Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the United States risks seeing its own “no go zones” — areas or regions where local authority is allegedly ceded to autonomous Muslim immigrants — if the U.S. is not serious about assimilation and integration of people coming to the country.
Speaking on Fox News Wednesday, Mr. Jindal continued to press the issue on the zones; Fox recently apologized and issued multiple corrections after a guest insisted that such zones exist in countries like Britain and France.
“Did you know that the term ’no go zones’ was wrong?” asked host Neil Cavuto. “I mean, we reported the same, and we were wrong; we botched it, we apologized for it. You are not, I take it?”
Mr. Jindal said that while Fox apologized for the calling out of an entire city — Birmingham — he cited a report from a local police chief in the Daily Mail and said “there absolutely are neighborhoods where the police are less likely to go in, there are neighborhoods in the U.K. and in France that have been documented, very well documented, by Ambassador [John] Bolton and others where there are attempts to impose Shariah law. There are neighborhoods where women do not feel comfortable walking in without veils.”
“You can call it whatever term you want, but absolutely there are neighborhoods, we have communities of people that don’t want to integrate, don’t want to assimilate,” he said.
The potential 2016 GOP presidential contender went on to say it’s embarrassing that President Obama doesn’t want to use the term “radical Islam” when describing the threat.
“We’re at war with radical Islam whether he wants to call it that or not,” Mr. Jindal said, also saying he’s ready for people to stop calling themselves “hyphenated Americans,” such as African-Americans or Indian-Americans.
“We also need to be teaching our kids in our schools about American exceptionalism,” he said. “We need to insist on English as our language in this country. I have nothing against anybody who wants to come here to be an American. But if people don’t want to come here to integrate and assimilate, what they’re really trying to do is set up their own culture, their own communities. What they’re really trying to do is overturn our culture. We need to recognize that threat — what that threat is to us. If we don’t, we’re going to see a replica of what’s happening in Europe in America. We’re going to see our own ’no go zones’ if we’re not serious about insisting on assimilation and integration.”
So you’re not taking anything back? Mr. Cavuto asked.
“Absolutely not. I wish that the president would join me in recognizing the threat we face,” Mr. Jindal said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.