E-Book Overview
Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians represent three of every four immigrants who arrived in the United States after 1970. Yet despite their large numbers and long history of movement to America, non-Europeans are conspicuously absent from many books about immigration.
In <strong>Other Immigrants, David M. Reimers offers the first comprehensive account of non-European immigration, chronicling the compelling and diverse stories of frequently overlooked Americans. Reimers traces the early history of Black, Hispanic, and Asian immigrants from the fifteenth century through World War II, when racial hostility led to the virtual exclusion of Asians and aggression towards Blacks and Hispanics. He then tells the story of post-1945 immigration, when these groups dominated the immigration statistics and began to reshape American society.
The capstone to a lifetime of groundbreaking work on immigration, Reimers’s thoughtful history recognizes the ambiguity and subjectivity of race, noting that individuals often define themselves more complexly than census forms allow. However classified, record numbers of immigrants are streaming to the United States and creating the most diverse society in the world. <strong>Other Immigrants is a timely account of their arrival.
E-Book Content
Other Immigrants
Other Immigrants The Global Origins of the American People
David M. Reimers
a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London
new york university press New York and London www.nyupress.org © 2005 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reimers, David M. Other immigrants : the global origins of the American people / David M. Reimers. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–8147–7534–9 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0–8147–7535–7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Ethnology—United States—History. 2. Minorities— United States—History. 3. Immigrants—United States—History. 4. United States—Ethnic relations. 5. United States—Emigration and immigration—History. I. Title. E184.A1R4435 2004 305.8'00973—dc22 2004016632 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Emanuel and Nathaniel
Contents
Preface
ix
Introduction
1
Part I: From beyond Europe, 1492–1940
11
1
The Beginnings, 1550–1900
13
2
Asians in Hawaii and the United States
40
3
North to America, 1900–1940
71
Part II: The Emergence of a New Multicultural Society, 1940–Present
99
4
El Norte: Mexicans, 1940–Present
101
5
Central and South Americans
125
6
Across the Pacific Again: East Asian Immigrants
157
7
Across the Pacific Again: South Asian Immigrants
186
8
Middle Easterners
207
9
The New Black Immigrants
232
10
The Refugees: Cubans and Asians
261
Epilogue
289
Notes
293
vii
viii | Contents
Suggested Reading
361
Index
367
About the Author
389
Preface
A good deal of my prior research and writing has focused on immigrants other than Europeans, migrants some scholars label “people of color.” These immigrants include Latinos, Asians, and blacks. I pulled together some of my thoughts on these millions of persons for an essay published by the American Historical Association’s Teaching Diversity series, under the title “Immigration of People of Color to t