Artful Dodger:

> French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed,
> joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.

Being in Canada all I can say is that multiculturalism can mean a lot of things. Going out in the street here is like going to the UN. I drive a bus (city transit) for a living. In the bus I can hear 20 languages spoken at the same time. People here rarely care. Racism exists (as everywhere) and once in a while there will be trouble, particularly in some high schools where young kids get into fights motivated by race. People are sometimes discriminated when applying for jobs. However, legal protections are relativley strict. People here are all "something-Canadian". For example, French-Canadian, German-Canadian, etc. It is generally understood that people are proud of their individual communities, as well as of being Canadian.

Canada moved away from the "melting pot" approach in the 1960s and 1970s. Instead they talk of this "multicultural mosaic". All cultures and races trying to get along. It works most of the time, although there are problems such as discrimination against first nations people (natives) and blacks.

I can also understand how the French feel since much of their immigration comes from North Africa, particularly Algeria. When that happens, immigrants become clearly visible. I doubt the French would have so much of a problem with Latin American immigrants as they have with the Islamic minority. It has to do with cultural and religious similarity.

All I can say is that attempting to force people to melt into a society usually fails. If anything, it makes people more entrenched in the feeling of isolation that immigrants sometimes feel. Forcing moslems to abandon a woman's head dress might sound fine on the surface, but in reality it is a bad idea because it will just make moslems feel targetted and it will make them take a more radical stance. If the French had approached differently, they would have established rules.

For example, bus drivers here wear uniforms. Sikh bus drivers are allowed to keep on their turbans, as long as they conform to the colour of the uniform. So they wear a blue turban that matches the colour of the uniform shirt. They are not allowed to carry their traditional ritual knives. It is a compromise that works. The drivers don't feel discriminated. They are simply made to realize that things are a little different.

If woman wants to wear a head dress at work, she can do so, but with rules. For example, it has to be white. It should not obscure the mouth, nose and neck. It would have been a suitable compromise. You have your culture, and attempt to adapt to ours as well.

Well, if multiculturalism is a failure, then what is the alternative? Forcing people to adapt? How? With prison sentences? Expulsion from the country? Firing them from their jobs?