Some things seldom change. If you follow the news or even if you spend some time on blogs you will probably have heard all about the major ‘crisis’ at the border…..and all those voices calling for action although few know what action that is only that the ramblings make sense sort of twisted sense to them.
All this chest banging is nothing new….that is right….nothing new! Yep it is time for the Old Professor to give another of his infamous history lessons. The year is 1924…..not 2024….a hundred years ago this year.
One hundred years ago, the U.S. Congress enacted the most notorious immigration legislation in American history. Signed by President Calvin Coolidge, the Immigration Act of 1924 dramatically reduced immigration from eastern and southern Europe and practically barred it from Asia. How the law did this, however, was somewhat subtle: a quota. Lawmakers calculated how many immigrants from each European country were residing in the United States in 1890 and then took 2% of that number. Only that many newcomers could be admitted from any particular country each year. Before the end of the 19th century, the number of immigrants from outside western and northern Europe was still relatively small – meaning their 2% quotas would be minuscule. In short, the Immigration Act was unabashedly racist, seeking to roll back the demographic tide. One of its sponsors, U.S. Rep. Albert Johnson, warned the House Committee on Immigration that “a stream of alien blood” was poisoning the nation. (does that sound at all familiar?) Torn between “the American dream” and fears of an ungovernable “melting pot,” Americans have always viewed immigrants ambivalently. In 1924, as is true today, many citizens thought in terms of “good” immigration versus “bad” immigration. In their minds, 1890 marked a dividing line between the two. Looking back as a historian of immigration and religion, I’m struck by three changes in U.S. views of immigration over the course of the 19th century.
So you see that not much has changed in a 100 years. Apparently we Americans need someone to fear/hate….is it on a 100 year cycle….you know like storms and stuff?
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