56 min listen
Episode 62: Sanitizing Our Settler-Colonial Past With ‘Nation of Immigrants’ Narratives
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Episode 62: Sanitizing Our Settler-Colonial Past With ‘Nation of Immigrants’ Narratives
FromCitations Needed
ratings:
Length:
49 minutes
Released:
Jan 16, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
“The United States is a nation of immigrants.” It’s a phrase we hear constantly – often said with the best of intentions and, in today’s increasingly cruel environment, meant as a strong rebuke of Donald Trump and his white nationalist administration. The metaphor of the “melting pot” serves a similar purpose: the United States is strong and noble because we are a place that takes people in from across the globe, an inclusive, welcoming, compassionate in-gathering of humanity - e pluribus unum - "out of many, one." It’s a romantic idea – and often evoked as a counter to xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric. But how historically accurate are these phrases and the national narratives they entrench? And what if, instead of combating white nationalism, they subtly promote it? On this episode, we dissect the notion that the United States is simply a rainbow collection of disparate groups coming together and breakdown how, in many ways, this absolves us of our past and present as a violent, white-settler colony. Our guest is historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.
Released:
Jan 16, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Episode 01 : The Charter School Scam: The first episode of Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson's podcast, Citations Needed, tackles the media hype surrounding the privatization of education. Show notes can be found here: 2010 tax form for Participant Foundation used to fund Waiting for Superman... by Citations Needed