European immigrants’ racial difference had to be intellectually manufactured
Evidence
Sharp physical differences between native Americans and European immigrants were not readily apparent; to a large extent they had to be manufactured. A rather elaborate, well-entrenched set of racial ideas was essential before the newcomers from Europe could seem a fundamentally different order of men. Accordingly, a number of race-conscious intellectuals blazed the way for ordinary nativists, and it will be useful to tell their story before turning in later chapters to the popular emotions their ideas helped to orient. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 768
Categorization
- XREF: Direct evidence bearing on reader’s question of whether the ‘enemy’ is manufactured rather than primordial — the racialization of fellow Europeans is constructed by intellectuals. — connects to: Boas refuted race-thinking by grounding immigrant differences in environment — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 725; Racial difference had to be manufactured before Europeans seemed alien; Early-1900s American intellectuals classified Southern and Eastern European immigrants as racially inferior — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 239 (+6 more)
Broader Connections
- Racial difference had to be manufactured before Europeans seemed alien
#corroborates(1.00) - Early-1900s American intellectuals classified Southern and Eastern European immigrants as racially inferior
#exemplifies(0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 239 - European immigrants held an intermediate racial status and were induced to become white
#corroborates(0.80) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 40 - Imperial racist ideas re-imported into the US conditioned immigrant minds
#expands(0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 752 - Provable anthropological whiteness was insufficient for US naturalization once race became common knowledge
#expands(0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 548