To Be An American: Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation / Edition 1

by Bill Ong Hing

Overview

The impetus behind California's Proposition 187 clearly reflects the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in this country. Many Americans regard today's new immigrants as not truly American, as somehow less committed to the ideals on which the country was founded. In clear, precise terms, Bill Ong Hing considers immigration in the context of the global economy, a sluggish national economy, and the hard facts about downsizing. Importantly, he also confronts the emphatic claims of immigrant supporters that immigrants do assimilate, take jobs that native workers don't want, and contribute more to the tax coffers than they take out of the system.
A major contribution of Hing's book is its emphasis on such often-overlooked issues as the competition between immigrants and African Americans, inter-group tension, and ethnic separatism, issues constantly brushed aside both by immigrant rights groups and the anti-immigrant right. Drawing on Hing's work as a lawyer deeply involved in the day-to-day life of his immigrant clients, To Be An American is a unique blend of substantive analysis, policy, and personal experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814736098
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2000
Series:	Critical America , #17
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Bill Ong Hing is Associate Professor of Law at Stanford Law School.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	1
1	A Superior Multicultural Experience	6
2	A Nation of Immigrants, a History of Nativism	13
3	Mi Cliente y Amigo Rodolfo Martinez Padilla	32
4	Searching for the Truth about Immigrants and Jobs	44
5	How Much Do Immigrants Cost? The Methodology Wars	76
6	Contextualizing Immigration	107
7	Low-Wage Immigrants and African Americans	129
8	Beyond the Economic Debate: The Cultural Complaint	146
9	The Challenge to Cultural Pluralists: Interethnic Group Conflict and Separatism	160
10	A New Way of Looking at America	174
11	Back to Superior	182
	Notes	192
	Index	237

What People are Saying About This

Philip Tajitsu Nash

Combining personal awareness with a scholar's detachment and an advocate's engagement, Hing has written the book you need to read if you only have time for one book on immigration this year.
—Phil Tajitsu Nash, Asian Week

Editorial Reviews

Presents a brief for multiculturalism that sees an American past and present rife with racial oppression, but still looks forward to a future of cultural pluralism.

New York Times Book Review