WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.535 cc >> Beth Lemke: Welcome to 00:02.535 --> 00:04.738 the Wisconsin Historical Museum, ladies and gentlemen. 00:04.738 --> 00:07.207 Today we're here to listen to Mike Jacobs look at his 00:07.207 --> 00:12.512 perspectives of immigration, both past and present, and the 00:12.512 --> 00:16.316 propaganda relating to it. So if you could please give me a 00:16.316 --> 00:21.521 warm welcome for Mike Jacobs. [APPLAUSE] 00:25.025 --> 00:27.327 >> Mike Jacobs: So we're going to take a look at the propaganda 00:27.327 --> 00:31.931 through the course of at least 150 years and 00:31.931 --> 00:36.236 see how the nativist faction has tried to support its agenda. 00:36.236 --> 00:39.939 But by emphasizing the similarities of this propaganda, 00:39.939 --> 00:43.843 what I'm hoping to do is to demonstrate that the fears have 00:43.843 --> 00:48.081 neither changed nor diminished. And I'm trying to assure both 00:48.081 --> 00:52.719 sides, whichever side you are on, that our current debate is 00:52.719 --> 00:57.190 neither epic nor final. And that's really my most 00:57.190 --> 01:04.464 important point to you. Demographic changes in British 01:04.464 --> 01:09.002 North America occurred rapidly during the 18th century, and 01:09.002 --> 01:12.105 anti-immigrant sentiment existed even before this country 01:12.105 --> 01:14.741 existed. The principal consideration at 01:14.741 --> 01:17.711 the time, though, was not immigration but the kind of 01:17.711 --> 01:20.313 immigrant, the kind of people that were coming. 01:20.313 --> 01:23.350 Many British North American colonists were concerned about 01:23.350 --> 01:27.354 the importation of convicted criminals, Irish papists and 01:27.354 --> 01:31.524 German separatists. But that's not the focus of 01:31.524 --> 01:35.729 today's presentation so let's start with the United States. 01:35.729 --> 01:39.366 The United States did not have a uniform policy regarding 01:39.366 --> 01:42.402 immigration. Traditionally the federal 01:42.402 --> 01:45.005 government placed neither restrictions nor parameters on 01:45.005 --> 01:47.974 immigration, and federal policies encouraged or 01:47.974 --> 01:50.810 discouraged immigration indirectly through laws that 01:50.810 --> 01:55.682 pertained to citizenship rather than actual travel or entry. 01:55.682 --> 02:00.487 In 1798 the federal government passed the Alien Enemies Act 02:00.487 --> 02:04.691 which were the first national restrictions on immigration. 02:04.691 --> 02:07.794 Rather they were the first national restrictions on 02:07.794 --> 02:11.097 immigrants not immigration. As these laws did not prevent 02:11.097 --> 02:14.067 immigration but threatened immigrants with deportation or 02:14.067 --> 02:16.936 imprisonment if they didn't behave in accordance with the 02:16.936 --> 02:21.408 current administration's wishes. These laws were clearly partisan 02:21.408 --> 02:27.714 and subjective and arbitrary, and thus they were unpopular. 02:27.714 --> 02:32.619 This 1798 cartoon depicts a fight that broke out on the 02:32.619 --> 02:36.122 floor of the United States House of Representatives between 02:36.122 --> 02:39.359 Matthew Lyon, an Irish immigrant, republican 02:39.359 --> 02:42.762 Congressman from Vermont, and Roger Griswold, an American-born 02:42.762 --> 02:46.433 federalist from Connecticut. The democratic republicans 02:46.433 --> 02:50.670 decried this unpopular federalist legislation to rally 02:50.670 --> 02:53.807 support to their party. That's how they attracted 02:53.807 --> 02:57.911 immigrants to them. Such was the earliest 02:57.911 --> 03:00.980 controversy regarding immigration. 03:00.980 --> 03:03.783 That controversy surrounded the kind of immigrant, rather than 03:03.783 --> 03:06.553 immigration itself, comes as little surprise to me studying 03:06.553 --> 03:09.389 this. The United States has almost 03:09.389 --> 03:13.827 always had a dearth in labor. When there hasn't been, 03:13.827 --> 03:16.996 immigration has slowed. If you take a look at this 03:16.996 --> 03:20.100 chart, you will see that the slowest years are during the 03:20.100 --> 03:24.037 Great Depression. We have this idea or we purport 03:24.037 --> 03:27.574 this idea that people come to America for political freedom or 03:27.574 --> 03:30.477 religious freedom, and that is certainly true for a very small 03:30.477 --> 03:35.181 minority. Unless you're going to make the 03:35.181 --> 03:38.318 argument that suddenly in the 1930s places around the world 03:38.318 --> 03:41.087 were offering religious freedom and political freedom, therefore 03:41.087 --> 03:43.790 people weren't coming. If you're familiar with fascist 03:43.790 --> 03:46.893 Spain, fascist Portugal, fascist Germany, fascist Italy, those 03:46.893 --> 03:49.662 arguments aren't that easy to make. 03:49.662 --> 03:52.866 The reality is that the vast majority of the people who've 03:52.866 --> 03:55.702 come to America have come for opportunity, particularly 03:55.702 --> 03:58.805 economic opportunity. And you can see in the 1930s 03:58.805 --> 04:03.043 that did not exist. And speaking of migrations, Beth 04:03.043 --> 04:05.812 had mentioned that we had both moved here from Indiana to 04:05.812 --> 04:10.517 Wisconsin, a migration because I found Wisconsin appealing. 04:10.517 --> 04:13.386 I'd be curious what kind of migrations happened regarding 04:13.386 --> 04:19.826 Wisconsin pertaining to what's going on outside. 04:19.826 --> 04:23.329 As the United States started to supply belligerence engaged in 04:23.329 --> 04:26.866 World War II, the need for labor in America was revitalized. 04:26.866 --> 04:30.603 All were welcome, as depicted in this cartoon from the Detroit 04:30.603 --> 04:35.842 Free Press. In fact, at this time the United 04:35.842 --> 04:38.812 States was desperate for unskilled labor and inaugurated 04:38.812 --> 04:42.682 the Bracero Program with Mexico which brought hundreds of 04:42.682 --> 04:47.087 thousands of Mexicans across the border to work in American 04:47.087 --> 04:50.457 enterprises that needed labor, particularly in agriculture and 04:50.457 --> 04:55.628 railroads. While the Braceros were major 04:55.628 --> 04:59.165 contributors to the American war effort and economy, they did not 04:59.165 --> 05:03.003 always meet with acceptance in this country. 05:03.003 --> 05:06.006 But the immigrants were deemed valuable enough that the Bracero 05:06.006 --> 05:09.676 Program was continued even after the war ended for two decades 05:09.676 --> 05:13.179 and maintained by the American government and the Mexican 05:13.179 --> 05:17.984 government until 1964. If you were to look at illegal 05:17.984 --> 05:20.887 immigration to the United States from Mexico, 1964 is when it 05:20.887 --> 05:24.524 happens, when the program that had allowed for workers to come 05:24.524 --> 05:27.727 here ended. It ended Mexico's incentive to 05:27.727 --> 05:30.864 guard the border. They used to guard the border 05:30.864 --> 05:33.266 not wanting people to move back and forth unless they could tax 05:33.266 --> 05:35.635 them. But that incentive disappeared 05:35.635 --> 05:38.972 with that program. World War II was not the first 05:38.972 --> 05:42.175 time labor influenced American's opinions regarding the 05:42.175 --> 05:46.112 desirability of immigration. This engraving from an 1855 book 05:46.112 --> 05:50.183 by J Wayne Laurens called The Crisis; or The Enemies of 05:50.183 --> 05:54.721 America Unmasked depicts a labor demonstration outside New York 05:54.721 --> 05:59.159 City's city hall demanding relief for the unemployed during 05:59.159 --> 06:03.730 the panic of 1854. This presentation here of 06:03.730 --> 06:07.667 foreign labor demonstrators, mostly Irish and German, was 06:07.667 --> 06:11.671 meant to alarm readers. It's one of the very few 06:11.671 --> 06:14.841 antebellum images of organized labor and tame by the standards 06:14.841 --> 06:20.046 of anti-immigrant propaganda. During the post bellum era, 06:20.046 --> 06:23.350 immigrant laborers were not a threat to capital but to other 06:23.350 --> 06:26.753 laborers. Native labor organized against 06:26.753 --> 06:29.789 cheap immigrant labor that might drive down their wages or 06:29.789 --> 06:32.592 replace them. In both of these pieces 06:32.592 --> 06:36.062 emanating from California, the Chinese are the culprits and the 06:36.062 --> 06:39.833 prescribed solution is clear: physically remove the Chinese by 06:39.833 --> 06:46.639 force or political action. And the story hasn't changed. 06:46.639 --> 06:50.410 Labor is warning Americans of the danger of illegitimate 06:50.410 --> 06:54.080 immigrant labor. But the demonization of 06:54.080 --> 06:57.951 immigrant labor has gone beyond organized labor and become a 06:57.951 --> 07:05.258 grassroots campaign as Americans fear for their economic future. 07:05.258 --> 07:10.196 And corporate America has shouldered the blame. 07:10.196 --> 07:15.535 And corporate executives and upper middle-class Americans 07:15.535 --> 07:19.606 have warned about the presence of such undocumented workers. 07:19.606 --> 07:23.109 But that has not stopped such segments from using and 07:23.109 --> 07:32.052 benefiting from that very labor. The Bush Administration 07:32.052 --> 07:35.555 supported continued practice of moderate immigration enforcement 07:35.555 --> 07:42.562 and was criticized for the apparent motive. 07:42.562 --> 07:46.332 As this cartoon suggests, it is compassionate to assist these 07:46.332 --> 07:49.703 poor immigrants with any work and useful for the American 07:49.703 --> 07:54.674 economy. The competing forces at work are 07:54.674 --> 07:58.678 displayed here on the page of June 8, 2006, edition of 07:58.678 --> 08:03.750 the San Antonio Express. The top article, Texans proposal 08:03.750 --> 08:07.587 would make some deportations easier saying that how they 08:07.587 --> 08:11.358 could get rid of undocumented or undesirable immigrants. 08:11.358 --> 08:15.562 The second article suggests that President Bush believed that 08:15.562 --> 08:20.066 immigrants were useful, but they should conform to the American 08:20.066 --> 08:23.470 macroculture. My favorite is the bottom 08:23.470 --> 08:26.172 article. At the bottom of the page brings 08:26.172 --> 08:29.509 the issue full circle by pointing out that 25% of those 08:29.509 --> 08:32.479 who are cleaning up New Orleans after hurricane Katrina lack 08:32.479 --> 08:37.484 proper papers. As much as people who do not 08:37.484 --> 08:40.854 want them here, as much as the president would like to strip 08:40.854 --> 08:43.556 them of their historic culture, these people are helping America 08:43.556 --> 08:49.062 and Americans. This desire for cheap and 08:49.062 --> 08:52.565 abundant labor has even compromised homeland security 08:52.565 --> 08:55.802 measures according to this piece of propaganda. 08:55.802 --> 08:59.339 Click to enlarge indicates that even this formula is flexible as 08:59.339 --> 09:04.644 needed. Nativist forces were quick to 09:04.644 --> 09:07.981 link America's immigration policy with the 9/11 terrorist 09:07.981 --> 09:13.420 attacks. Even Osama bin Laden is able to 09:13.420 --> 09:18.024 enter the United States in this 2003 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 09:18.024 --> 09:24.397 cartoon by Stuart Carlson. And nativist forces on the 09:24.397 --> 09:32.572 ground picked up on that notion. And fears can be worn on your 09:32.572 --> 09:41.848 sleeve or jacket or lapel. But in many cases the terrorist 09:41.848 --> 09:45.685 bugaboo is simply a cat's paw for other objectives. 09:45.685 --> 09:51.591 The message here is morphed to suit other tastes. 09:51.591 --> 09:56.062 And they transform the message and images to appeal to older 09:56.062 --> 09:59.366 generations of Americans as well. 09:59.366 --> 10:05.271 Every avenue is explored and exploited. 10:05.271 --> 10:08.975 Neither the ploys nor the fears were new. 10:08.975 --> 10:12.912 Post-World War I cartoons suggested that America's liberal 10:12.912 --> 10:16.349 immigration policies opened doors to those who would destroy 10:16.349 --> 10:21.788 us. The jingoism is particularly 10:21.788 --> 10:26.426 noticeable in this cartoon from the Memphis Commercial Appeal. 10:26.426 --> 10:29.996 Now Memphis has little history as an immigrant city. 10:29.996 --> 10:34.300 In 1920 only 3.6% of its population was foreign-born, 10:34.300 --> 10:39.472 ranking it 47th among America's 50th largest cities. 10:39.472 --> 10:44.411 Yet they still have a concern about what is going to happen. 10:44.411 --> 10:50.083 And the remedy did not change either. 10:50.083 --> 10:53.453 Nativists warned Americans about those determined to destroy us 10:53.453 --> 10:57.824 long before World War I as this 1892 New York publication 10:57.824 --> 11:04.197 demonstrates. And the loyalty question has 11:04.197 --> 11:07.067 surfaced as well. Even if these new immigrants are 11:07.067 --> 11:10.704 bent on America's destruction, they seem to have a dual 11:10.704 --> 11:17.444 loyalty. The clinging to traditions is 11:17.444 --> 11:20.714 more easily understood when one considers the transitory nature 11:20.714 --> 11:24.417 of some migrations. For example, prior to the 11:24.417 --> 11:30.390 immigration act of 1924 as many as 60% of Italians who came to 11:30.390 --> 11:34.728 America returned to Italy within five years. 11:34.728 --> 11:38.465 America would be a temporary place to earn money or to test 11:38.465 --> 11:44.804 to see if they like. Almost a hundred years ago 11:44.804 --> 11:48.975 Woodrow Wilson warned Americans of such people who clung to the 11:48.975 --> 11:55.048 traditions of their birth place. During World War I, 11:55.048 --> 11:58.818 German-American immigrants particularly faced prejudice. 11:58.818 --> 12:02.355 In 1918 Life magazine ran this cartoon with the accompanying 12:02.355 --> 12:05.658 jingle of My Country 'Tis of Thee. 12:05.658 --> 12:09.629 My country over sea, Deutschland is sweet to me, to thee I cling. 12:09.629 --> 12:13.566 For thee my honor died, for thee I spied and lied, so that from 12:13.566 --> 12:21.141 every side culture might ring. But it didn't require the United 12:21.141 --> 12:25.045 States to be at war to inspire such fears as instructed by 12:25.045 --> 12:32.552 Uncle Sam in 1915 to cut off that hyphen. 12:32.552 --> 12:35.955 The term hyphenated American entered the American slang in 12:35.955 --> 12:39.659 the early 1890s referring to immigrants who had not fully or 12:39.659 --> 12:45.331 satisfactorily acculturated. In this 1899 cartoon from Puck, 12:45.331 --> 12:48.968 Uncle Sam inquires "why should I let these freaks cast whole 12:48.968 --> 12:55.275 ballots when they are only half Americans?" 12:55.275 --> 12:57.877 One of the first concerns regarding dual loyalty had 12:57.877 --> 13:00.347 little to do with foreign national powers. 13:00.347 --> 13:04.217 It was the Catholic church that nativists feared. 13:04.217 --> 13:09.155 In this 1853 Currier & Ives lithograph Pope Pius IX lands on 13:09.155 --> 13:12.025 American soil with a cross in one hand and a sword in the 13:12.025 --> 13:15.295 other. One of the Bishops hooks the 13:15.295 --> 13:20.467 boat ashore by a shamrock, suggesting that the Irish are in 13:20.467 --> 13:23.570 complicity in making this happen those who are already in 13:23.570 --> 13:26.940 America. Brother Jonathan who was a 13:26.940 --> 13:30.510 precursor to Uncle Sam is whittling in the back and fails 13:30.510 --> 13:33.680 to act. Therefore, it is up to the youth 13:33.680 --> 13:40.420 of America to challenge this religious invasion. 13:40.420 --> 13:44.357 This 1870 cover of Harper's Weekly sends a similar message 13:44.357 --> 13:48.128 of the Catholic church's sights on America. 13:48.128 --> 13:51.364 Note the skeletal face of the priest on the far right and the 13:51.364 --> 13:59.973 raised weapons in the rear preparing for their strike. 13:59.973 --> 14:03.810 This 1873 cartoon from Harper's Weekly suggests that Catholics 14:03.810 --> 14:07.981 are to subvert American institutions such as schools. 14:07.981 --> 14:11.284 Students at the right are forced to worship at non-Christian 14:11.284 --> 14:14.521 alters and are being indoctrinated in Asian 14:14.521 --> 14:20.460 philosophies and religions. Thomas Nast, the most famous 14:20.460 --> 14:24.064 cartoonist in American history, produced one of the most 14:24.064 --> 14:27.567 infamous anti-immigrant works of the 19th century with his 14:27.567 --> 14:31.338 warning of Catholic invasions. Notice the crocodiles that are 14:31.338 --> 14:35.575 coming to shore are actually Bishops. 14:35.575 --> 14:39.212 The Vatican has taken over the government in the background. 14:39.212 --> 14:42.482 The public school is falling apart. 14:42.482 --> 14:45.919 The American flag is inverted. Catholic-Irish thugs are hauling 14:45.919 --> 14:49.522 away a woman at the top of the cliff, and the gallows are 14:49.522 --> 14:55.829 prepared in the upper right-hand corner. 14:55.829 --> 14:59.666 And into the 20th century the fear had not subsided. 14:59.666 --> 15:03.003 A deadly Catholic Bishop replaces the Statue of Liberty 15:03.003 --> 15:06.940 because Americans are not sufficiently on guard. 15:06.940 --> 15:09.776 But there was an antidote realized in the 1920s. 15:09.776 --> 15:14.814 The Klan would be America's savior from foreign menaces. 15:14.814 --> 15:19.886 It's a good thing that religious bigotry and superstition has 15:19.886 --> 15:22.789 gone by the wayside and no longer enters into the 15:22.789 --> 15:29.462 immigration debate. In the early part of the 19th 15:29.462 --> 15:33.033 century, Catholic and Irish were used interchangeably in many 15:33.033 --> 15:36.036 parts of America. Not only was their religion in 15:36.036 --> 15:39.005 question, but their economic situation was feared to be a 15:39.005 --> 15:44.511 burden for America. And this concern about 15:44.511 --> 15:50.250 immigrants has not changed as this bumper sticker suggests. 15:50.250 --> 15:56.056 This 1852 plate considers the physiognomy of the Irish, 15:56.056 --> 16:00.627 likening them to dogs. This type of pseudoscience 16:00.627 --> 16:04.397 encouraged people to treat immigrants as less than human. 16:04.397 --> 16:10.136 This 1882 cartoon from Puck depicts the Irish as subhuman. 16:10.136 --> 16:14.808 Uncle Sam reprimands him "look here you everybody else is quiet 16:14.808 --> 16:18.678 and peaceable and you're all the time a kicking up a row." 16:18.678 --> 16:22.782 The editorial that accompanied the cartoon asserted "the raw 16:22.782 --> 16:26.519 Irish in America is a nuisance. His son is a curse. 16:26.519 --> 16:29.756 They never assimilate. The second generation simply 16:29.756 --> 16:33.693 shows an intensification of all the bad qualities of the first. 16:33.693 --> 16:38.064 They are a burden and a misery to this country." 16:38.064 --> 16:41.368 Such characterizations led to the popularization and general 16:41.368 --> 16:45.939 acceptance of no Irish need apply or NINA as some newspaper 16:45.939 --> 16:51.144 ads proclaimed. Or as Puck suggested in this 16:51.144 --> 16:55.749 1889 cartoon, the Irish simply are not mixable. 16:55.749 --> 17:01.988 Chinese immigrants would face even greater discrimination than 17:01.988 --> 17:05.191 the Irish. Columbia here guards the weary 17:05.191 --> 17:09.529 Chinese immigrant in this 1874 engraving from Harper's Weekly. 17:09.529 --> 17:13.933 She warns the Irish pursuers that America "means fair play 17:13.933 --> 17:17.404 for all men." Notice the barbaric faces on 17:17.404 --> 17:20.640 the Irish and all the anti-Chinese propaganda on the 17:20.640 --> 17:25.378 wall behind. Secretary of State James G 17:25.378 --> 17:29.416 Blaine protects the African American and says no to the 17:29.416 --> 17:33.953 apparently high-cultured Chinese. 17:33.953 --> 17:37.524 Less than two years later, Harper's Weekly changed its 17:37.524 --> 17:40.493 editorial policy towards Chinese immigration. 17:40.493 --> 17:44.130 This propaganda on the wall depicts whites pushing American 17:44.130 --> 17:48.735 Indians west and Chinese pushing Americans east. 17:48.735 --> 17:52.972 The American Indian observes "pale face 'fraid you crowd him 17:52.972 --> 17:57.911 out as he did me." You can see this up here. 17:57.911 --> 18:05.218 Go west and go east. And the Chinese immigration 18:05.218 --> 18:08.355 issue could prevent the freefall of the democratic tiger on the 18:08.355 --> 18:12.058 left or pull both parties down as Thomas Nast suggests on the 18:12.058 --> 18:17.564 right. Frank Leslie's illustrated 18:17.564 --> 18:21.067 newspaper warned the working man of the coming of the destructive 18:21.067 --> 18:27.040 Chinese labor in 1877. This montage of cartoons by 18:27.040 --> 18:30.810 Joseph Keppler called the Chinese invasion from an 1880 18:30.810 --> 18:34.514 issue of Judge warned that the Chinese would push others from 18:34.514 --> 18:38.218 the workforce and the center they are clinging to the life 18:38.218 --> 18:45.125 preservers offered by Columbia. The WASP magazine, from 18:45.125 --> 18:48.128 California, warned that the immigrant Chinese sought 18:48.128 --> 18:51.731 monopolies in certain trades, especially laundries, cigar 18:51.731 --> 18:57.337 making, dry goods and manufacturing. 18:57.337 --> 19:00.373 Chinese came to dominate the laundry trade in a number of 19:00.373 --> 19:04.077 cities, and they became a target because of the competition. 19:04.077 --> 19:07.347 In this trade card, Columbia points to the wall no more 19:07.347 --> 19:12.752 Chinese cheap labor. Business owners tried to depict 19:12.752 --> 19:16.389 themselves as patriotic by finding ways of replacing the 19:16.389 --> 19:19.392 Chinese. In this trade card, Uncle Sam is 19:19.392 --> 19:22.495 kicking the Chinese back to the sea, replacing them with the 19:22.495 --> 19:31.204 George D Company's magic washer. To the satisfaction of so many 19:31.204 --> 19:34.708 Americans depicted here, Columbia is escorting the 19:34.708 --> 19:37.677 immigrant Chinese from the school. 19:37.677 --> 19:44.017 Note the ironing board and opium pipe carried in his hands. 19:44.017 --> 19:47.754 Indeed, Chinese immigration proved a rallying point for a 19:47.754 --> 19:51.658 disparate group of Americans. Emanating from the new Statue of 19:51.658 --> 19:59.432 Liberty is filth, immorality, and ruin to white labor. 19:59.432 --> 20:03.503 The WASP hope to stop the threats on both shores: Chinese 20:03.503 --> 20:08.908 from the Pacific and communists from the Atlantic. 20:08.908 --> 20:13.046 When the fear of Chinese immigration was halted by 20:13.046 --> 20:16.816 restricted immigration policies directed at that country, a new 20:16.816 --> 20:20.954 threat from Asia emerged. The tide of turbans failed to 20:20.954 --> 20:24.991 materialize, as the nativists claimed it would, but the 20:24.991 --> 20:30.764 propaganda machine was prepared. And during World War II Japanese 20:30.764 --> 20:38.538 immigrants or natives were targets of American jingoism. 20:38.538 --> 20:41.941 Immigrant Asians are no longer singled out as a threat to 20:41.941 --> 20:45.011 American wages and taxes but Americans are still warned about 20:45.011 --> 20:53.820 migrant labor. And migrant labor, or labor 20:53.820 --> 20:57.023 wasn't the only concern of the nativist, but they have to use 20:57.023 --> 21:00.293 it to advantage. In this turn of the century 21:00.293 --> 21:03.997 drawing from Judge magazine, the caption warns "our peaceful 21:03.997 --> 21:07.634 world districts as they are liable to be infest if this 21:07.634 --> 21:14.941 Russian exodus of the persecuted Hebrews continues much longer." 21:14.941 --> 21:19.646 This 1896 cartoon published in The Ram's Horn indicates the 21:19.646 --> 21:22.882 assortment of undesirable baggage brought by immigrants 21:22.882 --> 21:27.220 including Sabbath desecration, anarchy, poverty, superstition, 21:27.220 --> 21:33.760 and disease. This 1883 F Grats cartoon warns 21:33.760 --> 21:37.263 of health hazards, specifically cholera, entering the country 21:37.263 --> 21:44.337 through immigration. This more recent cartoon 21:44.337 --> 21:47.907 suggests American immigration policy is more strict on 21:47.907 --> 21:51.411 potentially contaminated beef than humans with serious 21:51.411 --> 21:58.351 communicable diseases. But Chinese, Irish, Catholics 21:58.351 --> 22:02.055 and communicable diseases are not at the forefront of the 22:02.055 --> 22:09.996 current immigration debate. It is clear where nativists 22:09.996 --> 22:12.999 believe the problem originates. 22:26.813 --> 22:30.150 And what the end result could mean. 22:30.150 --> 22:32.585 And they will employ scare tactics to achieve their 22:32.585 --> 22:38.191 objective. And nativists have criticized 22:38.191 --> 22:43.596 the policies of the most recent past president. 22:47.367 --> 22:51.705 Some have their own martial remedies. 22:56.443 --> 23:00.647 They try to instill fear in the American public that the new 23:00.647 --> 23:03.817 immigrants from south of the border will overwhelm existing 23:03.817 --> 23:11.257 peoples and political systems. One theory widely held by 23:11.257 --> 23:15.028 Americans that has assuaged fears of immigrants unique 23:15.028 --> 23:18.398 habits, traditions, qualities, and beliefs is that the 23:18.398 --> 23:22.102 differences will disappear in the great American melting pot. 23:22.102 --> 23:26.239 But the melting pot idea, as historian Leonard Dinnerstein 23:26.239 --> 23:29.909 has noted, is a more recent ideal than a historical 23:29.909 --> 23:33.580 expectation. He writes one must not ignore 23:33.580 --> 23:36.850 the prevalent American view that existed for centuries. 23:36.850 --> 23:40.887 America should remain a white protestant nation and all others 23:40.887 --> 23:44.090 must either assimilate or be relegated to a permanent 23:44.090 --> 23:47.527 inferior status. That is not to say the melting 23:47.527 --> 23:50.897 pot is not the end result. Whatever the ingredients, a 23:50.897 --> 23:55.669 standardized formula emerges, according to this cartoon. 23:55.669 --> 23:59.773 Dinnerstein adds most second and third generation Americans of 23:59.773 --> 24:03.576 foreign ancestry are not anxious to remain ethnic as they are to 24:03.576 --> 24:08.381 blend into the dominate society. Consider first generation 24:08.381 --> 24:12.185 letters back to the old country. Did second and third generations 24:12.185 --> 24:15.522 follow suit and maintain the traditions? 24:15.522 --> 24:18.625 Do any such letters to the old country exist for fourth 24:18.625 --> 24:22.228 generations? Fourth generations are more 24:22.228 --> 24:25.799 likely to have anonymous overseas pen pals than to write 24:25.799 --> 24:31.271 their families back overseas. But historically, even this 24:31.271 --> 24:36.676 recipe, as a path for immigrant, acceptance has come under fire. 24:36.676 --> 24:40.814 Some groups simply were not assimilable. 24:40.814 --> 24:45.952 The remedy? Close the chute. 24:45.952 --> 24:49.589 Perhaps it had gone too far while Uncle Sam had his back 24:49.589 --> 24:53.159 turned, as this 1921 Gale cartoon, Spoiling the Broth, 24:53.159 --> 24:58.798 insinuates. Pouring too many immigrants into 24:58.798 --> 25:02.902 the mix has been a detriment to the country, according to the 25:02.902 --> 25:08.274 Saturday Evening Post in 1930. So this bumper sticker is 25:08.274 --> 25:12.278 nothing new. In fact it's less pungent than 25:12.278 --> 25:16.249 the propaganda of earlier generations. 25:16.249 --> 25:20.120 But some still hold out hope, as this 2006 editorial cartoon 25:20.120 --> 25:26.326 suggests. For good or for not, I'm not 25:26.326 --> 25:30.563 altogether certain that there's not a melting pot of some sort 25:30.563 --> 25:34.000 as three generations of recent immigrants from Afghanistan 25:34.000 --> 25:40.173 demonstrate the Macarena. [LAUGHTER] 25:40.173 --> 25:44.277 One thing that has changed over the course of the last century 25:44.277 --> 25:47.047 regarding American's attitudes towards immigrants is that 25:47.047 --> 25:50.116 many want immigrants to speak English. 25:50.116 --> 25:53.420 Ethnic ghettos and villages were so common and insulated in the 25:53.420 --> 25:56.856 19th century that speaking English might not be deemed 25:56.856 --> 26:00.393 necessary or even desirable for some. 26:00.393 --> 26:06.066 Notice the ironic land of the free flag in the background. 26:06.066 --> 26:09.436 That changed in the 20th century. 26:09.436 --> 26:13.039 And not only did many Americans want new arrivals to speak 26:13.039 --> 26:16.142 English, they wanted them literate. 26:16.142 --> 26:19.245 In this 1914 cartoon from Puck called The Undesirables, Abraham 26:19.245 --> 26:22.415 Lincoln, the martyred president pleads, "I stand among you, good 26:22.415 --> 26:26.052 people, my father could never have passed." 26:26.052 --> 26:29.522 And standardization became a rallying cry in the land of the 26:29.522 --> 26:38.631 free. Americans are ordered to speak 26:38.631 --> 26:45.005 American in this poster issued by the American government 26:45.005 --> 26:48.808 during World War II. Using non-English languages, 26:48.808 --> 26:52.012 especially German, Italian and Japanese, was considered 26:52.012 --> 26:55.415 disloyal. And efforts to serve and/or 26:55.415 --> 26:58.752 accommodate non-English speaking immigrants has been ridiculed 26:58.752 --> 27:07.627 recently. And opposition to a polyglot 27:07.627 --> 27:20.740 nation has become vitriolic. And fears have been codified. 27:20.740 --> 27:24.477 Insulated Iowa with just 3.1% foreign-born population in 27:24.477 --> 27:27.814 the census of 2000 passed a law that made English its official 27:27.814 --> 27:33.486 language. While once concerned that 27:33.486 --> 27:38.124 immigrants would the not adapt to America, would not appreciate 27:38.124 --> 27:41.428 American institutions such as suffrage, many nativists fear 27:41.428 --> 27:44.798 the opposite, that immigrants will participate in the 27:44.798 --> 27:51.938 political process. Some outspoken people such as 27:51.938 --> 27:54.941 Pat Buchanan have tried to use this issue to rise to national 27:54.941 --> 27:58.878 providence, if not national office. 27:58.878 --> 28:02.982 Disgruntled nativists accused the last president of pandering 28:02.982 --> 28:08.788 to this potential constituency. To them, Bush has compromised 28:08.788 --> 28:14.194 America's sovereignty for his own political future. 28:14.194 --> 28:21.568 Or to achieve another unrelated political agenda. 28:21.568 --> 28:25.171 However upset those forces are with the former President Bush, 28:25.171 --> 28:29.075 their propaganda leaves little doubt with which party they 28:29.075 --> 28:32.212 believe they have the best chance of achieving their goals. 28:32.212 --> 28:35.682 In this 2006 flyer, nativists propose that by voting 28:35.682 --> 28:38.985 democratic you are cooperating with the wishes of the Mexican 28:38.985 --> 28:43.223 people. There's little doubt immigration 28:43.223 --> 28:47.093 will be a highly contested issue in our future major election 28:47.093 --> 28:53.199 cycles. And it's not the first time such 28:53.199 --> 28:56.770 battles were waged. California senator and famed 28:56.770 --> 29:00.473 opponent of Japanese immigration James Phelan's campaign poster 29:00.473 --> 29:04.544 promised to stop the silent invasion. 29:04.544 --> 29:09.482 Riffraff immigrants might subvert the political process, 29:09.482 --> 29:14.387 damage our ideas, institutions, as Uncle Sam fears here. 29:14.387 --> 29:20.994 And this concern predates the 20th and 21st century. 29:20.994 --> 29:24.731 "What weight can my vote have against this flood of ignorance, 29:24.731 --> 29:28.068 stupidity and fraud," the American citizen asks in this 29:28.068 --> 29:31.571 1896 cartoon from The Ram's Horn. 29:31.571 --> 29:35.575 In this election day fiasco, liquor-drinking Irish and German 29:35.575 --> 29:38.812 immigrants run off with the ballot box to determine the 29:38.812 --> 29:43.483 election's victor. Finally, in this cartoon dubbed 29:43.483 --> 29:48.188 the naturalization mill, judges and party hacks grind immigrants 29:48.188 --> 29:53.093 into democratic votes. Whether or not they will be 29:53.093 --> 29:57.731 participating in politics, the sheer volume of immigration is a 29:57.731 --> 30:00.734 concern to nativists. 30:05.638 --> 30:08.675 But 80 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan warned America of the same 30:08.675 --> 30:14.180 phenomenon in its pamphlet on immigration. 30:14.180 --> 30:16.483 And the Klan was carrying on a strong tradition of the nativist 30:16.483 --> 30:20.920 concern about the volume as well as the character of immigration. 30:25.225 --> 30:30.563 In this 1891 cartoon from Judge, senator Henry Cabot Lodge 30:30.563 --> 30:33.299 lectures Uncle Sam, "If immigration was properly 30:33.299 --> 30:35.769 restricted you would no longer be troubled with anarchy, 30:35.769 --> 30:39.539 socialism, the mafia and such kindred evils." 30:39.539 --> 30:42.642 The caption on the sign in the background reads "Entry for 30:42.642 --> 30:45.945 immigrants, baggage the only requisite." 30:45.945 --> 30:49.082 Captions on immigrants include "Polish vagabond, Italian 30:49.082 --> 30:52.385 brigand, English convict, Russian anarchist, 30:52.385 --> 30:57.590 Irish pauper." In this 1893 Life magazine 30:57.590 --> 31:00.894 lithograph contains the caption "An interesting question: 31:00.894 --> 31:03.797 how long will it be before the rats own the garden 31:03.797 --> 31:07.133 and the man gets out?" Uncle Sam has nodded off 31:07.133 --> 31:12.472 permitting the vermin to take command of the American garden. 31:12.472 --> 31:16.209 This F Beard cartoon is called Columbia's Unwelcomed Guest. 31:16.209 --> 31:19.612 As immigrants emerge from the sewers of other countries, if 31:19.612 --> 31:24.184 you see in the background. In this early piece of 31:24.184 --> 31:26.986 propaganda, the pied piper leads the rats across the ocean to 31:26.986 --> 31:29.823 America. Notice the Statue of Liberty in 31:29.823 --> 31:34.060 the background and the rats swimming toward it. 31:34.060 --> 31:37.297 Today's propaganda remains with the patriotic theme by employing 31:37.297 --> 31:42.635 images of Uncle Sam. More tangible efforts are 31:42.635 --> 31:48.575 suggested as well. Not that all concerns are 31:48.575 --> 31:51.945 groundless, but certainly some of the alarmists lack rational 31:51.945 --> 31:54.748 arguments. For example, note this sign in 31:54.748 --> 31:58.518 Tennessee, a state that ranks 33rd in the percentage of 31:58.518 --> 32:02.922 immigrants, approximately two-thirds below the national 32:02.922 --> 32:08.828 average. The volume of current 32:08.828 --> 32:11.898 immigration, some nativists suggest, will overwhelm the 32:11.898 --> 32:15.969 United States. So great that the new immigrants 32:15.969 --> 32:19.906 will not assimilate but will hoist their culture upon the 32:19.906 --> 32:24.411 existing one, wrecking the traditions known to most 32:24.411 --> 32:30.417 Americans. The American will become a 32:30.417 --> 32:35.555 novelty, as with this 1922 James Montgomery Flagg cartoon 32:35.555 --> 32:41.394 portrays the last American in captivity. 32:41.394 --> 32:44.798 Flagg copied the idea from the Last Yankee, first published in 32:44.798 --> 32:48.068 Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper in 1888 but reprinted 32:48.068 --> 32:51.905 frequently over the next 30 years. 32:51.905 --> 32:55.442 Uncle Sam is literally devoured by Irish and Chinese immigrants 32:55.442 --> 32:59.879 in this early depiction. This is the first cartoon of a 32:59.879 --> 33:05.218 three-part series. Let's see how it ends. 33:10.857 --> 33:13.293 America has drawn so many immigrants because it is the 33:13.293 --> 33:15.662 land of opportunity, a land of bounty. 33:15.662 --> 33:19.299 In this 1880 Joseph Keppler cartoon called Welcome to All, 33:19.299 --> 33:23.303 Uncle Sam welcomes immigrants of all nationalities and a sign 33:23.303 --> 33:27.040 lauds America's features: political freedom and economic 33:27.040 --> 33:32.445 opportunity. A Judeo-Christian theme is 33:32.445 --> 33:37.650 utilized in this Puck cartoon in which Uncle Sam plays Moses 33:37.650 --> 33:42.288 leading immigrants from oppression and intolerance to a 33:42.288 --> 33:46.059 new day that is America. Today immigrants choose America 33:46.059 --> 33:51.264 for the same reasons: opportunities. 33:51.264 --> 33:54.701 But nativists today are less liberal and not prepared to 33:54.701 --> 34:00.407 share the opportunities of this great country. 34:00.407 --> 34:03.910 Now comparatively, United States is not alone among English 34:03.910 --> 34:07.280 speaking nations in limiting access to resources as well as a 34:07.280 --> 34:12.152 means to discourage immigration as this 1899 cartoon from 34:12.152 --> 34:15.021 New South Wales, Australia, indicates. 34:15.021 --> 34:18.191 "A white colony" and "mineral wealth" are guarded against 34:18.191 --> 34:22.262 "black labor" and "minority rule." 34:22.262 --> 34:27.067 And in England, God save the King. 34:27.067 --> 34:33.273 And even more recently in nearby Canada. 34:33.273 --> 34:38.745 And there is little difference in the warning. 34:38.745 --> 34:41.581 And America should heed a warning too. 34:41.581 --> 34:44.984 English speaking countries haven't been the only ones in 34:44.984 --> 34:48.455 the world who discourage particular people from living 34:48.455 --> 34:51.891 among them. And America's immigrant policy 34:51.891 --> 34:55.362 has had foreign policy ramifications. 34:55.362 --> 34:58.665 The Japanese considered exclusion of their nationals as 34:58.665 --> 35:05.739 an insult to their national honor. 35:05.739 --> 35:09.576 This 1915 cartoon suggests that America's doors are open to just 35:09.576 --> 35:13.013 about any kind of immigrant except the Japanese. 35:13.013 --> 35:17.183 The link to Pearl Harbor is not as direct as the treatment of 35:17.183 --> 35:22.389 Irish-Catholic immigrants in the America army in the 1840s. 35:22.389 --> 35:26.526 Several hundred of them deserted the American army and fought for 35:26.526 --> 35:30.597 Mexico in the Mexican-American War. 35:30.597 --> 35:34.534 The Los San Patricios are officially celebrated in both 35:34.534 --> 35:41.775 Ireland and in Mexico. Nativists designed laws that 35:41.775 --> 35:45.445 discriminated against immigrant Irish and prevented Japanese 35:45.445 --> 35:48.882 immigration. Recent complaints by nativists 35:48.882 --> 35:52.085 argue that the laws in place are not enforced. 35:52.085 --> 35:55.155 Indeed, salutary neglect has been America's policy towards 35:55.155 --> 35:58.992 illegal immigration from Central America. 35:58.992 --> 36:02.696 Bush's plan to legitimize illegal immigration came under 36:02.696 --> 36:08.735 fire from nativists as well. Those most responsible for 36:08.735 --> 36:13.006 securing the borders have been criticized also. 36:13.006 --> 36:16.843 The INS shirked its principal function and has been complicit 36:16.843 --> 36:20.246 in this disregard for the law according to these recent 36:20.246 --> 36:23.249 characterizations. 36:27.954 --> 36:30.457 Legal measures have been taken before trying to curb 36:30.457 --> 36:37.530 immigration in 1921. And again three years later. 36:37.530 --> 36:42.702 In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan tried to take credit for a restrictive 36:42.702 --> 36:45.538 legislation. The Klan is still active in the 36:45.538 --> 36:51.678 nativist movement. Other national right wing 36:51.678 --> 36:54.581 organizations, such as the national socialist movement, 36:54.581 --> 36:58.718 also feed on anti-immigrant sentiment. 36:58.718 --> 37:02.355 Most ultra-conservatives know that the history of those two 37:02.355 --> 37:05.725 groups preclude them from effectiveness or even being part 37:05.725 --> 37:09.029 of the national dialogue. So they created the Minuteman 37:09.029 --> 37:12.565 Project, employing patriotic symbols to rally people to their 37:12.565 --> 37:17.103 cause. Even more bland is US English. 37:17.103 --> 37:20.674 This organization pushes for immigration restriction and 37:20.674 --> 37:24.177 English as the official language of the United States. 37:24.177 --> 37:27.313 Madison Grant, the vice president of the Immigration 37:27.313 --> 37:30.717 Restriction League, was best known for his warnings in the 37:30.717 --> 37:34.387 passing of the great race and the introduction to fellow 37:34.387 --> 37:37.524 restrictionist Lathrop Stoddard's The Rising Tide of 37:37.524 --> 37:41.461 Color Against World White Supremacy. 37:41.461 --> 37:44.731 And before the Immigration Restriction League there was the 37:44.731 --> 37:50.670 Order of United Americans. And the short-lived political 37:50.670 --> 37:55.241 party the American party. Its precursor, the Native 37:55.241 --> 37:58.578 American party, commonly known as the no nothings or the don't 37:58.578 --> 38:03.216 knows. Two aspects of the immigration 38:03.216 --> 38:06.653 debate have degenerated. For one the message was formally 38:06.653 --> 38:11.524 less vehement. And the isolationists were on 38:11.524 --> 38:17.630 the fringe of American society. But in the 21st century, 38:17.630 --> 38:21.668 nativism has obtained mainstream status, including young, old, 38:21.668 --> 38:26.239 and middle-class. And the message has lost all 38:26.239 --> 38:32.312 polish. The message has become 38:32.312 --> 38:46.126 malicious. Venomous. 38:46.126 --> 38:48.528 The irony of American's immigration policies have not 38:48.528 --> 38:54.401 been lost on previous generations. 38:54.401 --> 38:57.203 Hendrik van Loon asks in this 1924 cartoon, what if the 38:57.203 --> 39:01.441 original Americans opposed immigration? 39:33.640 --> 39:39.379 Even the debate on terrorism has been put into perspective. 39:39.379 --> 39:42.749 "Give me your tired, poor, your huddled masses yearning 39:42.749 --> 39:45.552 to breathe free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shore. 39:45.552 --> 39:48.221 Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my 39:48.221 --> 39:54.761 lamp beside the golden door!" Do the nativists, the 39:54.761 --> 39:56.830 defenders of America's traditions, want to revise 39:56.830 --> 39:59.833 America's traditional promise? 40:02.769 --> 40:05.772 They wouldn't be the first, as this 1921 Lute Pease cartoon 40:05.772 --> 40:11.211 indicates. Even to implement the nativist 40:11.211 --> 40:16.216 popular solution to halt immigration seems rather ironic. 40:20.620 --> 40:23.623 On both sides of the border. 40:28.361 --> 40:30.730 And it is not without historic precedent. 40:30.730 --> 40:33.767 In this 19th century work, the immediate descendants of 40:33.767 --> 40:38.338 immigrants are doing the work of building the wall. 40:41.307 --> 40:47.213 Recent immigrants have been more vocal than in the past. 40:47.213 --> 40:55.789 Demanding a measure of equality. I see it's just about 1:00, 40:55.789 --> 41:00.060 so I will open it up for questions. 41:00.060 --> 41:02.629 [APPLAUSE]