Progressivism and xenophobia
Progressivism and xenophobia in the United States has historically been widely connected, evident in the exacerbation of anti-immigrant bigotry with the onset of the Progressive Movement. According to libertarian economic historian Murray N. Rothbard:[1]
| â | Progressivism brought the triumph of institutionalized racism, the disfranchising of blacks in the South, the cutting off of immigration, the building up of trade unions by the federal government into a tripartite of big government, big business, big union alliance, the glorifying of military virtues and conscription, and a drive for American expansion abroad. | â |
âThe Progressive Era | ||
1924 JohnsonâReed Act
Although the sponsors of the Immigration Act of 1924 (also, known as the Asian Exclusion Act) held right-wing voting records in Congress, they were heavily influenced by the xenophobic bigotry which stemmed from the Progressive Movement. The House sponsor and main backer, Albert Johnson (RâWA), was a Freemason and rabid eugenicist obsessed with Nordic/Anglo-Saxon identity politics, and also prominent in anti-Jewry attacks against refugees. The Ku Klux Klan in Washington supported, in their words, the "Renomination and re-election of Representative Albert Johnson of Washington, so he can continue to be Chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and fight for restricted immigration laws."[2] The Senate sponsor, Pennsylvania Republican David A. Reed, boasted that "America of the Melting Pot Comes to End."[3]
References
- â Naopolitano, Andrew P. (2017). The Progressive Era. Mises Institute. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- â Griffey, Trevor (2007). Citizen Klan: Electoral Politics and the KKK in WA. The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- â Reed, David A. (April 27, 1924). AMERICA OF THE MELTING POT COMES TO END; Effects of New Immigration Legislation Described by Senate Sponsor of Bill -- Chief Aim, He States, Is to Preserve Racial Type as It Exists Here Today. The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2023.