Nativism Masks Xenophobia
Posted November 19th, 2007by Gregory McNamee
Throughout American history, nativism has proven a mask for xenophobia and ethnic and religious hatreds of various kinds. There are many reasoned arguments against illegal immigration that bear discussion, but I have not heard them coming from Mr. Dobbs so far. Instead, regrettably, what I hear are echoes of the moldy argument that white civilization is somehow imperiled by those who are not like us.
Happy people do not immigrate. Rather than stand at the wall and excoriate the newcomers for their unhappiness, Mr. Dobbs would do better to investigate what has forced them to leave their homes, which will lead him not to the border but to the boardrooms far to the north and east. There is where the story lies, and I hope that Mr. Dobbs, an able journalist, will find it.
