By Dennis Hicks, Hamilton
To me, the most interesting aspect of Mr. Oppenheim’s response (July 24th) to Ms. Dee Gibney’s letter, was the personal account of his own family’s immigration to America—a true immigration success story. Let’s try to learn from his account:
1. “In 1913, on the eve of WWI, [his family] came to America through Ellis Island.”
2. “In the 1950s and 60s, my sister and I assimilated … flourishing in Levittown, Pennsylvania.”
3. “I practiced medicine and graduated from law school and took a big and productive bite from America’s apple.”
4. “Our children, and now our grandchildren, have worked hard to make America great.”
The marvelous success story of Mr. Oppenheim’s family seems to belie his later statement that, “America has a long and shameful tradition of not accepting different people; different thoughts.”
Countless immigrants have had similar experiences because they also followed this pattern for immigration success:
1. They entered America legally.
2. They assimilated into American culture. They adopted the traditional American values that are the very source of America’s freedom and prosperity.
3. They assumed the responsibility for their own success and were proud of their citizenship.
4. They worked hard to raise their children to respect America’s laws and values.
Mr. Oppenheim’s assertion that, “The glue that binds us is love and tolerance and compassion,” omits a key ingredient for societal glue: Shared values.
America has always had differences: different ethnicities, races, religions, and political views, but we were united as Americans. Trying to integrate cultures with clashing values will always result in tribalism, and tribes don’t assimilate. Without shared values there is no community.
Tribes always conflict with one another. First, they distrust the other tribes, then they fear one another, then they will irrationally hate one another, and finally, they will war with one another. This is the violence we are witnessing in the streets of European cities that are experimenting with the folly of multiculturalism. They are attempting the impossibility of integrating immigrants with conflicting values into their culture. Now they have their tribes and their war.