thoughts on chapters 15-16

            Chapter sixteen was of major interest to me because it spoke to the dramatic shift in political ideology our country has gone through. From the end of World War II until the 1980s America was fairly consistently ideologically liberal. The overall movement or trend of the country was to the left. Social reform movements like the Civil Rights Movement, or the Women’s Liberation movement were all possible because the country was moving in a progressive direction. This progressive movement had a positive impact on immigration and the willingness to let people from different countries share in American society. As was mentioned in a previous chapter when people in the country are more optimistic about their future they are more receptive to accepting immigrants. The 1950s and 1960s were both times of great hope and optimism that America and the world could be made into a better place. It was during this era that laws were passed that enabled more people to immigrate into America. The period of the 1970s saw the beginning of the disillusionment of America, and began a period of cynicism in the United States that has continued unabated for a number of years. By the 1970s all of the great revolutionaries from the 1960s had died. Men like Robert and John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. had all lost their lives struggling for equality. By 1975 the United States had ended the Vietnam War and with it much of the progressive spirit in the country died down because they no longer had a grand cause to champion. The 1980s saw a rise in conservative ideology with the election of Ronald Regan and a rebirth of the nativist spirit that had stifled immigration in the 1920s. I think it is funny that anti-immigration sentiment and conservative thought seem to go hand in hand. This reverberates to the present time where a rise in conservative thinking has again lead to the tightening of immigration. I wonder what is the connection between conservative ideals and refusing immigrants the right to emigrate into the United States? Why is there such a vested interest for conservatives to keep immigrants from becoming Americans? It is strange that in today’s political clime conservatives claim to honor the traditions of America. Why then do they reject our greatest tradition, accepting immigrants and allowing them to partake in the American Dream? It was also interesting to note that the same arguments that exist today were being brought up in the 1980s, one of the biggest being that immigrants represent a massive threat to American jobs. This has always been a baffling belief since evidence shows that immigrants actually help stimulate economic growth which creates new jobs. I think the issue comes down to fear of the other. Many people who are against immigration hold some form of prejudiced belief that precludes them from looking at the situation rationally. Immigrants have always been a vital part of the fabric of American life and as such need to be given the same opportunity that countless other generations have been afforded. Preventing this people from entering the United States is a major disservice to the spirit of America. Overall I found the chapter to be enlightening and scary that we are still having the same discussions 20 years after the fact. The other salient point I thought the chapter made was that during the 1980s the fact that nativist rhetoric went unchecked for so long that it helped foster a belief in society that was hard quell once it began. By letting these tendencies go unchecked they were able to take root and spread like a cancer, infecting an increasing number of citizens. I think that it is important that people take a stand and speak on behalf of immigrants or the discussion could devolve into nothing but racist platitudes.