Not A Nation of Immigrants

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Many Americans proudly declare that we are a nation of immigrants, a sentiment echoed in political debates and family discussions. Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz challenges this ideology, arguing that it obscures the US's legacy of settler colonialism, genocide, white supremacy, slavery, and ongoing structural inequality. She contends that the narrative of America as a land of opportunity, built by immigrants, was a strategic response by the ruling class to the 1960s calls for decolonization, justice, reparations, and social equality. This feel-good story promotes a misleading narrative of progress, masking the violence at the nation’s founding and its imperialist nature. While some individuals are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, many others are descendants of white settlers who displaced Indigenous peoples, and some are descendants of those forcibly brought here. Dunbar-Ortiz urges a departure from this simplistic, ahistorical view and advocates for embracing the complex and often horrific truths of American history.