Overview

Whether in political debates or discussions about immigration around the kitchen table, many Americans, regardless of party affiliation, will say proudly that we are a nation of immigrants. In this bold new book, historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz asserts this ideology is harmful and dishonest because it serves to mask and diminish the US's history of genocide, white supremacy, slavery, and structural inequality, all of which we still grapple with today. She explains that the idea that we are living in a land of opportunity--founded and built by immigrants--was a convenient response by the ruling class and its brain trust to the 1960s demands for decolonization, justice, reparations, and social equality. Moreover, Dunbar-Ortiz charges that this feel good--but inaccurate--story promotes a benign narrative of progress, obscuring that the country was founded in violence as a settler state and has been imperialist since its inception. While some of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, others are descendants of those who were here since time immemorial and others are descendants of those who were kidnapped and forced here against their will. This paradigm-shifting book from the highly acclaimed author of An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States charges that we need to stop believing and perpetuating this simplistic and ahistorical idea and embrace the real (and often horrific) history of the United States.

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9781666504866

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Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma in a tenant-farming family. She has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than four decades and is known for her lifelong commitment to national and international social-justice issues. The winner of the 2017 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize, she is the author or editor of many books, including An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, a recipient of the 2015 American Book Award. She lives in San Francisco. Shaun Taylor-Corbett is a Broadway actor and audiobook narrator who first started his career playing himself on the hit kids television show Hi-5. He then went on to co-write the screenplay Distant Thunder, which is currently being considered by Sundance.

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