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Conservative commentator Douglas Murray recently reminded Americans what common sense already knows: you do not get mass assimilation when the host culture is busy telling itself it is rotten. Murray made the point plainly during recent media appearances, arguing that when schools, media, and elites celebrate national self-loathing, newcomers have every incentive to huddle into enclaves rather than embrace the country’s values. That blunt observation is worth repeating to any policymaker who thinks open borders plus cultural self-flagellation will somehow produce unity.
Murray’s critique lands because it describes a real incentive problem: why would someone adopt the language, laws, and civics of a nation that lectures them about its own illegitimacy and moral bankruptcy? He has called out universities, the press, and cultural institutions for promoting narratives that label America’s founding as uniquely evil, and warned that that rhetoric will not persuade immigrants to melt into the American experiment. If elites continue to teach that America is beyond redemption, expect assimilation rates to fall and social fragmentation to rise.
This isn’t abstract theory — it’s the consequence of a culture that rewards grievance over gratitude. Conservatives have been saying for years that a liberal immigration policy without an assimilation plan is national malpractice; Murray’s point sharpens that case by exposing why assimilation fails when the message from the top is self-hatred. Lawful, patriotic immigration only works if immigrants are encouraged and expected to join a culture that values language, civic knowledge, and shared allegiance rather than celebrating perpetual victimhood.
The remedy is obvious and patriotic: restore institutions that teach pride in American liberty and insist on assimilation as part of the deal for citizenship. That means English proficiency, civic literacy, and a public culture that celebrates rather than denigrates the achievements of Western civilization. If policymakers want healthy integration, they must stop undermining the very nation they expect newcomers to love and defend.
Practical reforms follow naturally: secure the border to stop the flow of lawless migration, prioritize immigrants who show commitment to American norms, and make assimilation a clear pathway to full participation. Parents, faith leaders, and local civic groups — not self-loathing celebrities and woke administrators — should be the architects of American identity for the next generation. These are not controversial ideas; they are commonsense measures to preserve the cohesion that has made America a beacon for the world.
If conservatives cannot persuade the country that pride in our founding and our values is compatible with humility about past sins, then we will lose more than policy fights — we will lose the very thing that made this country exceptional. Douglas Murray’s warning should be a wake-up call: the choice is between a confident republic that expects assimilation and an atomized collection of groups told to despise the nation they live in. Patriots who love liberty must fight for a culture that invites newcomers to become Americans, not excuses for why they shouldn’t.
