The U.S. has had ghettos (not meant pejoratively) since it was formed. SF has little China; the Vietnamese in Houston; Little Cuba in Miami. NYC has had "islands" of sub-groups from Ireland, China, Poland, Russia, etc. for decades.

What happens with them is that the residents come from their original country and then move to that area. But over time they, and their children, disperse into the rest of the community and the country.

If a particular area gets crime-ridden by trying to stick to the original laws and customs that are not acceptable in the U.S. -- there is a crackdown on that area. It is a carrot and stick approach -- the oppressed are told this is not right -- the oppressors are taken out (by hook or by crook).

This doesn't always work, notably the polygamist communities in Utah, but there is some outreach to them. It also depends on the local law enforcement and government wanting to make a change.

My worry is getting PC crowd over their "non-prejudiced" view enough to realize that it is not acceptable to have honor killings, mutilations, FGM, etc. in the U.S. regardless of your origins. If that doesn't happen soon enough, the U.S. will be lost.

Where did the "right-wing president" comment come from?

Is somebody trying to paint this guy as a bigot for insisting that France be France?

Isn't France one of the countries with the biggest problem with little self-isolated muslim neighborhoods that aren't integrating?

BF and a neighbor were talking about this last night. The neighbor said "since when did we become the 'Diversified States of America'? I always thought we were the United States of America? If you don't like it here, go the eff home already! And take your honor killings and your sharia law with you!" So at least we know some people are getting it. This guy who was talking with BF is originally from Iran, so I was surprised to hear him say that, and I said so. He told me "when I came here, I was very young, and stupid. Living here has taught me a lot about what's right, and what's right is NOT letting ignorance about Islam excuse its extremism. There are some things about Islam's teachings that are heinous and should not be allowed or condoned, ever!"

Here's how multiculturalism used to work.

You move to a new country, and bring your culture with you. Others see the things you do (types of foods, holiday practices, etc) and say "Hey, that's cool, I'm gonna do that too". You, OTOH, see all the things the people of the new country do (different foods, holiday practices, not beating women for all and sundry, etc) and say "Hey, that's cool, I'm gonna try that". And as time passes, you get a national culture made up of...multiple cultures.

@Vinnie - That was when we were a melting pot. The leftists wanted to balkanize the free world because it's easier to subjugate people who hate each other for tribal reasons.

agree with the article extract 100 percent. If the PC crowd here has it's way, we will all be attending the prayer sessions all day friday. And Brian, your last comment makes absolutely no sense, wanna add to that thought?

@ronc - it only makes no sense because you have a room temperature IQ. As evidenced by everything you've ever posted here.

Let me break it down for you. Leftists seek one thing, and one thing only - power over others. They can't do that if people are paying attention. How to overcome this? Divide and conquer. Split people off into little splinter groups, set them up with grievances against each other, and then offer to resolve those grievances in exchange for some freedom.

But everyone has to admit that France has become a country of immigrants and it is very difficult to promote the traditional French values in such an environment so I think a certain change it the approach toward the French identity needs to be implemented.

"a certain change it the approach toward the French identity needs to be implemented."

WTF does that mean.

Isn't France one of the countries with the biggest problem with little self-isolated muslim neighborhoods that aren't integrating?

No offense to Sarko, but that's a two-way problem. The North African immigrants are noticably not French and they are discriminated against because of that.

Read more at Wikipedia. Since this is current and controversial, you should dig deeper than the Wiki article and look thru the external links.

Multiculturalism has failed, but you can't keep France for the French and wonder why your immigrants are some what hostile.

"a certain change it the approach toward the French identity needs to be implemented."

WTF does that mean.

A Gaulic looking French man/woman speaking perfect French. In modern times, that might be an Algerian-looking youth speaking a mash of French, English and Arabic because he hasn't mastered perfect French just yet, or maybe even never.

Brian, based on your approach to wearing seatbelts, you are the one with a rather low IQ. I actually work in the sciences and have a very high IQ, but I really dont give a shit what you think. Balkanization has absolutely no relation to the liberal left wanting to run your lives. All of Europe is "balkanized", the only difference is in the balkans they are still killing each other over petty differences. France's problems are that they have allowed rampant uncontrolled immigration, much like the US. Muslims generally do not assimilate, another strike. They are finally awake, but with a left leaning society they will not have the balls to rectify the situation and start kicking some butts and dropping some headscarves. Much like the US lacks the guts to throw out their illegals

""a certain change it the approach toward the French identity needs to be implemented."

WTF does that mean. "

I think what she's talking about is that whether your are English or French or Spanish or German is still defined primarily by where you are born. There's the old saying that a one-day-old baby brought into France will never be truly French no matter how long they live there. There's still some of the old-time tribalism in Europe, and European countries in general struggle to assimilate immigrants because of it. However, it's certainly not all their fault; radicalized Muslims will be very difficult for any Western nation to assimilate, because the Muslims in question think of themselves not as immigrants in search of a new life, but as invaders.

When France had colonies, those colonized were French. north Africa, Haiti, Tahiti, Indochina--didn't matter, you spoke French, were French. After WW2, when the gov't went left and guilt over Algeria took over, France let immigrants cling to their native ways. Now, Paris is ringed with slums full of angry, disaffected Muslim young people who don't fit in anywhere.

Ironically, Sarkozy isnt really French.

Brian, based on your approach to wearing seatbelts, you are the one with a rather low IQ. I actually work in the sciences and have a very high IQ, but I really dont give a shit what you think.

OK, I'll play your silly game. Based on your approach to homeopathy, I'd question yours. I'm an engineer, and I've worked out the forces in play during a collision - that seatbelt is restraining you on the weakest parts of your body. I'd wager that seatbelts cause more injuries than they prevent. But you won't find that statistic anywhere because it's not politically acceptable.

As far as balkanization and control go, have you noticed that the leftists and the islamists sound alike? The reason that the leftists don't have a problem with the islamic colonization (and mexican colonization) of the US is that it helps them with their goal of the destruction of capitalism. They just think that when the shit hits the fan they'll be able to clamp down on all the various factions and seize control.

Brian, could you specify who exactly you mean by "the left"? Because I've never met any of these power-hungry lefties you describe. Would you mind clarifying?

Nicole -

Start with the entire power structure of the Democratic party. Add in far left bloggers like Kos and Atrios. Add in far left groups like ANSWER. Add in unions like UAW and SEIU.

These groups all seek a socialist/communist (centrally planned) economic structure and a nanny-state social structure with themselves in charge and controlling everything.

They either weren't paying attention or just flat don't care that everything they advocate for has failed everywhere it has been tried. Either that or they don't care, because it worked out well for the political class at the expense of everyone else.

Brian, FYI, I am a non-religious conservative and actually agree with most of what you spew. What I mean by non religious is that I do not believe religion has a place in politics. I abhor abortion but do not think it should be illegal. I believe the "war on terror" is PC and until we admit we have a "war on islam" we will never win. That being said, the left has taken over in these countries because the vast majority of the voting public are morons. For democracy to succeed, the voting public must have a stake in the costs of government, IE actually pay taxes. More than half of america now pays little or no taxes, thus vote for every entitlement proponent running. Here endeth democracy, and here cometh the caliphate

"Isn't France one of the countries with the biggest problem with little self-isolated muslim neighborhoods that aren't integrating?"

Yes, they even riot and burn cars etc.

"That was when we were a melting pot"

Historically most people who migrated to the US did so in order to become American; they either embraced or otherwise accepted American values and way of life, and accepted that their offspring would fully integrate. In fact this is still true of most migrants to the US, with one or two exceptions.

Muslim immigrants in particular, in Europe and elsewhere, specifically do not want to integrate. Their migration is one with a different goal entirely, namely colonization of the host people. Their migration, is in a very loose manner of speaking a military offensive / invasion. Their goal is to gain in number, gain power, and take power. They aren't "searching for a better life by adopting Western values". They're seeking to destroy Western values while living off the teat that Western modernity provides (and why not? it weakens and destroys the host nation faster). They use various "leftist" values - "multiculturalism", welfare - as tools to aid their colonization of European nations.

Pretending that Muslim immigration is equivalent to the immigration upon which America was built is so bizarre I can't believe anyone older than 12 falls for that argument.

"Multiculturalism has failed, but you can't keep France for the French and wonder why your immigrants are some what hostile"

By "keep France for the French", I presume you mean grant citizenship, grant equal rights, grant all liberties and private property ownership rights, grant total suffrage, grant total freedom of movement, grant freedom to own property anywhere, grant total freedom to get one of the best educations in the world at any public school or university all paid for by the taxpayer, grant all the myriad benefits of being an EU citizen (including freedom of movement and ability to work anywhere in the EU), grant the ability to own and start businesses, grant direct access to one of the largest markets in the world (EU economic zone comparable to US economy), grant a safe environment with one of the lowest crime rates in the world, grant welfare for those who are not working, grant free access to some of the best doctors and hospitals and clinics in the world, grant freedom of expression, and so on.

Yes, a truly horrible condition. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It's clearly simply impossible to make anything of yourself under such horrible, torturous conditions. A fate worse than death. No wonder they're so unhappy. Maybe they'd be better off back in North Africa etc.