Originally Posted by Lateralus

Well I can only speak on behalf of the country I'm in, Australia, I don't really have much knowledge on the US and multiculturalism there.

Australia is an incredibly multicultural country. Being quite geographically close to Asia we get a lot of people moving here from that area of the world, and we also have many people coming to live in Australia from other places as well.

In my personal opinion, I love that Australia is multicultural and I love the fact that all these new cultures are being intertwined into society - it is what makes us unique. I also find that most people who want to come and live in Australia are the kind-of people who are moving here because they dislike the living circumstances of their original home but like the appeal of Australia, and so are generally very kind people who fit into our culture without any hassle.

A lot of other Australians are really racist when it comes to the topic, in my opinion. I grew up in a very Asian-influenced suburb of Australia and went to a high school that was about 90% students with Asian backgrounds and 10% students with other backgrounds, mostly 'Caucasian' (including me). A lot of Australians kicked up a stink about this kind of cultural situation and said that Australia was being 'taken over' and that they should go back to their own country. Which I think is ridiculous because no doubt these peoples' families were too migrants coming to Australia within the last few generations. From my experience, I've also found that people who have recently come to live in Australia from elsewhere often do a great deal more for society than those complaining that they should go back to their 'own country.'

That being said, I do expect migrants coming to live in Australia to assimilate into our culture. I don't expect that they should completely disregard their own culture and slide seamlessly into ours, but instead to bring their own cultural influences to the table but respect the Australian way of life and happily contribute to our society/culture.

It also really bugs me when people who have moved here from another country complain about how crap Australia is. There is a Romanian family that run a restaurant near me and they are always saying how crap Australia is and how great Romania is. I get really offended when they criticize Australia and feel like asking them why they even came here in the first place if they think Romania is so much better...