Multiculturalism, Assimilationism, and Moral Relativism

Multiculturalism is the tolerance and promotion of multiple cultures within a political entity, while assimilationism is the idea that those who are part of a minority culture come to adopt the characteristics of those of the majority culture. To put it more simply, it is the difference between a salad bowl and a melting pot.

Of course, as we all know, multiculturalism is under attack. Those who would restrict severely immigration from Latin America to the US and from the Middle East to Europe argue that multiculturalism, the over-acceptance of certain aspects of minority cultures, is responsible for thing such as the Rotherham child sex trafficking scandal, which was covered up allegedly because of a fear of being labeled Islamophobic, the Cologne sexual assaults, the presence of honor killings in European Muslim communities, radicalization/terrorist attacks, and, as it pertains to Latin American immigrants in the US, allegedly high crime rates in Latino-heavy areas, a supposed refusal to learn English which is accommodated by the government and by the education system, and a pride, supposedly, in one's status as an illegal immigrant.

In essence, they are arguing that some immigrants to their countries are bringing a culture of, in the case of Middle Eastern immigrants, misogyny, homophobia (e.g. Orlando shooting), and disrespect for secular institutions, and in the case of Latin American immigrants, a disrespect for laws and language conventions. They believe that problems like these are being ignored under the guise of multiculturalism and "respecting other cultures", even though those cultures have aspects to them that are, in their eyes, objectively wrong and offensive by universal standards.

Of course, I doubt the sincerity of those who make those points - the majority of Muslims in the West do not approve of terrorism, misogyny, sexual assault, or child abuse, nor do the majority of Hispanic/Latino immigrants glorify crime, their undocumented status if they are here illegally (and the majority of them aren't even illegal at all), or a refusal to learn the language. Many of those who criticism multiculturalism in this manner are part of cultures whose aspects have measurable harm of their own, such as conservative Christianity, the alt-right/neo-Nazism, or "stereotypical" blue-collar/working-class rural American culture. However, the fact that these incidents exist, in some cases out of proportion relative to those groups' percentage of population, and tend to happen in places where immigrants are not well-assimilated, do indicate that maybe absolute multiculturalism in which regressive attitudes are excused may not be for the best.

This brings me to the concept of moral relativism. Are there some things that cannot be justified by "culture"? Do cultures that are morally inferior exist? I would argue that to some extent, there are - things like human sacrifice (part of some ancient and not-so-ancient civilizations), slavery, murder, misogyny (whether the Christian, Islamic, or redpill form), homophobia (from any religion or purely based on personal disgust), racism, or abuse (I think of how "tiger parenting" in East/South Asian families is justified as "culture") should never be a part of any culture, anywhere in the world.

Perhaps my perspective is because as an immigrant I have been, on a personal level, an aggressive assimilationist. It's certainly earned me a lot of academic and social success, and I have made a personal decision to aggressively assimilate (people can call me "whitewashed" all day long but I regret absolutely nothing) myself because I feel as if I should respect the country and culture that I am in. Does this mean that I abandon customs, foods, etc. from my country of origin? No. But it means that I adopt the attitudes, language, dress, and customs of America as a priority.

I see nothing wrong with people retaining aspects of cultures from around the world - after all, being exposed to foods, traditions, peoples, customs, etc. from around the world has been one of my greatest joys of having a cosmopolitan upbringing. But I do believe that there are some parts of some (sub)cultures that should never be accepted, anywhere in the world, and if that makes me less of a moral relativist or less of a believer in the notion that there is no moral superiority or inferiority when it comes to culture, so be it. I also believe that some degree of assimilation helps social cohesion and makes it politically more palatable to accept immigrants and refugees. I think that there should be a mixture of both assimilation and multiculturalism - a model of cultural exchange in which immigrants and native-borns learn from each other and their cultures, with the understanding that there are universal codes of conduct that absolutely cannot be broken by anyone.

What is your take on this? What do you think we should demand of immigrants, if they have attitudes that are against social equality, as some do? Do you think making at least some level of assimilation demands of immigrants so that they are more in line with the customs of their host country may make scapegoating and xenophobic appeals less likely to work?