How much democracy, and for whom? In many ways, the conflict over this question – between those who wanted to restrict and confine democracy, make sure it would never undermine what they saw as the natural and/or divinely ordained white Christian patriarchal order, and those who envisioned a truly egalitarian multiracial pluralistic democracy – has always defined the American experiment.
There is a thread, or a continuity to the issue of who gets to be an enfranchised American. Majoritarian cultures of slave-owners and agrarian free-traders seem to be core to the development of two strains of enfranchisement. Both share an identity which is White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Fisher in Albion’s Seed has provided a decent over view of the cultural traits of these groups. They also share the belief that to become an American is to adopt their cultures. That has been mostly successful, excepting the fact that race blocks a huge number of people from being allowed to participate.
Taking this theme through time yields insights to our history. Ignatiev in How the Irish became White provides an excellent example of how Americanism is used with ethnic groups. After WWI Americanism was viewed as a means to inculcate WASP values into the millions who viewed themselves as workers, as people with a distinct and valuable national origin, and as new Americans. The development of “Americanization” schools directed towards immigrants was common. This took place after immigration was severely restricted.
Most of us are familiar in what took place in the next 90 years. We opened ourselves again to immigration and again enriched our culture, our diets, and our workforce. It seemed that the WASP white bread era was coming to a close. Hardly. Political counter revolutions falsely masking themselves with WASP virtues have arisen.
There is a thread, or a continuity to the issue of who gets to be an enfranchised American. Majoritarian cultures of slave-owners and agrarian free-traders seem to be core to the development of two strains of enfranchisement. Both share an identity which is White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Fisher in Albion’s Seed has provided a decent over view of the cultural traits of these groups. They also share the belief that to become an American is to adopt their cultures. That has been mostly successful, excepting the fact that race blocks a huge number of people from being allowed to participate.
Taking this theme through time yields insights to our history. Ignatiev in How the Irish became White provides an excellent example of how Americanism is used with ethnic groups. After WWI Americanism was viewed as a means to inculcate WASP values into the millions who viewed themselves as workers, as people with a distinct and valuable national origin, and as new Americans. The development of “Americanization” schools directed towards immigrants was common. This took place after immigration was severely restricted.
Most of us are familiar in what took place in the next 90 years. We opened ourselves again to immigration and again enriched our culture, our diets, and our workforce. It seemed that the WASP white bread era was coming to a close. Hardly. Political counter revolutions falsely masking themselves with WASP virtues have arisen.