Tolerance in large doses.

THERE'S been a fair amount of talk recently--punctuated by massive marches in Los Angeles and around the country last spring--about whether the United States is fundamentally fair to immigrants.

It's a decent debating point. But before we beat up on ourselves for being unfair and racist toward foreigners, take a minute and consider the article on Page 1 of this issue about the Japanese immigrant experience in Torrance.

It's no secret that there's long been a raft of Japanese businesses in and near Torrance, but a new survey found that the trend has deepened to a surprising degree. Torrance has more Japanese businesses than Los Angeles, even though Torrance has 4 percent of the population. So many Japanese businesses have set up shop there--including such familiar names as Toyota, Honda and Matsushita--that it's difficult to find commercial space for them.

The fact that the slow Tokyo-ization of Torrance has happened for such a long time--and so quietly--is a good reminder that the United States, for the most part, is a fine place for immigrants, so long as they follow the rules.

And the rules for immigrants to succeed here are pretty much the same as for everyone else. Go to school. Work conscientiously. Save and invest. Obey the law. About the only thing extra that we expect of immigrants is that they enter the country legally and learn English.

Beyond that, immigrants are welcome, even encouraged, to bring their food, their culture, their beliefs. Sure, the transition to America is not always easy or without resistance, but the United States is far more accepting that most any other country.

Take religious freedom as an example. There are more mosques in supposedly backward Mississippi (10) than there are churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia (0), where the law requires its citizens to be Muslim. Even in Turkey, the most westernized of Middle-eastern, Muslim countries, Christian churches have to operate almost underground, as the Pope's recent visit illustrated.

Muslims may complain that they don't always feel welcome or accepted in America, and they may have a point. But let me ask: If you are a practicing Christian or Jew, how many Muslim countries would make you feel welcome and accepted?

But isn't there racism in America, you might ask? Sure, but we do more to root it out and publicly humiliate racist remarks than any other country. Mel Gibson or Michael Richards could tell you about that.

Contrast that with many other countries, where racism is far more accepted and even institutionalized. When my family and I moved to Japan 16 years ago, we were told--quite openly--by a real estate agent that the owner of an apartment we liked didn't want to rent to gaijin like us. American expatriates I knew told me that they could always be a worker in Japan, but could never be a manager, let alone a director. And that was Japan--a country that's more modern and accepting than most.

All this is not to say we shouldn't improve. We can and should strive to be fairer to immigrants and root out racism.

But at the same time, we shouldn't beat ourselves up. We are far better than virtually any other country, and we're striving to improve. We routinely accommodate immigrants from all over the world.

As the experience in Torrance illustrates, immigrants can find a home in America.

Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [e-mail].