Quote Originally Posted by rory_20_uk View Post
Multiculturalism: where other, non indigenous people have come and transplanted all their own culture along with them, not to meld with the native culture, but to be a separate entity.
Ok, sure. I'm going to a pain in the arse, and ask you to be a bit more specific; how do you define "separate entity"? Is it on a group or an individual basis? Are, say, the British Chinese who live in various Chinatowns, despite identifying as British, examples of this? If so, why does this arrangement constitute a problem?

In its most extreme form different clothing, different language, no desire to intermarry and whose descendants do not view themselves as from the country they were born in either.
This is something which will change with time, I think and assume. If you look at the USA, throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, there are plenty of examples of nativist Americans who dissaproved of the Irish, Germans, Italians, Japanese etc. all bringing those traits over to the United States. Gradually, those differences have blurred and faded to the point where "hyphenated-American" is for the vast majority of Americans now a mere semantic expression.

The one thing which they did adopt was the United State's citizenship, as it was so easy to acquire. This helped speed assimilation and integration, and is why I think a tolerant approach would be more successful than any attempts at forced integration.

A simple example. I am English. Is that Viking, Saxon, Celt, Roman, French, Danish or one of possibly a dozen others? I neither know nor care. A colleague of mine defines herself as Tamil. Born in Slough. She has certainly integrated to a degree but she refuses to describe herself as English even though she is as English as I am, as we were both born here.

When she has spoken of finding a husband she would either look to other Tamils in the UK or go back to Sri Lanka (go back? She never lived there!) to find one.
Tamils are a special case, given that their sense of nationhood is particularly sensitive, occasionally to the extent of rather unforgivable apologism for the LTTE. Depending on the sensitivity of the person in question, prodding them about it can be a fun game. That said, I get your point. Modern technology helps keep those ties stronger, for better or worse. However, these differences will fade with time. I would be genuinely surprised if her kids, who would presumably grow up in the UK will feel the same way. After all, we've seen the same arguments used towards various immigrants to this country - Jews from Eastern Europe, Huguenots, Irish, German Lutherans, Africans, African-Caribbean etc. All have effectively assimilated into a British society that has changed to accommodate them.