Is "multiracialism" just an excuse to be close-minded?

John Howard, an ex-Australian prime minister, shared his views on multiculturalism and multiracialism earlier this year. He believes that English-speaking countries should firmly assert their cultural identity upon new immigrants (multiracialism) rather than "[placate] alternative philosophies" (multiculturalism). He feels that multiculturalism breeds terrorism because "there was nothing fanatical movements and Islamic extremists despised more than weakness and lack of self-belief in the ideologies that they attack".

Aside: I don't know if his definitions of these two terms are accurate, but for the purpose of this post, I'll accept them as his interpretation of those two terms.

He lists the US as a country that practices multiracialism, which seems to be a poor example given the whole 9/11 fiasco. He also lists the UK as a country that endangers itself by practising multiculturalism, but it seemed to be doing fine until it stepped in to help its multiracial buddy across the Atlantic. I don't know what motivates the hate behind some of the fanatics, but from the little I know, it has more to do with the ideology of the target countries rather than their open-arm and accepting approach to new immigrants. More likely than not, the lack of terrorist attacks in Australia is due to its remote location and its absence in international news coverage.

It surprises me that in a city with as much diversity as Sydney, people with different backgrounds hardly mingle. Many Australians I've met do feel that immigrants should fully accept Australian culture. This is most evident during the holiday season when almost all cards read "Merry Christmas" and the shopping centres play "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". I think it's a good thing that Australians proudly celebrate its Christian heritage but their negative attitude toward the celebration of other cultures and religions is isolating immigrants and preventing Australians from learning to respect and coexist with people from foreign lands. For example, a friend of a friend was moving to Toronto and was looking for a place to stay. A condo listing included a picture of its courtyard with a black person sitting on a bench. When she saw the ad, she asked "does that mean it's a bad neighbourhood?"