[dreadgeek]

I thought it would be helpful, since Americans seem to have a rather ahistorical view of ourselves, to take a little trip down history lane vis a vis America and race and immigration. Supporters of the Arizona law keep pretending that there just *couldn't* be any hint of racial bias or any danger of the law being applied in a racially biased way as if America had a clean slate on race. We don't. So, let me put on my Mr. Peabody costume for the moment and we'll just hop in the way-back machine:

Mid-16th century to Mid-18th century: Europeans begin arriving to the Western Hemisphere in earnest. They find indigenous populations living here who they immediately set to killing and stealing their land. (As an aside, one can only imagine that the indigenous populations living in the interior of the country might have had some rather strong words for the East Coast populations along the lines of: "ya know, if y'all had just driven them back into the sea the minute they got here, we'd have all been appreciative of that".

Mid-18th century to the early 19th century: European settlement of the Western hemisphere carries on apace. At the same time, Europeans and Middle Eastern empires descend upon Western Africa and start grabbing the inhabitants there who, it must be noted, were completely out of EVERYONE'S way, and begin transporting them across the Atlantic as slaves. Yes, it is true that slavery existed in Africa. Yes, it is also true that tribal chieftains would sell off people they had conquered or who were problematic to slavers. However, this is one of those 'is it the supply side or the demand side' problems and we needn't spend too much time here because, for our purposes, it does not matter. What is germane here is that Africans were taken from Africa and brought to the Americas as property--livestock if you will. In the meantime, what started as a trickle becomes full-blown expansion and a genocide begins.

Early to Mid-19th century: Expansion of Americas continues. Slavery continues. Trans-Atlantic slave trade ends in 1809 (for comparison by this point England is *paying* other nations to either ban slavery or ban the slave trade or both). Mid-century, North America is completely and utterly under the control of the descendants of Europeans. The indigenous population is coming to the horrifying conclusion that they have lost and that their civilization is coming to a quick end. The US Supreme court decides Dred Scott stating that blacks in America have no rights that whites are bound by law or custom to respect. A war is fought over slavery. The 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution are ratified. One might think that universal brotherhood now rules in America. One would be wrong.

Mid-19th to Early 20th century: The transcontinental railroad is built, with large numbers of Chinese immigrants who die in truly astounding numbers. In the meantime, the indigenous population has dwindled to less than a tenth of their original estimated numbers (largely, it should be said, because of smallpox). In the Deep South, blacks come under the rule of Jim Crow laws. At the same time there is an influx of Polish, Irish, Italian and East European Jews into America. Each one is greeted by some strain of "we don't want you here you dirty <insert slur here>".

Early to Mid-20th century: The indigenous population is now a mere shadow of what it was. The black population is largely concentrated in the South (60%+) and are citizens in as much as they are subject to American law but the law, as it were, is not applicable to *them* equally. In other words, they are not equally protected by the law. WW I breaks out. Interestingly, Germans aren't rounded up in large numbers, even though America is at war (for a year) with the Germans. WW II breaks out, America enters the war in 1941 and Japanese citizens are rounded up. Again, interestingly, German and Italian Americans are not rounded up *unless* they commit an act that is actually treasonous. Japanese citizens are rounded up without having done anything at all. The war ends, the military is desegregated, then baseball is desegregated, large numbers of blacks who left the South stay gone settling in places like Oakland (Kaiser shipyards) or Detroit (the auto industry). Brown v. Board is passed and whites in the South lose their minds. Bricks are thrown at children going to school--it should be noted here that the brick throwers were white and the throwees (call them targets) were black *children*.

Mid to late 20th Century: Various civil rights laws are passed. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law and then makes the most prescient statement in American political history "with this, we just lost the South for a generation". The Republican party adopts that 'Southern Strategy' on the strength of the writing of Kevin Phillips (who, to his credit, has spent most of his post-Watergate years trying to make up for the monster he helped unleash on America). Large numbers of immigrants from Mexico and Central America arrive.

Late 20th century to Early 21st: The millennium begins with, quite literally, a bang as 19 enterprising young men from Saudi Arabia hijack planes and fly them into buildings. Suddenly being Middle Eastern in America is far *less* comfortable than it was (and it wasn't precisely peaches and cream before). In the meantime, more immigration comes in from south of the border and an anti-immigration movement is born. America gets two black secretaries of state in a row and then, to a lot of people's surprise, a black president.

(continued next post)