Monthly Archives: September 2014

PART SIX The fears about Illegal immigration are a classic expression of the myth of madness at the gates of the city. The anxiety, as always, stems primarily from the Puritan fear of pollution by those values and behaviors that … Continue reading →

PART FIVE ¡Como Mexico No Hay Dos! In any discussion of contemporary immigration the emotionally divisive arguments are about Latin Americans, and the great majority of the undocumented – “illegal aliens” – are Mexican. So we are really talking about … Continue reading →

I have shown some of the political, racial, economic and religious factors that determined an immigrant’s status as he or she attempted to enter the U.S. But what happened next? How did one become American? And, especially in the great … Continue reading →

Since the idea of “American” is inherently unstable, the definition of whiteness has had as much to do with who what was not as it did with who one was, and it has changed regularly in its exclusion and inclusion … Continue reading →

In the early 1860s the federal government began distributing Western lands free to citizens or anyone who declared their intention to become citizens. Eventually it granted 1.6 million homesteads and distributed 270 million acres of federal land for private ownership. … Continue reading →

Consider some of the primary players in American mythology: Black people remain imprisoned as America’s perpetual “inner Other,” while the “outer Other” in all of its changing images (Indians, communists, Muslim terrorists) is always located beyond the borders, beyond the … Continue reading →

But What About Ferguson? Returning to this question of “every 28 hours,” we ask incredulously, innocently, again: How often do police shoot unarmed black people? Is it surprising that the government keeps no statistics ? Recently, some citizen groups have … Continue reading →