America is one of the most tolerant societies. Yet, it can be a racist society and rightly so. If you think this is irritating, well, try living in Japan, Germany, and even our very own China. The former two have racially discriminative laws, and lay persons of the last can’t help but facially expressing their disgust of the Blacks. Don’t use exceptions to argue against this point, please.

By choosing to go into a melting pot dominated by white Anglo-saxon ingredients, we should have understood that we had entered into a river of no return. The majority of the culture we brought with us will be lost in two, three, and four generations down the track. It is beyond our control. We can swim against the tide. But that is definitely not something that will make us comfortable. There are two situations in which some people do swim against the tide of mainstream:

1. trying to stand still but still taken by the tide----most overseas Chinese try to do

2. literally swiming against the tide to manage to stand still or even to reverse the tide----some religious extremists do

Countries like America can live with the first but cannot put up with people in the second category. The second type of people use culture identity as an excuse to convert Americans and to turn America into their religious homeland. They show no interest in preserving their cultures in countries where they truly and wholly belong. They are more interested in preserving ethnic ghettos from which they can act against and convert the mainstream.

We should change our point of view from being new migrants to being new citizens of the countries that kindly adopted us, unless we set out to be the second category. America cannot be made better because it is made more interesting. It can be more interesting because it is made better. Multiculturalism has been fashioned in the 70s, trialled in the 80s, erred in the 90s and caused disaster in 2001 and years till now in France, Britain, Australia and America.

Let’s swim with the tide. By that I do not mean aspiring to join the elites’ club or painting our eyes blue. Let’s join our neighbours’ club, our communities’ club and ultimately, our adopted countries’ club, by becoming meaningful contributors, instead of being eye sores in the eyes of the mainstream and hoping that it will tolerate. Ask not what America can do for you, ask what you can do for America!

America had you at hello. There is no going back. You, being Chinese, might not wish to go back (in terms of offsetting your Westernised behaviour and your kids’ ABC, BBC, FBC, CBC status) anyway.