Stop Saying This Is a Nation of Immigrants! by Roxanne Dunbar-
Ortiz A nation of immigrants: This is a convenient myth
developed as a response to the 1960s movements against
colonialism, neocolonialism, and white supremacy. The ruling
class and its brain trust offered multiculturalism, diversity,
and affirmative action in response to demands for
decolonization, justice, reparations, social equality, an end of
imperialism, and the rewriting of history -- not to be
"inclusive" -- but to be accurate. What emerged to replace the
liberal melting pot idea and the nationalist triumphal
interpretation of the "greatest country on earth and in
history," was the "nation of immigrants" story. By the 1980s,
the "waves of immigrants" story even included the indigenous
peoples who were so brutally displaced and murdered by settlers
and armies, accepting the flawed "Bering Straits" theory of
indigenous immigration some 12,000 years ago. Even at that time,
the date was known to be wrong, there was evidence of indigenous
presen