The Tea Leaves of California

Reading Tea Leaves (Source)

I haven't been by Fred Reed's site for a few weeks. But he has a couple of recent columns discussing multiculturalism that are worth reading--preferably in reverse order of when they were published. 

So, first up, though the second published, is "The Birth of Three Nations," wherein he discusses what led France to its recent unpleasantness--the cult of diversity. Reed observes, correctly, that no matter what the international elites preach, no one really likes diversity. It results in societal friction, at a minimum, and bloodshed, generally.

Those among us who prefer hope to observation invariably insist that dislike springs from some defect in the character of those doing the disliking. If only those awful bigots would learn tolerance. If only we indoctrinated children enough in the schools, surely…. If only we made enough laws, or prosecuted hate crimes, or showed enough harmonious togetherness in movies, surely…. 

In support of this delusion, they often point out that the Irish and Italians no longer suffer discrimination in America. See? Diversity is no problem. Yet this was not a triumph of toleration, but of assimilation: they stopped being  Irish and Italian, and assimilated to the dominant culture. 

But assimilation becomes less likely and more difficult as the numbers and concentration of a group increase. Immigrants in small numbers, especially if dispersed, have to live in accord with the dominant culture. They will be seen as interesting rather than as invaders. Nobody hated Mexicans when they were few. 

* * * 

In America today we see huge homogeneous pools of Negro and Hispanic population and culture. Tthe inhabitants of the massive black ghettoes have virtually no exposure to white America except via television, which means that assimilation is not going to happen. Further, as usually occurs with dense concentrations of a culture, they do not want to assimilate. They have their own music, modes of dress, variant of English, and non-standard names intended to emphasize their distance from whites. 

The same to a lesser degree is true of Hispanics. It is also true of American expats, who tend to clump together and have no desire for assimilation. Human nature is human nature. 

Aggravating the problem is that the United States no longer has a dominant culture, or at any rate no culture willing to be dominant. This has proved to be a recipe for unending and apparently unendable confrontation with blacks. 

Will Hispanics follow the same pattern? They may well. Their numbers and concentration are great enough, they begin to have real political power, and will eventually have a voting majority in the Southwest. They know they are disliked by much of America. Hispanics are more assimilable than blacks; the question is whether they are assimilable enough. If the almost invisible differences between two flavors or Christianity or of Islam can lead to warfare, so may those between Latino and white. And trouble already brews between black and brown. 

Diversity. It offers to divide America into three countries, self-aware and, may God preserve us, mutually hostile. We can talk forever about what ought to be. We can leap from a tall building, insisting that we are birds. Yet we live in what is. We are not birds. Reality eventually takes hold. Aye, there’s the rub.

Turning from the general to the specific, he offers an update on California from the point of view of a law enforcement friend of his that lives there. The basic gist is that Hispanics are gaining political power and street power, primarily at the expense of blacks. Hispanics are driving blacks out of traditional black neighborhoods. More ominously, Reed's source indicates that, whereas in the past the Mexican cartels simply contracted with gangs in California to distribute drugs, merchandise is now being directed to Hispanic gangs and there is increasing direction and control by the cartels.

Extrapolating from the article, the near future in California will likely see a spike in gang warfare along racial lines--i.e., black versus white--unless blacks are simply willing to move out of Southern California. There will also be a spike in gang warfare because of the narcos moving more of their conflicts north of the border.

Anyway, read both of the articles and see what you think.