Assimilative pressures drove immigrant leaders into compensatory ethnic nationalism.
Evidence
Once the crisis ended, however, a long-suppressed resentment burst loose. In recoiling from threats and pressures, the more articulate immigrant leaders often denounced anything that went by the name of Americanization. You threaten to outlaw our speech and memories, they said in effect, and at the same time coax us to deck ourselves out like exhibits in a circus and entertain you with our quaint dialects. An Italian editor summed it up bluntly. “Americanization,” he wrote, “is an ugly word.” — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1530
Categorization
- XREF: This is a direct instance of the pressure-backfire dynamic at the heart of the reader’s research question — forced assimilation generates counter-nationalism rather than unity. — connects to: Fear-driven nationalism roused nativists but failed to assimilate immigrants — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1424; Official nationalism redirected resentment onto imported ethnic minorities — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 382; A new nationalism rechanneled existing race feelings onto immigrant targets — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1012 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Coercive Americanization backfired, driving minorities into their own defensive nationalisms
#corroborates(0.92) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1531 - Official nationalism redirected resentment onto imported ethnic minorities
#corroborates(0.85) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 382 - A new nationalism rechanneled existing race feelings onto immigrant targets
#corroborates(0.85) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1012 - Diaspora offers an open alternative to defensive nationalist belonging
#responds-to(0.75)