YOUR VIEW: On immigrants: assimilaton or Balkanization?
By WAYNE ATKINSON
Mr. Atkinson lives in Fairhaven.
May 27, 2007 6:00 AM
The aborted plot of a terrorist attack at Fort Dix was yet another reminder of America's failure to stop uncontrolled illegal immigration and its failure to assimilate legal immigrants into our society.

Three of the terrorists were illegal aliens and three were naturalized U.S. citizens, but one common denominator all six had was a devout commitment to radical Islamic jihad, not "Old Glory." The question is, what does this incident underscore about the ever-changing makeup and identity of our country? Is America, as many of us have known it, becoming a dying nation?

However nobly successful, has the "melting pot" concept boiled over its intended effectiveness? How can a nation survive as a whole when its inhabitants no longer share a unity of language, culture, religion and history? Seemingly, we are no longer Americans without some hyphen in front. Where once we were just Americans, today we demand to be Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and so forth.

In universities throughout the land, there are studies and group associations of various ethnicities. Naturally people should be proud of their race, but if whites were to have such entities themselves, these would be construed as separatist, divisive and racist. Without guilt, should white-Americans not be proud of their heritage as well?

But why should America weaken its soul with this type of passive mentality? Old America made the republic dynamic, and it is why conservative America must fight for what liberal America wants to take away and throw into debasement and oblivion.

Not long ago our nation's heroes and traditions were revered. Today they are vilified as being offensive to everyone and everything. Consider: George Washington's birthday is merely regarded now as "President's Day." Christopher Columbus and the pilgrims in the "New America" are looked upon as white European oppressors. The Confederate battle flag is defiled as the Nazi swastika even though it proudly honors the American southern heritage of Robert E. Lee and the gallant Confederates who fought and died at the likes of Shiloh and Gettysburg.

In lieu of "Merry Christmas" we have replaced it with "Happy Holidays" so as not to offend other religions, even though Christmas and Christianity have long been a beacon and identity of spirituality throughout America's great history. Satirize and mock Jesus and Christianity because they're easy targets, but don't dare do anything similar about Allah and Islam for fear of being offensive. Is this what tolerance and diversity have come to, being selective?

Beyond that, have too many Americans themselves become too apathetic to care? As Memorial Day approaches, do enough of us really take time to remember this most honored and solemn holiday even as today Americans are serving and dying in Iraq? For if we can embarrassingly over-publicize the passing of Anna Nicole Smith, then we can and must take time to pay homage to our courageous men and women of all races and who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Again, to neglect and forget our past may eventually constitute a future no longer worth defending.

Indeed, the near-bloody tragedy at Fort Dix is a frightening example of how the United States is dramatically changing, and not exactly for the better. To allow everyone inside the borders and not expect consequences of crime, chaos, and even another 9/11 is fatally foolish. To not control illegal immigration and not assimilate legal immigrants is going to someday Balkanize the country. Not since the days of "Fort Apache," so to speak, could we ever imagine a U.S. Army base coming under attack from aggressors within America itself. Disturbing times demand very serious thought.

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