What Do You Think Of My Idea For Why Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Is So Great In America Today?
Although immigrants provided necessary cheap labor at the time in the early 1800s when it was high Europe was a hotbed of radicalism. But American workers weren't radicalized, because they had the Western safety valve(the comfort of knowing if conditions at work ever got that bad they could get a home out West) and could compare themselves with slaves and feel lucky, because of that. Notice how abolitionist states called themselves "free states" and non-slave labor was called "free labor". This emphasis on "free" in contrast to "slave" labor sends the message that workers are fundamentally "free". You still see this attitude with people who say the homeless and unemployed should just "get a job" and who don't see worker's rights as being that important because "they chose to work there", ignoring that whether a person really has a choice depends on what other options are available. The word "free" created a black-and-white(no pun intended) distinction in people's minds about whether a worker was free or not.
The industrial ruling class liked the immigrants for cheaper labor, but didn't like that the immigrants tended to be more pushy and more likely to get involved in worker's activism, so naturally stigmatizing immigrants(characterizing Irish as Papists and drunks for example) as the Know Nothing Party did played into the ruling classes hand. Most Know Nothings wound up joining the Republicans later. The Republican Party was heavily influenced by business even back then. Since it ultimately served businessmen if American and immigrant workers didn't get along and because stigmatizing immigrants would indirectly stigmatize worker's activism the more anti-immigrant Americans would've been a valueable demographic ally in the Republican coalition along with abolitionists, frontier settlers, businessmen, and ultimately ultramoralists(as a result of stereotypes of immigrants including being drunks or being promiscuous).
As a result anti-immigrant sentiment was promoted by the wealthier, more powerful segments of American society in politics and the media and so this persists today even stronger than anti-immigrant sentiment in other countries.
"So Great" does not mean great like I support it but great as in great numbers feel that way. I'm pro-immigrant.
@Daisy,
I suppose you think at some point everyone in America got total amnesia so that what happened just before(and consequently the things just before that and so on and so forth which is called history) would no longer matter.
What makes you think they are getting free health care? Obama's health care bill explicitly excluded them. Unless you mean emergency rooms, but stop and think if you'd really be comfortable if we refused health care to say a child otherwise about to die because his parents were illegal immigrants? You're complaining about something you probably wouldn't even change given the chance.
"It's more about people being fed up with the illegals getting free health care while we tax-paying Americans sometimes have to go with out and end up owing staggering medical bills."
I agree that's a problem. Instead of getting mad at the illegal immigrants wouldn't it be more productive to get mad that they're not giving us health care. Paying your way through life is all we
@ Daisy,
Calm down.
@ Craig,
"There is nothing in the news regarding any American having a problem with LEGAL immigrants."
Because we all know that the news always reports things in the exact proportion that they happen. That's why you hear more stories about people not committing crimes than committing them...Oh wait...You don't.
Plus-You're forgetting context. I've heard people say many things that reveal that their problem is with immigration in general and in particular Mexican immigrants. What about all the people complaining when immigrants speak Spanish to each other but never complaining about other languages. I mean seriously nobody has the duty to make sure any stranger within earshot will be able to understand them, and the fact that two people are speaking Spanish to each other does not mean they have not learned English or that they are illegal. Such reactions show racist assumptions and a general anti-immigrant attitude not a solely anti-illegal immigrant attitude.
And BTW, what's with t
@ Coked up,
Exactly!
When people talk about illegal immigration all their anger tends to be expressed towards the illegal immigrants.
Not the employers, not the companies that profit off of cheap labor. Not the companies that bribe Mexican(and other governments) politicians not to pass more stringent labor laws which would lead less people to need to immigrate.
Correction(and Yahoo, please, please fix it so it stops typing when it reaches that point!):
"And BTW, what's with the ALL CAPS and all the repeating illegal over and over again as if that proved anything. Calm Down. Is feeling all this anger making you happy somehow?
Seriously why can't people discuss politics without getting angry at each other, insulting each other, using all caps, accusing each other of having alterior motives, etc.