Democracy in America
Part 2, Chap. 10
I realize that Tocqueville believes any government formed by the vulgar majority will always interfere with and demean the virtuous spirit of gentlemen like himself, but really... to suggest that integration (i.e,
"the blending together of various races" is a byproduct of federal policy overlooks the simple fact that "racial blending" has its roots in the enforced deportation of people from Africa by slave traders, and the plantation economy of southern states which relied on these people for cheap labor. In this manner, slavery introduced into America the first immigration problem of how to manage a growing labor force that brings economic benefits to society, while at the same time, minimizing the social upheavals brought about by the proximity of an undesirable population. Once slavery was outlawed, the remnants of this venal practice could not simply be expunged. That left a situation where the descendents of the original settlers from Europe now faced the prospect of living alongside an immigrant population of freed slaves. But these African descendents now had rights of American citizenship and could not simply be deported back to Africa. Clearly, the problem of integration does not only have its roots in a federal policy, but in the fabric of our social evolution, and the failure of our Founding Fathers to solve the problem constitutionally.
This whole discussion about "blending of races" really belongs in a different conversation-- whether or not two different populations with different cultural and racial traditions can live harmoniously in one society. I think we now see, in the 143 years that has passed since the Civil War, that we can, in fact, live harmoniously together. Immigration, as we well know, has been throughout our history a significant part of the American landscape. Fortunately, due to the enormous size of the country, there has always been sufficient room to accommodate newcomers. Some of these new people have been welcomed more than others. In hard economic times, resentment about immigration springs up more frequently due to the competition for jobs. But there is also a strange note of elitism which marks the attitude of people whose ancestors came here one or two generations prior to those who come here today. Many people seem to forget that in a very fundamental sense, we are all immigrants in America, except for the native American people who were displaced by an irresistible wave of future settlers. And though Tocqueville certainly doesn't approve, democracy is the form of government which best identifies us as the hope of that future.
- comments by SMJ -