Since nearly the earliest years of colonial settlement. this country has been a heterogeneous stew. At various times. that mixture of peoples from many lands has coalesced in lesser and greater degrees of harmony. In no small measure. tempering the rate of flow of new immigrants. on the one hand. and a popular consensus that the learning of English and the absorption of minimal quantities of Western European and classic American culture and values. on the other hand. provided the United States with a modicum of overall interethnic stability. Currently. however. masses of immigrants. legal and illegal. are flooding into our borders. At the same time. strident voices are attacking the foundational premises of our society and culture. labeling all cultural values as relative. and labeling Europebased culture and society as irredeemably racist and oppressive by nature. Some oven question the inherent value of the use of English. demanding recognition for a cacophony of languages as equally valuable for government. education. and public discourse.
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immigrants