Danielle
I had a similar encounter but in reverse.
I used to work as a labourer for some first generation Italian immigrants. Used to work and treat me like a dog. But they were extremely good tradesmen and I learned a few things. Anyway one day one of them brought a young relative to work with us who was over on a working holiday from Italy.
I always used to sit on my own at lunch because I coudnt stand the bosses arguing (in italian) and the iffy food they used to eat. Not to mention their copius consumption of homemade wine at every meal break.
This new guy came and sat with me instead of his relative and country men. Although he didnt speak much english i discovered he hated the bosses and called them peasants. He said people in Italy arent like that anymore and he said he was more like me than he was like the italians we worked for. He said all they did was fight about money and rip each other off. I wasnt fond of the italians I worked for but this guy absolutely hated them, even his own relative, and couldnt wait for the end of the week when he quit and took off for Sydney. He was stunned that such people still existed and begged me not to think that this was what his country was like.

Today, as is evidenced by second and third generation descendants of European immigrants, integration comes easily for those who are born here and grow up here. Under your plan this may not be the case as children of immigrants would grow up ensconced in some cultural enclave and not as part of the general Australian community. Multiculturalism is always going to involve change, and difficulty but given time this land, this country gets inside people and makes them aussies. They dont really have a choice.

Good on you Foxy for raising the subject.

You wrote (Sunday, 7 February 2010 9:36:44 PM):

<< The suburb of Glendale in Los Angeles, for example, was known as the suburb where only
White - Anglo Saxons - lived. Others were not welcomed. >>

I’ve got a big problem with the ‘others were not welcomed’ bit. If that is a consequence of your suggested segregational philosophy, then I’m certainly not in favour of it.

However, it is reasonable to some extent to have people of similar backgrounds living in the same suburbs or towns if they choose to do so. For example: Ingham in north Queensland is a largely Italian sugarcane town. I don’t have any problem with that and I haven’t heard of any negative consequences in the 27 years that I’ve been living just down the road in Townsville.

If people choose to do it, then fine, but with three provisos:

1. they do choose, and are not pressured to do so,

2. people who are not of the dominant ethnic, religious or racial group are not negatively pressured or excluded from living in those communities if they choose to do so,

3. it doesn’t result in enclaves whereby people become insular and don’t have good communication with or a reasonable understanding of the greater Australian society.

This is an interesting concept Foxy and am able to comprehend your way of thinking. Just a query.

How though would these towns/states/communities benefit and/or learn from one another? There will always be a day or week when another person from another background/race/different religion/interests annoys, intimidates or goes against the grain of a fellow Aussie in a workplace environment, travelling, being married into an Australian family, etc.

For example, I shop around and choose a state or town that contains Aussies born and bred here, white, of christian or atheist background. Why would I do this when nine times out of ten, there will be some type of problem encountered with one or more fellow aussies residing in the same town or state as myself given we are all individuals with different backgrounds [ie childhood experiences/traumas/problems]for all of us [readily admitted or not].

From my life experiences, I have honestly witnessed the same nationalities ripping off each other [tradespeople of the same nationality are notorious in my state inflicting violence and thieving from one another], along with the fact that Australian born and bred crooks put my family through hell for 6 years based on fraud which cost close to a million back in 1995. They were just the Aussie middlemen. The company behind them were a famous 'old Australian' company. I have never encountered problems with other nationalities; in fact many of my close friends are from various countries. It is actually Australians born and raised here who have, on the odd occasion, behaved wrongly [towards me]and not people who originated from the middle east, Europe, the UK or elsewhere. Btw their hospitality [ie people originating from o/s]given to me over the years, in their homes, has been first class. the kindness generosity and warmth shown to me magnificent.

Foxy,

The term ghetto orignally meant the physical grouping of cultural minorities.

Later, due to discrimination they became associated with poverty. The original Jewish ghettos were generally reasonably wealthy.

Ghetto like suburbs already exist, but as people intermingle and children become integrated through the school system they tend to disperse.

I personnally do not favour this as it slows the integration of immigrants, and prevents other citizens from being exposed to the new cultures.

Dear mikk,

These towns will be part of the general
Australian community and the children
don't today necessarily live in the same
town as their parents. The point is people
will have a choice.

My experience has been that some (of course
not all) children
although born in Australia choose to return
and live in the country of their parents to
better understand their parents culture and
language.

Dear Ludwig,

I fully agree with your 3 provisos - and I have
stated all along - this is a matter of
individual choice.

Dear We Are Unique,

These communities would not be isolated.
They would communicate through the usual channels -
by trade, work, travel, much the same as we do
today by travelling to other countries, only
on a smaller scale. If you wanted to meet the
French today you'd go to France. In the future if
you wanted to meet Italians - you'd go to places
like - Ingham in North Queensland or Griffith in NSW.

Okay Foxy I will take the suggestion more seriously.

The big problem in this idea is segregation - even if voluntary - only serves to enhance and enlarge differences rather than solidify. Human beings are more alike than they are different. The differences sometimes appear greater because of cultural variation (dress, food, songs, religion, skin colour). These are peripheral to what makes us intrinsically human.

Separating races within one country is just creating a continent full of smaller nations (albeit not constitutionally).

If we are to become part of the global community, integration is the only way we can soften and file off some of the harder edges of our differences, particularly in relation to strong religious beliefs and how that might fit within a democratic society with a different legislative framework.

Integration as SM pointed out, in schools particularly, expose us to others who might at first appear different, but really are the same. Most of us want the same things. Love, peace, freedom and a safe place to raise families.

Cultures who have been part of Australian culture for many years, Italians, Greeks, Europoeans, Vietnamese and Chinese have integrated well. Newer immigrants will do the same over time. Integration is not an instant process, it takes a generation or two and language skills to truly become part of one diverse group, accepting the differences as well as the similarities.