i remember as a kid it being banged into my head how america was great because it was a giant melting pot.. bring us your poor, tired, etc. the numbers bear out that first generation immigrants work harder, cause less crime than 'natural' citizens.
and its true, immigrants made this country. it is a country of immigrants.. cuz, ya know, mass native population genocide and all.
but here we are.. these conservative fuckwads have somehow convinced everyone the opposite is true.
if youre anti-immigration, youre just racist. thats it.
No it didn't. The US barred Asians from entering for multiple decades. This country has been anti immigrant(anti anyone not white moving here) since it's inception
This country has been anti immigrant(anti anyone not white moving here) since it's inception
Nah, until 1882, there was literally no restrictions for anyone moving to the US. If you could afford the journey or even successfully stow away on a ship or train or whatever, they'd let you in and let you stay.
When it came to CITIZENSHIP, though, you're right about the criteria being super racist from day one.
I went to the museum at Ellis island last year. It was surreal because here was a purpose built facility for processing immigrants, meanwhile Venezuelans were lined up on the streets in Manhattan waiting to be processed. There were a number of exhibits showing the racist attitudes of the Americans in the 1870s to 1880s demanding a curb on immigration. Was an educational experience.
Those were originally citizenship restrictions only.
Until 1882, there was no law to keep people of color (or white people, of course) out of the country, even as they were met with tons of discrimination and abuse and no rights.
It's wild how different it is now. Even the people who raised me with those same values (in this case, my parents) are now Trump supporters. Like what the fuck happened to you? YOU MADE MY LIKE THIS!
Honestly, this is a reason that I am glad, in a fucked up kind of way, that my father died when I was young. He was intelligent but I've seen a lot of intelligent people go off the rails in the last decade as well as from a very religious family. I don't know that I'd have coped as well as folks like yourself.
I hope that your parents come to their senses and own up to their mistakes.
What first world country isn't the country of immigrants? Look at any successful country in Europe. UK and Ireland especially, would sink to the bottom if not for the cheap labour it got in the 2000s.
From where I'm sitting, the USA was always a massive piece of shit on racial and gender prejudice issues. I guess some of us must have been more fortunate with the Independent School District Lottery.
Just curious but... How old are you? I'm 41 and I was never told that. I've always been hearing how disgusting and horrible the immigrants are and how they're destroying everything and blah blah blah blah blah.
The people in my past who have said this have been the exact same politicians who are saying it now. This has been a major republican talking point all my life. Nothing has changed among them.
And then yes I've heard immigration bad from people as well of course.
I'm 37 and was generally raised with the melting pot mentality, but I grew up in Washington state. Out of curiosity, not judgment, did you grow up in a Red state?
I'm not talking about like the people I was raised by I'm talking about the people that are saying this right now. The people in this news story. Politicians. Nothing has changed among Republicans. Nothing has changed among conservatives. The horrors of immigration have been the exact same political talking point my entire life.
I am very close to your age and I was taught that. That’s literally the inscription on the Statue of Liberty. Sounds like someone tried to brainwash you.
The inscription on the Statue of Liberty is the famous poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. Written in 1883, it was mounted on a bronze plaque inside the statue's pedestal in 1903. The most famous lines from the poem are:
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
I'm not trying to say this isn't a part of history, and of course I know that's on the Statue of Liberty. I'm saying that my entire life I've been hearing from Republicans that immigrants are going to ruin the country. This isn't new.
And I don't really think you understand what brainwashing is? All I said was I've been hearing this kind of crap all my life from Republicans and rednecks.
Please explain, in 100 words or less, how me acknowledging that Republicans have always said immigrants will ruin this country means I'm brainwashed?
racist: Someone who believes that their race makes them better, more intelligent, more moral, etc. than people of other races and who does or says unfair or harmful things as a result:
Two of the killers are known to be racists.
She cannot understand how her husband could be branded a racist.
I assume you're getting downvoted because he meant the Indonesian RIDF, the Regional Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), set up by the Indonesian Ministry of Finance in partnership with the World Bank