50th Anniversary of the 1965 Immigration Act that shifted immigration from Europe to

[pampango]

Last edited Sun Oct 4, 2015, 03:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Asia and Latin America, changing "a blatantly discriminatory system".

Fifty years after its passage, it is clear the law definitively altered the complexion of the U.S. population. In 1965, the immigrant share of the population was at an all-time low. Eighty-five percent of the population was white, and 7 out of 8 immigrants were coming from Europe. By 2010, the share of the U.S. population born overseas had tripled, and 9 out of 10 immigrants were coming from outside Europe.

The law was enacted at the height of the civil rights movement, and although it was motivated by the desire to eliminate discrimination, it was largely overshadowed at the time by the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Even its supporters saw its passage as largely a symbolic victory.

During the debate over the bill, however, conservatives said it was entirely appropriate to select immigrants on the basis of their national origin. The United States, they argued, was fundamentally an Anglo-Saxon European nation and should stay that way.

But on its 50th anniversary, not everyone is celebrating the law that made America more diverse. In this election season, some commentators have intensified their complaints about immigration. Not only are there too many foreigners, some say; they're not white enough. "The 1965 Act [changed the kind of people who could come] through a series of complicated rules to bring in people from cultures as different from ours as possible and as poor as possible," said conservative author Ann Coulter in a recent interview on C-SPAN's Book TV.



http://www.npr.org/2015/10/03/445339838/the-unintended-consequences-of-the-1965-immigration-act

The attitude of conservatives towards immigration (particularly of the non-white variety) never seems to change. Likewise their view of the US as a "white nation" never seems to change even in the face of a changing reality.

[newfie11]

1. This white person is disgusted with America's conservatives

They conveniently forget the Native Americans were here first before all white people showed up.
People are people, what the hell difference does skin color matter😡.

I was a college student in LA in the 60s during the riots. I saw the destruction caused by suppressed people. Later in Washington DC the same thing!

Somethings never change. Hate toward people you don't even know but by god their the wrong color!!!!!

I'm almost 70 but by God I'm ready to move to Mexico.
I really despise what my country has become!