There are few stranger alliances in America's culture wars than the one between nativists

and multiculturalists on the subject of assimilating immigrants. Nativists argue that the great American assimilation machine is broken beyond repair. Immigrants arrived in such quantities in the 1980's and 1990's that they can seclude themselves in ethnic enclaves rather than merging into the mainstream. And the growing ease of communications means that they have no need to loosen their ties with their original countries. The Italians who passed through Ellis Island at the turn of the century had little hope of seeing their motherland again. The multiculturalists agree with the nativists' premises but go on to draw radically different conclusions. "Mainstream America" was never anything more than a codeword for racial oppression, they argue. The arrival of millions of unassimilated immigrants is requiring America to abandon the old notion of a melting pot and turn itself instead into a "gorgeous mosaic" in which distinctive ethnic groups still manage to make a whole.

Gregory Rodriguez, a fellow at the New America Foundation, says it is wrong to measure assimilation against impossible standards. Immigrants have always taken time to move into the mainstream, both geographically and culturally. And assimilation has always been a two-way process, with each new wave of immigrants contributing something to what it means to be American, from Jewish humor to German beer. The proper measure of assimilation is not whether ethnic groups have cut their ties to their homeland completely, but whether they have put down roots in the United States. Mr. Rodriguez argues that if you look at the four most important measures of "roots" — citizenship, home ownership, language acquisition and intermarriage -- then assimilation is going on much as it always has.

Much of what Mr. Rodriguez has to say is common sense. The United States is the most culturally powerful nation in the world, striking terror into chauvinists from Paris to Tehran; it is hardly surprising that it should be able to absorb people within its own borders, particularly since most people come to the United States with the express purpose of getting ahead. It is perhaps not surprising either that nativists should ignore common sense; at bottom, much of their objection to immigration is based on race. But why multiculturalists should seek to deny the obvious is a subject worthy of study in itself.

The nativists think that ______.

A．immigrants can no longer be brought into mainstream America

B．mainstream America refuses to assimilate immigrants any more

C．immigrants will eventually be assimilated into mainstream America

D．assimilation ironically strengthens cultural identities of immigrants