Prejudice_and_Racism

Prejudice and Racism PREJUDICE&RACISM Until the closing years of the 19th century America preserved most of its official racist animus for blacks and Indians, but in 1882 it added a new category when Chinese were expressly denied entry to the United States, and those already in the country were forbidden the rights and protections of citizenship. In 1907 the exclusion was extended to the Japanese. Beginning in the 1890ies, as the flood of immigrants from the poorer parts of Europe turned into a deluge, racism became more sweeping, more rabid and less focused. Anti-immigrant fraternities were founded and books like Madison Grant´s Passing of the Great Race ( which argued „ scientifcally“ that unrestricted immigration was leading to the dilution and degenaration of the national character) became bestsellers. Early nicknames that were only mildly abusive (likecalling the Germans cabbage heads or Krauts( from their liking of sauerkraut) grew uglier and more barbed ( chink, kike, dago, polack, spic,hebe) Never before nor since have intolerance and prejudice been more visible, fashionable or universal among all levels of American society. In 1907 the Congress established a panel called the Dillingham Commision, that concluded that immigration before 1880 had been no bad thing-the immigrants primarily from nothern Europe were industrious, largely protestant america, african-americans, slaves, been, prejudice, immigration, immigrants, europe, american, unable, social, slavery, rights, remained, new, jews, intolerance, great, gave, freely, found, eastern, century, before, became, america’s, africa, 1907, 1880, years, writing, working, workers, within, winning