U.S. Xenophobia and Racism - The Presence of the Past

By Dr. Alex Mikulich, JSRI Research Fellow

Current anti-immigrant sentiment, largely focused on the influx of Mexican and Latino newcomers—and the fact that Latinos, along with African Americans and Asian peoples, are projected to represent a majority of the U.S. population by 2042—decries the fact that, in the words of former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan “they are taking our country away from us.”¹ The fear, bluntly stated, is that “they”—Mexicans and Latinos—will erode “our”—white European—power over U.S. identity. Buchanan articulates only the most recent U.S. American antiimmigrant animosity that finds deep roots in the nation’s history.

U.S. American xenophobia, based on the assumption that “our country” is defined by, and should maintain, its dominant white European heritage is rooted in the myth of the U.S. as a nation of European immigrants.

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