 <ICLE-SW-UG-0007.2> 
The question of whether to integrate groups of immigrants into the Swedish society, and try to make them live side by side with the original population, or to attempt to assimilate them, and make them adopt Swedish ways and ideologies, is not an easy one to answer. Both methods have been tried, in Sweden as well as in other countries, but very seldom have the results been entirely satisfactory .
Mostly, attempts of integration have led to large ethnical groups concentrated in a small area, virtually turning that particular part of the city into an isolated, self-containing community. Except for sporadic contacts with the authorities, intercourse with original Swedes is very rare, and many immigrants living in these areas never have the opportunity to learn to speak Swedish fluently .
Deliberate policies of assimilation have been known to succeed, in terms of making immigrants less conspicious and more alike the original population, both culturally and linguistically. But this method invariably leads to a sensation within the individual of inferiority and resentment. Inferiority, since the message signalled by the society is that "your culture is not good enough, our ways are right and yours do not count"; resentment, since when your cultural identity is suppressed you always end up looking down at one of the colliding cultures. If you suppress your cultural identity yourself, in eagerness of being part of the new society, you tend to look down at your parents and your people. If the assimilation is forced upon you against your will, the society, and the people living in it, will become the target of your resentment .
In my opinion, isolated "black communities" are unacceptable, since it tends to create an entirely new social class, exclusively consisting of immigrants. And, needless to say, this class is always considered to be beneath the lowest of the original classes, regardless how well-educated or wealthy the individuals of it may be. In this way immigrants, or the children of immigrants, will never be fully accepted as part of the Swedish society .
On the other hand, I do not at all approve of forcing people to assimilate, by legal means or any other way of putting them under pressure. Even if there are cases when cultural adaption is needed, for instance when it comes to laws and social requirements, principally, every person has a right to his or her cultural identity, a right that may never be violated .
Even if it may seem like an easy way out, I can find no other solution than to combine the two methods. The emphasis should be put on integration, since all cultures must be considered equal, and they should be able to co-exist in a highly civilized society, which we like to think our own is. Basically, noone has the right, nor the ability, to judge another culture on the premises that it is different from one's own. But, then again, a certain degree of assimilation is unavoidible, not to say desirable since noone will take harm from seing the world from a new perspective .
The way I see it, the trick is to teach people of all colours and cultures to realize that cultural manifoldness is an asset, rather than a problem. By teaching children of immigrants that it is possible to maintain a "double" identity, hopefully, they will manage to adopt the best from both worlds and at the same time as being part of the Swedish society, they will be able to keep in touch with their ethnical backgrounds .
