ThisdefinitivehistoryofAmericanxenophobiais“essentialreadingforanyonewhowantstobuildamoreinclusivesociety“(IbramX.Kendi,NewYorkTimes-bestsellingauthorofHowtoBeanAntiracist)TheUnitedStatesisknownasanationofimmigrants.Butitisalsoanationofxenophobia.InAmericaforAmericans,ErikaLeeshowsthatanirrationalfear,hatred,andhostilitytowardimmigrantshasbeenadefiningfeatureofournationfromthecolonialeratotheTrumpera.BenjaminFranklinridiculedGermansfortheir“strangeandforeignways.“Americans’anxietyoverIrishCatholicsturnedxenophobiaintoanationalpoliticalmovement.Chineseimmigrantswereexcluded,Japaneseincarcerated,andMexicansdeported.Today,AmericansfearMuslims,Latinos,andtheso-calledbrowningofAmerica.Forcingustoconfrontthishistory,Leeexplainshowxenophobiaworks,whyithasendured,andhowitthreatensAmerica.Nowupdatedwithanafterwordreflectingonhowthecoronaviruspandemicturbochargedxenophobia,AmericaforAmericansisanurgentspurtoactionforanyconcernedcitizen.
