Nativism

Nativism refers to the practice of privileging the people and culture perceived as “native” to a particular region or place. Generally, native means that a culture has become well established in a region through several generations' occupancy, and that it is socially and politically dominant. Nativists see their culture as superior to those of immigrant groups, foreigners, and other newcomers, and they fear that the cultural influences of such newly arrived peoples will lead to a deterioration of social stability, the political process, or simply the area's quality of life. Therefore, nativists seek to protect the power and dominance of their culture, and to contain the influence of other cultures by restricting nonnative people's access to economic resources and civic rights.

Nativism has fundamentally sculpted the landscape of American cities by contributing to a system of urban segregation which has been reinforced by distrust and ethnoracial animosities. It has most often been employed by white, Protestant Americans who have portrayed their culture as the paradigmatic norm, or cast it as superior, and then attempted to lay claim to the best urban jobs and the most coveted homes in upscale residential areas. In response, others have separated into racially distinct neighborhoods, forming ghettos and barrios, or they have congregated into ethnic enclaves such as Chinatown or Little Italy.

Nativism in the urban American experience, however, has not been the unique province of white Protestants. Indeed, many nonwhites and subordinated white ethnics have reacted to nativism by embracing it themselves. In order to create or display ethnic pride, many have participated in events such as parades or engaged themselves in ethnically specific celebrations like powwows. In addition, many groups have established community centers designed to teach and preserve traditional cultural practices and beliefs. In the civil rights era of the 1960s and 1970s, some groups turned toward a more militant form of nativism. Formed in part by their shared experience of racism in the cities, organizations like the Black Panthers and the American Indian Movement drew upon the Black Power and Red Power movements to celebrate their cultural and racial distinctiveness and to advocate for equal social and civic rights.

One pernicious result, experienced time and again, of nativism's focus on cultural difference has been the urban riot. In 1844, a series of violent riots erupted [Page 521]during the spring and summer months in Philadelphia as Catholics and Protestants came to blows over what version of the Bible would be read by students in public schools. The 20th century witnessed particularly destructive race riots as whites became increasingly uncomfortable with large numbers of southern blacks arriving in northern and western cities. Blacks and whites battled in the streets of Chicago in 1919, whites burned 35 city blocks and slaughtered nearly 300 blacks in Tulsa in 1921, and Watts exploded in 1965 as blacks rioted against persistent white racism.

Nativism has historically worked through a variety of different technologies. For example, nativists have consistently used legislation to limit immigrants' political and social power. The 1790 Naturalization Act restricted naturalized U.S. citizenship to white males of “good moral character,” a policy which not only had the effect of keeping nonwhites permanently away from the polls but also left open the door to exclude certain undesirable whites from citizenship. After the Civil War, legislation increasingly relied on the strategy of “exclusion” of certain targeted immigrant groups to stem their further entry into the U.S. and to abet the social marginalization of members of those groups already residing in the U.S. Concern over labor competition and the effects of Chinese culture on American society fueled passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This law banned the great majority of Chinese from legally immigrating to the U.S. The 1892 Geary Act, which renewed the Chinese Exclusion Act, went a step further and required all Chinese within the U.S. to carry identification and proof of their legal status with them at all times. In the 20th century, nativist fears flared as increasing numbers of suspect European immigrants such as Romanians, Hungarians, Gypsies, and Poles arrived in the U.S. In response, Congress passed the 1924 Immigration Act. This law instituted a quota system that assigned a limited number of potential immigrants each foreign country could send to the U.S. The quotas given to southeastern European nations were small and those assigned to most Asian countries were minuscule, resulting in a drastic drop-off of immigration from southern and eastern Europe and an almost complete halting of immigration from Asia.

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