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SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION HINGES ON (SSHHHHH) CULTURE

By Georgie Anne Geyer

Thu Aug 17, 8:04 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- With all the problems accompanying the massive, disruptive immigration from the underdeveloped world to the industrialized world, there is one word that underlies successful integration. But it is, most unfortunately, the word that you dare not speak.

Better not even think it, in fact. At politically correct soirees, don't even let it cross your mind, because some smart aleck son-of-a-gun might just mind-read. Oh, you might occasionally have lapses and think that this word actually IS at the core of things, were we permitted to speak of it; but the lapse will fade quickly because the consequences are so dire.

I speak of "culture," which of course is the matrix of social behavior and experience of both individual human beings and of societies. But when it comes to immigration, if you so much as mention the immigrant mass's cultural characteristics, you won't be able to draw a breath before you're called "racist," "xenophobe" or "bigot."

Amazingly, every once in a while, someone steps forward and speaks the truth. Witness the recent book written by former Colorado governor and educator, the outrageous Richard Lamm. He has been a pain in the rear quarters of the politically correct for years, but now he has had the temerity to suggest that culture has something to do with whether ethnic and racial minorities in America get ahead as quickly as they could and should.

In "Two Wands, One Nation: An Essay on Race and Community in America," Lamm politely but firmly suggests that black and Hispanic cultures fall short of Asian and Jewish cultures in fostering ambition and success not because blacks and Hispanics are not as capable or smart, but because "different cultures give different signals, and some cultures are giving out stronger performance signals than others."

In a recent interview with The Washington Times, Lamm explained: "I ask what factors besides discrimination and racism are important indicators of minority achievement." If he had two magic wands by which he could change society, "With one wand you could wipe out all racism and discrimination from the hearts and minds of white America. The other wand you could wave across the ghettos and barrios of America and infuse the inhabitants with Japanese or Jewish values, respect for learning and ambition. A Confucian or Jewish love of learning would gain minorities far more than any affirmative action laws we might pass."

Richard Lamm, whom I have known for years and who is as open-minded a man as you could find, not only talks about but really CARES about those left behind. He wants them to move ahead. He feels, as do a number of equally outcast African-American and Latin thinkers, that some degree of cultural change is necessary, if only to fight just one of the looming problems: In many states, 50 percent of Hispanic students are dropping out of high school.

The Times goes on to say that Hispanic leader Veronica Barela told the Denver Post that the former governor is "out of control" and a "hard-core racist." Even Colorado Republican Party Chairman Bob Martinez criticized Lamm for "racist and bigoted remarks." Then there emerged from the P.C. woodwork a few people actually defending Lamm; but when you depend upon people saying, "He is NOT a racist," it's not the kind of praise that's going to get you very far.

In his recent book, "White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era," the brilliant African-American scholar Shelby Steele stands close to Lamm. He argues that much of the promise of the civil rights victories of the '60s has been lost because white guilt over historical racism meant avoiding the underlying problems of African-Americans. Affirmative action and calls for diversity have only characterized black Americans as essentially incompetent.

"At the heart of this culture war there remains a terrible contradiction," he writes. "The new 'progressiveness' that America achieved around race after the '60s was accompanied by considerable cultural decline ... Whether the problem is school reform or minority poverty, there has been no way to bring demanding principles to bear ... and inner-city poverty has become more intractable and isolating than ever."

There are comparisons, in reality and in truth, between what Richard Lamm is saying about immigrants and what Shelby Steele is saying about African-Americans, but these words only occasionally come to the working surface in our society. Hispanic activist groups, immigrants' "rights" organizations, and professional anti-culture spokesmen for Hispanics and African-Americans have too much financial and political interest at stake to let up on their loud, rhetorical rant.

Yet every country that has risen out of very low beginnings in our age, such as Singapore, Taiwan,South Korea or Tunisia, has had to deal with culture: with teaching their people to want to learn, with making children believe they can change and gain from that change, with imbuing commercial sensibilities and industrial competence. In the end, if we cannot even speak about this in our American context, just think how we are dooming future generations.

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