By John McKenzie
“Asian-Americans face new pretext for hatred.” That was the headline for one of the articles on the front page of the StarTribune for Saturday, March 28, 2020. Reading this article saddened me. It did not, however, surprise me, in part because I was reading Erika Lee’s latest book, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States (Basic Books, 2019).
While President Trump may bear some responsibility for this latest revival of xenophobia by referring to Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus,” xenophobia is not by any means a new phenomenon. America for Americans traces the history of xenophobia and racism in America. I was already aware of some of this history and culture, albeit not all the details.
Professor Lee shows how xenophobia goes hand in hand with racism. The 1790 Naturalization Act, passed in the second year of President Washington’s first term, provided that only “free white persons” could become naturalized citizens, excluding Native Americans, African Americans, and nonwhites who would come to the United States in later years. Over time, nativists tried to exclude, in addition to east and south Asians, Germans, Irish, Italians and Jews as being insufficiently white. Xenophobia has also worked hand in hand with capitalism. And Donald Trumpis not by any means the first person to use xenophobia for political gain.
Xenophobia in America goes back to colonial days, predating American independence. Beyond the racism against indigenous peoples and people of African descent, Lee details chapter by chapter both opposition to immigrants but also racist policies enacted against Americans such as the removal of many Mexicans from the United States during the 1930’s and the internment of the Japanese after Pearl Harbor.
America for Americans is well-researched and footnoted, but also eminently readable. Lee tells the overall story but also the stories of some of those driving xenophobia and those of its victims. The story is not a pretty one. Some of the people guilty of using xenophobia are heroes to some: Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Gompers, Theodore Roosevelt. This is a story we need to know and understand if we are to ever stop blaming “the other “ for the problems this country faces. Lee holds up a mirror to the United States. We shouldn’t like what we see there, but hopefully it will inspire us to at least stand up for our neighbors who don’t look exactly like us.
Find Your Book!
Need to get your hands on a good book while doing your work to shelter in place? The library is closed in a response of solidarity amid the COVID-19 crisis, but here are some places where you can get your hands on all the great titles. Shop independent bookstores!
SubText Books: https://subtextbooks.com/books
Moon Palace Books: https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/
The Red Balloon Bookshop: https://www.redballoonbookshop.com/
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Magers & Quinn: https://www.magersandquinn.com/
Next Chapter Booksellers: https://www.nextchapterbooksellers.com/
Or you could even consider the amazing Powell’s in Portland: https://www.powells.com/; Book Shop, https://bookshop.org/; AbeBooks https://www.abebooks.com/; or Indie Bound, https://www.indiebound.org/