. They have a subset of a group of people - radical extremists - coming to their country and seeking to actively change it rather than live there as it stands. At any other point in history, this would have been unthinkable. Now, European leadership lacks the political will to do what needs to be done to ensure appropriate integration by enforcing cultural values. Instead of integration, you have enclaves which are just breeding more extremist ideology as these groups, despite living in a country may never feel truly as a part of it.

Of course, not all European Muslims have rejected integration. However, this is by their own desire. European nations seem obsessed with giving them an option to reject it if they so desire.

This cultural "boom bust" cycle - of preaching multi-culturalism until an attack and then suddenly taking a hard line stance - is not healthy for either the minority or majority groups and simply continues to breed distrust. The only option is to choose, as countries have done for centuries, passive integration. 

Unfortunately, some European governments, and many in the United States, want to see us fight against it.

THE AMERICAN MUSLIM

As a contrast, despite the will of many who I consider misguided on the left, America still has a somewhat stable integration system. While this is being actively fought tooth and nail by the left wing, it is a vital and healthy part of any nation.

The political left dislikes this notion because it assumes American culture (which they already claim doesn't exist) is somehow superior to others. To have them "blend" into the American culture is to have them lose what makes them special and unique.

I would argue the opposite. The idea of inclusion, of leaving your past prejudices behind, and of living in compatibility with your neighbors is not cultural destruction. It is being a good person.

In fact, as seen in Europe, lack of integration has the exact opposite effect of fostering mistrust on both sides. This is why Muslims in America are not only the most cooperative with authorities in the world, but they are often times less extreme than the born-again Christians of our own American south.

60% of arrests post-9/11 were due to American Muslims turning in extremists. In fact, the FBI tried on one occasion to foster extremism in a mosque and their informant was turned in by the very mosque he was attending for being too extreme. 

Some of this has to do with the difference of American Muslims to those in Europe - more educated, more diverse backgrounds, generally more well off - but more of it has to do with the societies they are arriving in. The American Dream is alive and well for many of these immigrants, a large proportion of whom make over $100,000 yearly, and live a lifestyle many of them could have never dreamed of back home.

Compare the nationalities of the Paris terrorists to those of 9/11 - America isn't breeding terrorists. These Muslims were not born here, they were imported and instructed by their superiors not to talk to American Muslims out of fear they would be turned in.

American Muslims are living, breathing reminders that the melting pot does exist, and serves to destroy the prejudices outside of these borders, even in an interconnected society like we have today.

However, attacks like those in Paris always bring out the fear mentioned earlier in the article: "my Muslim neighbor could be a secret extremist".This leads to irrational actions such as wanting to shut down Mosques, stop letting Muslims in and viewing them all as enemies.

The only thing that has allowed our American Muslim community to flourish, as with every religious group before them, is the rejection of those negative ideals. We must always remain vigilant to not fall prey to labeling those who would be our allies against extremism as our enemies, and push them away instead of embracing them.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

As with every enemy we have fought in the past, America's strength is our diversity. Consistently, our nation is made up of those who would otherwise possibly be our enemies in times of war - German, Japanese, Russian, etc. This is no different today.

We must embrace this diversity by preserving the very thing that drew these people to us in the first place: our culture. Unlike many countries, our culture doesn't go back thousands of years or have temples to examine.

Instead, American culture is something entirely different. It isn't about shared history, it is about a shared future and a shared promise for a better world.

That is what makes the United States unique and something that, during this crisis, Europe can learn a thing or to from us about. When it comes to integrating people to your country, it isn't about taking care of where they came from. They will take care of that themselves.. All that matters is how you can make their lives better for them and their children.