Thread: Ethnic tensions at core of dispute (reader's opinion)

Most Americans are well aware of the racial and ethnic tensions in our society and consider them a serious problem. Often overlooked, however, is how immigration heightens that tension. When cultures collide, ethnic tension is inevitable. People of different cultures and ethnicities often operate with different sets of assumptions about the world and ways of doing things. When those different world views are at odds, tensions and the likelihood of conflict are heightened. The conflict is not about race.

Although high-immigration advocates sometimes try to cast the issue of immigration as a racial one, in order to stifle debate, ethnic tension is not a simple problem of one race against another. Immigration drives conflict between white/black/Hispanic Americans and immigrants of all races, as well as among the immigration groups themselves, regardless of their races.

High-immigration and illegal immigration advocates often assert the answer to immigration-related ethnic tension is more "tolerance" on the part of native-born Americans. But simply labeling Americans as "intolerant" cannot change the fact that the share of foreign-born people has at least doubled in one generation. As a result, there is an ever-increasing bulk of unassimilated people in the United States, a pattern that almost ensures growing conflict.

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 30333/1006

Affirmative action, preferential hiring practices and bilingual education don't help.

Originally Posted by butterbean

Most Americans are well aware of the racial and ethnic tensions in our society and consider them a serious problem. Often overlooked, however, is how immigration heightens that tension. When cultures collide, ethnic tension is inevitable. People of different cultures and ethnicities often operate with different sets of assumptions about the world and ways of doing things. When those different world views are at odds, tensions and the likelihood of conflict are heightened. The conflict is not about race.

Although high-immigration advocates sometimes try to cast the issue of immigration as a racial one, in order to stifle debate, ethnic tension is not a simple problem of one race against another. Immigration drives conflict between white/black/Hispanic Americans and immigrants of all races, as well as among the immigration groups themselves, regardless of their races.

High-immigration and illegal immigration advocates often assert the answer to immigration-related ethnic tension is more "tolerance" on the part of native-born Americans. But simply labeling Americans as "intolerant" cannot change the fact that the share of foreign-born people has at least doubled in one generation. As a result, there is an ever-increasing bulk of unassimilated people in the United States, a pattern that almost ensures growing conflict.

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 30333/1006