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[–] 168 points 1 year ago (7 children)

People hated immigrants DURING the time period you're thinking of. And it wasn't always a skin color thing either, the Irish were one of the big targets for a long time.

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  • [–] 76 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Italians were also targeted. Being from a Catholic country was sometimes enough to get targeted. Always found it funny (Woody Allen marriage funny, not Woody Allen film funny) that the Protestants who came to what is now Massachusetts seeking “religious freedom” meant it only for themselves and drove out anyone who didn’t subscribe to their views.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago

    You need to put it in context, many if not most of the denominations that came to America seeking religious freedom did so because continental Christians considered them extremists. So yes, they were seeking it only for themselves.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago*

    And it wasn’t always a skin color thing either, the Irish were one of the big targets for a long time.

    Irish, Slavs and Italians were not considered white, so ... it's still a "where is the migration from" kinda thing

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    The concept of the white "race" was created by the acceptance of new nationalities into the fold in America and then dividing "us vs them" in a new way.

    It bears some similarity to "Judeo-Christianity" so that we can draw the line between white people religion and everyone else.

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  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It was always racism at it's core.

    European immigrants accepted immigrants as long as they were other European immigrants. At the same time they were encouraging immigrants, they were systematically eliminating the original inhabitants or forcing them to assimilate to European culture.

    It's always been a variation of white nationalism ..... they don't mind the world becoming more open and inclusive ... as long as it only includes other white European people and cultures.

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