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kowood's review against another edition
2.0
“It is the thesis of State of Emergency that the Melting Pot is broken beyond repair, that assimilation and Americanization are not taking place.”
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I read the description of this book, (and I really did read this with intent of getting a better understanding of the argument against immigration), but most of his arguments make no sense and just come off as race-baiting.
For example, in the section about IQ/test scores across different races, he argues that because latinos and blacks fare worse than whites and asians, immigration should be curbed. What argument is he making here? Honestly this chapter felt like he was trying to prop up the egos of his white readers because there really weren’t any substantive assertions made. Also if he cares so much about asians and their test scores so much, how come he never addresses the Chinese exclusion act?
1960 is the year he throws around as kind of his “ideal America” where 90% of people were from European descent after years and years of allowing mass European immigration and disallowing immigration from elsewhere. He explicitly says that the Irish and the Italians and the Eastern Europeans were fine, because they “assimilated” but latin american migrants do not.
He brings up the importance of a similar “culture” and “religion” and “language” a lot (not skin color), but how can he argue that Europeans (who are mostly Judeo-christian, don’t speak English as a first language, and follow western cultural norms) are more inclined to assimilate than latinos (who are mostly Judeo-christian, don’t speak English as a first language, and follow western cultural norms)? I’m obviously generalizing here, but you get my point. He only ever targets non-white people as the problem.
What I got from this book is that he’s happy this country allowed his ancestors in, but now that the culture is shifting and the people around him are turning a shade darker, we must stop being open to people looking for a better life.
If you’re wondering why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, it’s because of the chapter on how corporate interests decide how the federal government approaches trade and globalization and immigration as opposed to the people. Also I’m pretty generous with my Goodreads ratings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I read the description of this book, (and I really did read this with intent of getting a better understanding of the argument against immigration), but most of his arguments make no sense and just come off as race-baiting.
For example, in the section about IQ/test scores across different races, he argues that because latinos and blacks fare worse than whites and asians, immigration should be curbed. What argument is he making here? Honestly this chapter felt like he was trying to prop up the egos of his white readers because there really weren’t any substantive assertions made. Also if he cares so much about asians and their test scores so much, how come he never addresses the Chinese exclusion act?
1960 is the year he throws around as kind of his “ideal America” where 90% of people were from European descent after years and years of allowing mass European immigration and disallowing immigration from elsewhere. He explicitly says that the Irish and the Italians and the Eastern Europeans were fine, because they “assimilated” but latin american migrants do not.
He brings up the importance of a similar “culture” and “religion” and “language” a lot (not skin color), but how can he argue that Europeans (who are mostly Judeo-christian, don’t speak English as a first language, and follow western cultural norms) are more inclined to assimilate than latinos (who are mostly Judeo-christian, don’t speak English as a first language, and follow western cultural norms)? I’m obviously generalizing here, but you get my point. He only ever targets non-white people as the problem.
What I got from this book is that he’s happy this country allowed his ancestors in, but now that the culture is shifting and the people around him are turning a shade darker, we must stop being open to people looking for a better life.
If you’re wondering why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1, it’s because of the chapter on how corporate interests decide how the federal government approaches trade and globalization and immigration as opposed to the people. Also I’m pretty generous with my Goodreads ratings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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