ABSTRACT
The United States is known as a nation of immigrants. According to the 2000 census, there were 281 million people in the country. But by 2012 the number was estimated to have reached the 318 million mark, of whom 77.9% were White, 16.9% Hispanic, 13.1% Black, 5.1% Asian, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 2.4% other races.* While the 2012 estimates do not show the number of immigrants, in 2006 they constituted 12.4% of the population.†
Besides the Native Americans, who are the original inhabitants, the nation is populated by several ethnic and racial groups starting with the White Jamestown settlers in 1607 followed by the pilgrims who landed via the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Given that, many Americans are identified by their hyphenated ethnicity: African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and so on. While indeed all contributed, and continue to contribute, to the development of the country, each of the ethnic groups suffered discrimination and other social indignities. Even some Whites were subjected to such treatment by, of all the people, other Whites, as was the case of the Okies during the time of the Dust Bowl and Depression.* The Geary Act of 1892 required the Chinese to carry identity cards to prove that they were legal immigrants, failing which they were subject to deportation.† The Irish read in shop windows of the Northeast “no Irish need apply.” The Italians who came in during the late 19th and early 20th centuries had not easily adjusted themselves in the United States, and nearly half of them went back to their native land.‡
Next to the Native Americans,§ Blacks suffered most. Not only were their ancestors brought into the country in chains (as slaves), but they were also strictly and deliberately segregated, and suffered lynchings even into the 1960s.¶ In the 1857 Dred Scott decision,
Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, perhaps reflecting the opinions of the time, wrote about Blacks as “beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations.”* In 2012 Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, a Black himself, admitted that “We the People” in the Preamble of the Constitution did not include the likes of him, initially.† Indeed, Free Blacks were counted as only one-fifth of a citizen, not to mention to the total exclusion of slaves, until the 14th Amendment made them whole, so to speak.‡ (For that matter, Congress at that time was not even sure if all Whites could be trusted with a democratic ideal.) But by the 19th century, Whiteness was accepted as a prerequisite for citizenship-a point asserted by Stephen Douglas in his debates with Abraham Lincoln when he was quoted to have said that “this government was made on the white basis.”§ And now there is a great clamor about illegal immigrants, estimated variously to be about 12 million.¶
Even by the 2012 presidential elections, as many as 23 States newly enacted legislation requiring photo identity cards for purposes of voting, in addition to other restrictions in terms of voter registration, polling timings, and early voting. Critics argue that these measures were meant by the Republicans to disenfranchise many, mostly minorities, in the country (with the assumption, rightly or wrongly, that they vote Democratic). One writer estimated that among the fastest-growing and the highest numerical minority, the Hispanics, could be disenfranchised under these provisions.*
Immigration reform was on top of President George W. Bush’s agenda, and continues to be so with President Barack Obama. But so far Congress has not passed any legislation with the rift between hard-line conservative legislators who want to close American borders and the moderates who want some openness, including guest worker visas and some sort of legalization of illegal immigrants. However, as many as 41 State legislatures considered as many as 1,404 laws, and passed nearly 170 of them, controlling immigration, particularly penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants.† Several other States, as an expression of their displeasure, also passed laws designating English as their official language while opposing multilingual teaching. The town of Carpentersville, Illinois, where an “All American Team” won seats on the governing board, following the example of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, wanted to pass a strict ordnance declaring English as the official language and punish those employing illegal Hispanic immigrants, and consequently claimed the notoriety of being called racist, as Hispanics constituted 40% of its 370,000 residents.‡ On the contrary, there are cities that opened their doors to refugees from other countries. One such example is the city of Utica in New York, which was dying, but now recovering as the “City of Possibilities,” with 10% of its nearly 60,000 population coming from 30 foreign countries, speaking as
many as 31 different languages.* However, the United States continues to be not only an immigrant nation, but also very diverse and a destination. Eleven States were reported in 2012 to have such a growing Asian population that they needed to print ballot papers in languages other than English.
