The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America is the story of a dark chapter in American history when the pseudoscience of eugenics was used to exclude unwanted immigrants (translation: non-WASPS) from the country. The book is by Daniel Okrent, a renowned Jewish editor (first public editor of The New York Times) and author (Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center and Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition). The Guarded Gate, which has been widely acclaimed, is enormously relevant for today’s America.
Quote: “This does not mean that history repeats itself. Up through at least the 1920s nativists primarily targeted Catholics and Jews. And their bigotry was quite possibly shared by the majority of white Protestant Americans. Still, in a vivid new book by Daniel Okrent, who was the first public editor of The New York Times, The Guarded Gate, jam-packed with appalling examples, most readers will be unable to miss the book’s implications for present-day anti-immigration sentiment.”
Sources: Wikipedia, The New York Times
Learn more about Daniel Okrent on Wikipedia. ►
Read “The Last Time a Wall Went Up to Keep Out Immigrants” ►
Watch “The Guarded Gate Book Talk with Author Dan Okrent” [56:41]. ►
Photo: roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu
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