The Enduring Vision Thesis

The U.S has a prolonged history of discrimination. In the late 17th century, when America declared as a free country, only the white gentility had the privileged of “freedom” and African American continue their life as slaves for many decades. As the country grows, it became a dream land, a refuge for immigrations fled from their country to seek freedom and pursuit happiness. However, the gene of discriminations stuck deeply in the mind of the early founding fathers; hence their descendents also obtained the hatred toward immigrations who look differently. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, many immigrants such as the Jews, Chinese and Japanese immigrations came to America with the hope for

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a new wave of immigration hit the United States. These new immigrants typically came from different cultural backgrounds than the “original” immigrants to the United States (the English, Dutch, French, etc). American nativist groups vehemently opposed free, unrestricted immigration because they viewed new immigrants as an inferior race, a threat to American culture, and the root of most of society’s problems. New immigrants were viewed as inferior because the majority of them hailed from non-anglo-saxon countries, and many were of a different denomination or different religion altogether. Nativists also viewed these new immigrants as a threat to American culture because of their lack of English-speaking skills and different cultural practices brought from their homelands. Another

The United States was and is widely known as a “melting pot”. Common belief holds that America welcomed hopeful immigrants from overseas, and provided them with opportunities that would give them better lives for themselves and their families. While such a statement is technically true in general, the issues in regards to prejudice and racism, is where the metaphor weakens for America as a beacon of hope for immigrants. Many people today believe that Americans have always embraced and encouraged the melting pot concept. However, WASP stereotypes of immigrants were the driving force behind the quality of treatment received by immigrant groups. It was the group they hated, which made it difficult for immigrants to be seen as individuals, let

An article by Nicholas Kristof titled, “Americas History of Fear” which mentions how America is not indifferent, but does not know how to deal with newcomers or immigrants. Fear and intolerance has been seen throughout America’s history. An event of this kind would be what recently happened in the Los Angeles L.A.X. airport; it was reported that a man began shooting and killed innocent people. Many people saw this person which includes his race and are now fearful. This even contributes to the reason why it is so relevant today. There has not been much change; therefor, today there are many minorities facing intolerance or indifference socially. Also, the ambivalence that many people show nowadays is similar to what most people did in the past and there are historical facts that document the struggles that have happened to many minorities like injustice.

In conclusion, German and Irish immigrants faced prejudice solely because they were, in fact, immigrants and ‘un-american’. In reality, these immigrants shaped America in several ways, and made the United States an exceptionally diverse country. Their work helped fuel this country’s expansion and prosperity. Extending as far as today, anti-immigrant feelings are still integrated in our society, and situations are still similarly felt. After all, the so-called Americans in the 1800’s were technically descendants of immigrants, that serves to truly show the hypocrisy in their

People are always uneasy with what they don’t know, and immigrants carry with them different cultures, languages, and the unknown. During the late 1900s and early 2000s, America was dealing with a large influx of immigrants. In America from 1880 to 1925, immigrants were viewed through a lens of racial prejudice and seen as either sources of work or of crime.

The United States has maintained a tolerate-hate relationship with undocumented immigrants, and really immigrants in general. DeSoto (2016) provides a unique perspective in regards to the system surrounding undocumented immigration, “until the nature of global capital is arranged so that such [economical] asymmetries are less extreme, people will migrate towards money and opportunity and way from poverty and lack of opportunity” (p. 2). As Hilfinger-Messias, McEwen, and Boyle (2015) emphasize, more often then not when immigrants become increasingly visible in society nativism resurfaces exclusionary tendencies, and immigration policies become increasingly prohibitive and strict,

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”. It is a common assertion that the United States is a “melting pot”-a mixture of numerous different cultures, ethnicities, religions, and people hailing from all over the world. However, just as proudly as this is proclaimed, there is another truth that becomes evident: prejudice against those who dare to make a better life by emigrating to the U.S. is alive and thriving. This unfortunate reality is nothing new. “Immigrants constantly face being discriminated against because of the color of their skin, the sound of their voice, or simply because of the way they look and their beliefs”

When America joined WWI, American patriotism became an essential aspect of society because those who were not proud of their country were not true patriots. Because of this, immigrants were widely questioned about their devotion to the nation and had to assimilate themselves into “American culture”. However, the nation was known as a melting pot, so it was argued

In the US, we pride ourselves on the values that are integrated within our familial systems. However, how can we be proud of being united if the very system that is supposed to protect us, betrays us? Immigration in the US is one of the most biased and, in my opinion, racist policy that is present in our lives. US immigration policy doesn’t allow for love or unity to succeed, it lets power and money control the lives of millions.

|a. |They were traders in the Aztec empire who traveled from village to village in armed caravans. |

Immigration has always been a contentious issue in the United States. Benjamin Franklin thought that the influx in German immigration would flush out the predominately British culture in America at the time. (5) Furthermore, a continual wave of foreign cultures began pouring into the American metropolitan areas at the turn of the 20th century. The migration of Italians, Poles, and Jews across the Atlantic Ocean began a mass assimilation of cultural ideology and customs into the United States, yet many people thought that these migrants could not adapt. Today, the American society has become a melting pot of foreign influence; however, many cynics remain skeptical about the incorporation of Latin American people and their influences.

One does not have to look far to see the effects nationalism has had on American society. Racism and discrimination are major issues that America has struggled with throughout history. Some nationalist movements have developed into several different groups. Today, groups vary from peaceful civic nationalist groups like the Republican Party to hate groups like the American Freedom Party. Members of extremist groups often commit hate crimes or violate others civil liberties. According to the FBI’s 2015 Uniform Crime Report, 58.9% of the single-bias incidents reported were motivated by race or ethnic bias (FBI). Hate crimes are especially heinous because of the devastating impact they have on communities and families. Today, extremists and politicians

The United States is considered a melting pot because of the vast array of different cultures, ethnicities, and religious groups who all live within its borders. Other countries with fewer cultural differences have been torn apart by the conflicts that arise between these differing groups. It is believed by some that the United States has been able to avoid such ethical conflicts as have brought down other nations but looking at American history it is evident that this is not true. America's history is one of ethnic conflict because of religion, nationalistic, and particularly ethnic differences. The two centuries that the United States has existed has been a history of racial marginalization particularly against African Americans which culminated with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In the present, the United States likes to claim that as a nation, we are color blind but evidence exists to the contrary. The Klu Klux Klan (KKK) still exists, hate crimes are committed based on ethnicity, and stereotypes are perpetuated in order to minimize and ostracize. Despite these instances, the country has held strong largely because although these instances occur, they are not approved of by the government or those involved in criminal justice.

Social conformity can be toxic, it often leads to the epidemic that is prejudice. To give a better idea of what prejudice means, Judice translates to judge in Latin, therefore the term “prejudice” literally translates into “pre-judgment”. There are innumerable forms of negative preconceived notions that exist in our world today, the biggest one being racism, which often is a stem of having anti-immigration views. Immigration prejudice is not unknown to any person who lives in America and has eyes and ears to know it exists, but it’s important to know that prejudice is not innate, it is learned, and as long as we allow our society to practice xenophobia among present and future generations we will never be free of it.