Lee, Erika
America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States
Basic Books (New York)
2019
OUR SYNOPSIS: Erika Lee illuminates how xenophobia fundamentally shaped the development of the United States, becoming embedded in the nation’s structural foundation. She argues America was built on white supremacist exclusion exacerbated by periods of economic difficulty and demographic change. Starting in the colonial era, she demonstrates that xenophobia is one of American history’s strongest continuities and extends this firmly into the present.
BIG QUESTIONS:
How do immigration policy and nationalist attitudes relate to the state of the U.S. economy?
How can we reconcile America’s “nation of immigrants” identity with its histories of xenophobia? Can we?
What emerges from comparing and contrasting the histories of xenophobia on the East Coast, West Coast, and at the southern border of the U.S.?
FEATURE QUOTES:
“History shows that xenophobia has been a constant and defining feature of American life. It is deeply embedded in our society, economy, and politics. It thrives best in certain contexts, such as periods of rapid economic and demographic change, but it has also been actively promoted by special interests in the pursuit of political power. It has influenced elections and dictated policies. It has shaped American foreign relations and justified American imperialism. It has played a central role in America’s changing definition of race, citizenship, and what it means to be ‘American.’ It has endured because it has been an indelible part of American racism, white supremacy, and nationalism, and because it has been supported by American capitalism and democracy.” (7)
PRIMARY SOURCES:
Louis Dalrymple, “The High Tide of Immigration—A National Menace,” Judge Magazine, August 22, 1903, OSUCGA – The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, https://cartoonimages.osu.edu/MbVmUnGXa.
BALTIMORE CONNECTIONS:
Baltimore as an immigration port and how this relates to histories of xenophobia.
