A Nation Of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story
by Tom Gjelten /
2015 / English / EPUB
18.3 MB Download
The dramatic and compelling story of the transformation of America
during the last fifty years, told through a handful of families in
one suburban county in Virginia that has been utterly changed by
recent immigration.
The dramatic and compelling story of the transformation of America
during the last fifty years, told through a handful of families in
one suburban county in Virginia that has been utterly changed by
recent immigration.
In the fifty years since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act,
the foreign-born population of the United States has tripled.
Significantly, these immigrants are not coming from Europe, as was
the case before 1965, but from all corners of the globe. Today
non-European immigration is ninety percent of the total immigration
to the US. Americans today are vastly more diverse than ever. They
look different, speak different languages, practice different
religions, eat different foods, and enjoy different cultures.
In the fifty years since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act,
the foreign-born population of the United States has tripled.
Significantly, these immigrants are not coming from Europe, as was
the case before 1965, but from all corners of the globe. Today
non-European immigration is ninety percent of the total immigration
to the US. Americans today are vastly more diverse than ever. They
look different, speak different languages, practice different
religions, eat different foods, and enjoy different cultures.
In 1950, Fairfax County, Virginia, was ninety percent white, ten
percent African-American, with a little more than one hundred
families who were “other.” Currently the African-American
percentage of the population is about the same, but the Anglo white
population is less than fifty percent, and there are families of
Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American origin living
all over the county.
In 1950, Fairfax County, Virginia, was ninety percent white, ten
percent African-American, with a little more than one hundred
families who were “other.” Currently the African-American
percentage of the population is about the same, but the Anglo white
population is less than fifty percent, and there are families of
Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American origin living
all over the county.A Nation of Nations
A Nation of Nations follows the lives
of a few immigrants to Fairfax County over recent decades as they
gradually “Americanize.” Hailing from Korea, Bolivia, and Libya,
these families have stories that illustrate common immigrant
themes: friction, between minorities, economic competition and
entrepreneurship, and racial and cultural stereotyping.
follows the lives
of a few immigrants to Fairfax County over recent decades as they
gradually “Americanize.” Hailing from Korea, Bolivia, and Libya,
these families have stories that illustrate common immigrant
themes: friction, between minorities, economic competition and
entrepreneurship, and racial and cultural stereotyping.
It’s been half a century since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality
Act changed the landscape of America, and no book has assessed the
impact or importance of this law as this one does, with its
brilliant combination of personal stories and larger demographic
and political issues.
It’s been half a century since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality
Act changed the landscape of America, and no book has assessed the
impact or importance of this law as this one does, with its
brilliant combination of personal stories and larger demographic
and political issues.