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Not "A Nation of Immigrants"

Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion

Author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Look inside
Hardcover
$27.95 US
Beacon Press
On sale Aug 24, 2021 | 400 Pages | 978-0-8070-3629-7
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  • English > Comparative Literature > Immigrant and Refugee Literature
  • History > Period History: U.S. > Colonial American History (1492 - 1776)
  • History > Survey Courses > U.S. History Survey – Colonial to Present
  • History > Topical History > History of Imperialism and Colonialism
  • History > Topical History > History of Slavery
  • History > U.S. History > U.S. Immigration History
  • Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > Native American History
  • Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > Native American Studies
  • Interdisciplinary Studies > Social Science > American Studies
  • About
  • Table of Contents
  • Author
Debunks the pervasive and self-congratulatory myth that our country is proudly founded by and for immigrants, and urges readers to embrace a more complex and honest history of the United States

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 settler colonialism, 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 decolonialization, 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 imperialist since its inception.

While some of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, others are descendants of white settlers who arrived as colonizers to displace those who were here since time immemorial, and still others are descendants of those who were kidnapped and forced here against their will. This paradigm shifting new 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 a historical idea and embrace the real (and often horrific) history of the United States.
Introduction

CHAPTER 1
Alexander Hamilton

CHAPTER 2
Settler Colonialism

CHAPTER 3
Arrivants

CHAPTER 4
Continental Imperialism

CHAPTER 5
Irish Settling

CHAPTER 6
Americanizing Columbus

CHAPTER 7
“Yellow Peril”

CHAPTER 8
The Border

Conclusion

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. 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. After receiving her PhD in history at the University of California at Los Angeles, she taught in the newly established Native American Studies Program at California State University, Hayward, and helped found the Departments of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies. Her 1977 book The Great Sioux Nation was the fundamental document at the first international conference on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Geneva. Dunbar-Ortiz is the author or editor of seven other books, including Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico. She lives in San Francisco. View titles by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

About

Debunks the pervasive and self-congratulatory myth that our country is proudly founded by and for immigrants, and urges readers to embrace a more complex and honest history of the United States

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 settler colonialism, 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 decolonialization, 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 imperialist since its inception.

While some of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, others are descendants of white settlers who arrived as colonizers to displace those who were here since time immemorial, and still others are descendants of those who were kidnapped and forced here against their will. This paradigm shifting new 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 a historical idea and embrace the real (and often horrific) history of the United States.

Table of Contents

Introduction

CHAPTER 1
Alexander Hamilton

CHAPTER 2
Settler Colonialism

CHAPTER 3
Arrivants

CHAPTER 4
Continental Imperialism

CHAPTER 5
Irish Settling

CHAPTER 6
Americanizing Columbus

CHAPTER 7
“Yellow Peril”

CHAPTER 8
The Border

Conclusion

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

Author

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. 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. After receiving her PhD in history at the University of California at Los Angeles, she taught in the newly established Native American Studies Program at California State University, Hayward, and helped found the Departments of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies. Her 1977 book The Great Sioux Nation was the fundamental document at the first international conference on Indigenous peoples of the Americas, held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Geneva. Dunbar-Ortiz is the author or editor of seven other books, including Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico. She lives in San Francisco. View titles by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Additional formats

  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-5558-8
    $17.95 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Aug 23, 2022
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-3630-3
    $13.99 US
    Ebook
    Beacon Press
    Aug 24, 2021
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-3634-1
    $28.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Beacon Press
    Aug 24, 2021
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-3635-8
    $45.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Beacon Press
    Aug 24, 2021
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-5558-8
    $17.95 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Aug 23, 2022
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-3630-3
    $13.99 US
    Ebook
    Beacon Press
    Aug 24, 2021
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-3634-1
    $28.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Beacon Press
    Aug 24, 2021
  • Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Not "A Nation of Immigrants"
    Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-3635-8
    $45.00 US
    Audiobook Download
    Beacon Press
    Aug 24, 2021

Other Books by this Author

  • An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People
    An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-4939-6
    $18.95 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Jul 23, 2019
  • "All the Real Indians Died Off"
    "All the Real Indians Died Off"
    And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dina Gilio-Whitaker
    978-0-8070-6265-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Oct 04, 2016
  • An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
    An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-5783-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Aug 11, 2015
  • An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People
    An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-4939-6
    $18.95 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Jul 23, 2019
  • "All the Real Indians Died Off"
    "All the Real Indians Died Off"
    And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dina Gilio-Whitaker
    978-0-8070-6265-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Oct 04, 2016
  • An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
    An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    978-0-8070-5783-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Beacon Press
    Aug 11, 2015
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October 11 2021

Books for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

On October 11th, we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day to commemorate and honor the history and culture of Native communities. On October 8th, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a presidential proclamation formally recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a national holiday: “For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures,” President Biden

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October 11 2021
Humanities & Social Sciences History
October 11 2021

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Read an Exerpt from Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s New Book Not “A Nation of Immigrants”

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 settler

Read more

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Read an Exerpt from Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s New Book Not “A Nation of Immigrants”

Humanities & Social Sciences History
October 11 2021
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