Book contents
- Dangerously Divided
- Dangerously Divided
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Fault Lines
- Part II The Consequences – Racial Inequality in Representation
- Part III Immigration’s Rising Impact on American Democracy
- 5 Immigration is Reshaping Partisan Politics
- 6 The Immigration Backlash in the States
- Part IV Seeking Greater Equality
- Notes
- Appendix
- References
- Index
6 - The Immigration Backlash in the States
from Part III - Immigration’s Rising Impact on American Democracy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 January 2020
- Dangerously Divided
- Dangerously Divided
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Fault Lines
- Part II The Consequences – Racial Inequality in Representation
- Part III Immigration’s Rising Impact on American Democracy
- 5 Immigration is Reshaping Partisan Politics
- 6 The Immigration Backlash in the States
- Part IV Seeking Greater Equality
- Notes
- Appendix
- References
- Index
Summary
African Americans are the biggest losers in American democracy. That is the bottom line for much of what I have written so far in these pages. That conclusion is correct, but it is also incomplete. Blacks are not the only losers in American democracy. Latinos and other immigrants are also regularly a target of our politics and our policy, as evidenced by Trump during his campaign (calling Mexicans rapists, and promising to build a wall on the Mexican border) and during his presidency (deciding to rescind DACA, and declaring a national emergency to move forward on the border wall in the face of congressional opposition). But the phenomenon is much broader than Trump and the presidential political arena. Anxiety about immigration is becoming more and more central to American politics. As I have already noted, one sign of that broad White backlash is the defection of so many Whites to the Republican Party. But other signs are surfacing. They have been “invisible” largely because my focus until this point has been on the national policy arena – which is certainly worthy of attention, but perhaps not the most visible political arena in which an anti-immigrant backlash may be visible.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Dangerously DividedHow Race and Class Shape Winning and Losing in American Politics, pp. 175 - 198Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020