I think what Gardener means is that in some European countries the government approaches immigration with a multiculturalist attitude focused on several cultures existing side by side, rather than a melting pot attitude focused on new arrivals integrating seamlessly into the local culture. There is a difference.
Come on...there is no freaking difference. The "new arrivals integrating seamlessly into the local culture" does not happen anywhere! Certainly not in the US LOL! If that was true, then there would be no Little Havana in Florida or high concentrations of Chinese in LA, SF, New York and Seattle areas. If they seamlessly intergrated into the local society, then they would be far far more spread out across the country.. but they aint. It is no different in the UK, France or Denmark. Minorities tend to group up together in defacto "ghetto" areas.
Map Gallery of Ethnic Groups in the United States
There are maps on the various ethnicities in the US.. it is quite telling. It gets better over time .. well not for the Chinese...but the newer the minority the more concentrated they are in specific areas. But it takes time.. a long time.
Now the difference might be that in Europe we try to help our new arrivals integrate with big government programs and ideas, and in the US they are just left to do whatever they fancy.. which in most cases means seeking out people of their own kind creating defacto ghettos. Where European countries try to avoid ghettos by forcing people to live in other areas (when on benefits), the US could care less, which in turn creates the very ghettos that can often cause problems.
The UK does follow a multiculturalist approach in this sense that it allows other cultures to keep their identity in ways that can result in conflict with the indigenous population.
And that is different how to how the US has handled it over the last 100+ years? When the Irish came to the US, they were hated and attacked for their "weird ways", so they like all minorities that are treated in such away.. they created their own areas where they could protect not only their physical lives but their traditions and "weird ways". Weird ways = Catholic btw. Look at the map.. even today, the Irish are highly concentrated in their "old hunting grounds"... 130 years after the first started to arrive. The funny one is the Danish one btw.. Utah and South Idaho wtf?
Switzerland is more in tune with the melting pot attitude where new arrivals are welcome as long as they integrate into Swiss society as quickly as possible.
Err that is exactly what every country aspires too. Those that dont integrate are the ones that are seen as the "problems". Integration is a two way street.
But integration into local society does not mean giving up your own traditions (as long as they are legal of course) and ways. Jews have for centuries integrated just fine in society while keeping their traditions.. and even legal systems. Vietnamese and Chinese in Europe have all integrated fine, learning the language and setting up shop.. but they have not changed their traditions and still celebrate Chinese new year and so on and not Christmas.
France tries to walk the line between the two, by striving to keep its national identity, while making some small ammends for the large Muslim population. The difference is not in the fact that several cultures come together in any given place, it's in how each government/society chooses to deal with the inevitable conflicts between new immigrants and long established populations.
I disagree. France does nothing different than other countries. It all comes down to the people being willing to integrate and in France you have a portion of the population who deep down regret backing the French in their North African adventures and being forced to live in France instead of back home in Algeria.
On top of that, you have the usual problems that happen during economic downturn.. blame the X for the problems of the country, and a person with a different colour, name or religion is much easier to blame (and see) than everything else. It is exactly what is happening in the UK now... where the right is blaming all the ills of the country on "eastern Europeans and illegals (read Asians)" because they are easy to pick out of a crowd. If Germany ever gets into trouble, I know for sure who is going to get blamed and hunted... the large Turkish minoirty.
Add to that, a small group of people who believe religion is an important factor in political and social life, in a country that is highly secular.. and you have a problem in the making. I commend the French and their stance on not letting religion into public life.. wish my own country would do something about that. They have just banned pork from public schools because it might offend the Muslims.. who could care less.. freaking left wing moron government.
Personally I think it all boils down to one thing... Islam and the traditions that are related to this. We had the same issue long ago with the whole protestant and catholic issue.. back when Christians were slaughtering each other. As usual religion sucks!