Kennedy Xenophobia Immigration Policy
Xenophobia: The History of Immigration Progress in the U.S Containing some of the most economically and culturally vibrant urban centers in the world, the United States remains the economic and the cultural hub of the world. However, along with nation’s prosperous achievements in such fields, the United States has been struggling with variety of problems caused among its diverse groups of population. Indeed, since “colonizing” this land in the early 1500s, the United State seems to have had a problem with just about every race/sex/religion/nation possible for one reason or another. Oftentimes this lack of understanding escalates into weird laws, unfair labor practices, cultural polarization, and eventually lots of people being
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shot by lots of other people. The United States citizenry has a long and fairly intense history of collective distrust for people society doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to understand, and often the target for collective distrust has included immigrants throughout the history. Take Los Angeles for example, which has the largest concentration of immigrants in North America. More than 224 languages are spoken in the city, and over 50% of the population is foreign-born (Moore 13). Immigrants include motivated factory workers as well as entrepreneurs and professionals. Add to their presence native-born Americans, and it is easy to see why America is a place where dreams are often realized. Despite the fact that so many experts agree that the productivity and hard work of immigrants improves the U.S. economy, the immigration issue has been grossly misrepresented by the media and certain politicians. With increasing awareness of how to deal with illegal immigrants, the issue has moved to the center. It is not only an economic issue. It is a cultural and social issue with which Americans have wrestled for a very long time. Xenophobia is a term meaning dislike and/or fear of that which is unknown or those who are different from oneself, especially foreign people. The xenophobic movement was certainly “ethnocentric,” as it set up a standard for judging all comers to the United States with its own understanding of American culture. Xenophobia is such a complex term that it is often closely related to concepts like prejudice, discrimination, racism, and nativism (Knobel 7). Indeed, this trend of hate seems to still exist today. There are endless debates on illegal or undocumented immigrants living in the United States, and both sides seem to have a strong base for their arguments. In fact, they also have long history behind their arguments.
John F.
Kennedy once said in 1958, “Immigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience” (Kennedy 9). However, his plan has never been adopted. Even before John F. Kennedy’s time, America suffered from immigration issues. Xenophobia was exhibited towards Irish immigrants who suffered as they tried to adapt to the new society. But the immigrant matter became much more serious after 1863 when the Central Pacific railroad hired Chinese laborers, and the Union Pacific hired Irish laborers to construct the first transcontinental railroad. Then other ethnic groups started to immigrate to the United States. From 1910 to1920, 2 million Italians arrived. Every time a new ethnic group was introduced to the society, xenophobia was exhibited towards them by the original members of the society. The target has changed from Italians to Jews, Japanese, Germans, Mexicans, Russians, and Middle Easterners, but the phenomenon was similar with each category of people. For instance, one New York Times article shows how the society slowly accepts new arrivals. With the largest wave of immigration since the turn of the century raising New York City's foreign-born population to 28 percent, a poll done in 1993 found that most residents said there were too many immigrants in town and added that while most are law-abiding, they had made the city a worse place to live (McFadden). The article that was written to discuss the findings of the poll shows how xenophobia works. Oftentimes there are no good reasons to support xenophobia. Rather it is simply a hateful feeling towards those who are different from
insiders.
Xenophobia is not only found in America’s local communities. It also exists in America’s courts as well. The influence of xenophobia on juries may affect adjudication in the federal as well as state systems (Moore 7). Sadly, the cultural prejudice has been affecting the nation’s institutions within and without. In one historic example, a District of Delaware court stirred up concerns over xenophobia, prejudicing the jury when attorneys for an American company suggested that if the patent holder won the lawsuit, Motorola, which employs American workers, would have to stop making cellular phones, and all of these jobs would be lost to the Japanese (Moore 8). In one way or another, whether it is direct or indirect, the existence of xenophobia in the courts is clear and obvious. Although changing attitudes toward immigrants is bringing positive changes to the courts, there are many more decisions that need to be made fairly and correctly on immigrants in the United States. Most recently, the movement towards giving the millions of undocumented migrant workers who live here and contribute to the country economically, culturally, and socially the opportunity to become legal residents of the United States is growing stronger. Of course, there are strong opponents who disagree with such movement towards legalizing the undocumented migrant workers. Yet, there is no verdict on whether or not undocumented migrant workers should earn their legal status in the United States. Regardless of judging which is right or wrong, it is necessary for either side and for all people to realize that xenophobia must be taken out of the argument in order to stay balanced and be fair. Hopefully, after 500 years of repeating this ‘hate’ cycle, American society is getting better at understanding each other’s needs.
shot by lots of other people. The United States citizenry has a long and fairly intense history of collective distrust for people society doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to understand, and often the target for collective distrust has included immigrants throughout the history. Take Los Angeles for example, which has the largest concentration of immigrants in North America. More than 224 languages are spoken in the city, and over 50% of the population is foreign-born (Moore 13). Immigrants include motivated factory workers as well as entrepreneurs and professionals. Add to their presence native-born Americans, and it is easy to see why America is a place where dreams are often realized. Despite the fact that so many experts agree that the productivity and hard work of immigrants improves the U.S. economy, the immigration issue has been grossly misrepresented by the media and certain politicians. With increasing awareness of how to deal with illegal immigrants, the issue has moved to the center. It is not only an economic issue. It is a cultural and social issue with which Americans have wrestled for a very long time. Xenophobia is a term meaning dislike and/or fear of that which is unknown or those who are different from oneself, especially foreign people. The xenophobic movement was certainly “ethnocentric,” as it set up a standard for judging all comers to the United States with its own understanding of American culture. Xenophobia is such a complex term that it is often closely related to concepts like prejudice, discrimination, racism, and nativism (Knobel 7). Indeed, this trend of hate seems to still exist today. There are endless debates on illegal or undocumented immigrants living in the United States, and both sides seem to have a strong base for their arguments. In fact, they also have long history behind their arguments.
John F.
Kennedy once said in 1958, “Immigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience” (Kennedy 9). However, his plan has never been adopted. Even before John F. Kennedy’s time, America suffered from immigration issues. Xenophobia was exhibited towards Irish immigrants who suffered as they tried to adapt to the new society. But the immigrant matter became much more serious after 1863 when the Central Pacific railroad hired Chinese laborers, and the Union Pacific hired Irish laborers to construct the first transcontinental railroad. Then other ethnic groups started to immigrate to the United States. From 1910 to1920, 2 million Italians arrived. Every time a new ethnic group was introduced to the society, xenophobia was exhibited towards them by the original members of the society. The target has changed from Italians to Jews, Japanese, Germans, Mexicans, Russians, and Middle Easterners, but the phenomenon was similar with each category of people. For instance, one New York Times article shows how the society slowly accepts new arrivals. With the largest wave of immigration since the turn of the century raising New York City's foreign-born population to 28 percent, a poll done in 1993 found that most residents said there were too many immigrants in town and added that while most are law-abiding, they had made the city a worse place to live (McFadden). The article that was written to discuss the findings of the poll shows how xenophobia works. Oftentimes there are no good reasons to support xenophobia. Rather it is simply a hateful feeling towards those who are different from
insiders.
Xenophobia is not only found in America’s local communities. It also exists in America’s courts as well. The influence of xenophobia on juries may affect adjudication in the federal as well as state systems (Moore 7). Sadly, the cultural prejudice has been affecting the nation’s institutions within and without. In one historic example, a District of Delaware court stirred up concerns over xenophobia, prejudicing the jury when attorneys for an American company suggested that if the patent holder won the lawsuit, Motorola, which employs American workers, would have to stop making cellular phones, and all of these jobs would be lost to the Japanese (Moore 8). In one way or another, whether it is direct or indirect, the existence of xenophobia in the courts is clear and obvious. Although changing attitudes toward immigrants is bringing positive changes to the courts, there are many more decisions that need to be made fairly and correctly on immigrants in the United States. Most recently, the movement towards giving the millions of undocumented migrant workers who live here and contribute to the country economically, culturally, and socially the opportunity to become legal residents of the United States is growing stronger. Of course, there are strong opponents who disagree with such movement towards legalizing the undocumented migrant workers. Yet, there is no verdict on whether or not undocumented migrant workers should earn their legal status in the United States. Regardless of judging which is right or wrong, it is necessary for either side and for all people to realize that xenophobia must be taken out of the argument in order to stay balanced and be fair. Hopefully, after 500 years of repeating this ‘hate’ cycle, American society is getting better at understanding each other’s needs.