Being American
Historians may well look back on last week’s defeat of the immigration bill as a watershed moment. It was, for good or ill, a milestone in America’s transformation into a “normal” country. Normal countries have arguments about their national identity and immigration’s effect on it. In normal countries, it’s not illegitimate to suggest that too many immigrants, or too many immigrants of a specific origin, may upset the social peace or do damage to the national culture. In America, however, to raise such concerns is to open yourself to charges of racism, bigotry, nativism and all-around hate.
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In France, the French are free to worry about staying French. Indeed, throughout the industrialized world, it’s considered normal to talk about one’s national character and culture. Nowhere else is the desire to control your border considered an act of bigotry.
The American identity Well, “Americanness” is no less real than “Frenchness.” But in America, the logic of diversity has completely swamped any conception of Americanness as anything beyond platitudes about “inclusiveness.” Worse, Americans who think real inclusiveness requires learning English are told that their kind of inclusiveness is actually exclusionary. This merely exacerbates resentments because such policies are the only surefire way toward assimilation.
The point here is not to say that America has become “too Mexican.” Though it’s ironic that liberals who see nothing wrong with talking about America, the GOP, or various universities as being “too white,” “too Christian,” or not black or Hispanic enough should recoil in horror at such a thought. Rather it’s simply to note that such concerns are normal, human reactions to changes many Americans feel they were never consulted on. How could they be consulted when so much immigration is illegal? Americans are proud of being citizens of the most inclusive country in the world. But is it so outrageous for them to want it to be a bit more of a normal country, too?