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Article: U.S. immigration: a historical perspective.(Column)
- Article from:
- National Voter
- Article date:
- February 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 League of Women Voters. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Few subjects in the U.S. are as controversial as immigration or have as contentious a history. Immigration scholars Simon and Lynch (1) suggest that Americans view immigration with "rose-colored glasses turned backwards," with positive attitudes toward earlier groups of immigrants, and negative ones about those who enter today. Yet the notion that earlier waves of European immigrants were welcomed with open arms is false. At the end of the 19th century anti-immigrant backlash toward non-Protestant immigrants was vicious, as shown in this cartoon. (2)
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As historian Donna Gabaccia reminds us, the current outrage against "illegal ...