Title: Book Reviews -- Immigrants and the American City by Thomas Muller
Abstract: Immigrants and the American City. Thomas Muller. New York: Twentieth Century Fund/New York UP, 1993. $30.00 cloth.This book collides head-on with some long-standing notions about the detrimental impact of immigration on America's economy, society and culture. Thomas Muller makes a concise, meticulously documented case for his thesis that a steady influx of people from other nations has contributed, and will contribute to the quality of American life, particularly in the nation's cities.The author, an economist, former research associate at the Urban Institute and government consultant on economic and fiscal issues, couches his argument primarily in the terms of his field, so some may find the reading dry; it is nevertheless highly informative. With a plethora of national, regional and local statistics--22 tables punctuating the text; figures cited on virtually every page--Muller quietly and systematically explodes pejorative images of the immigrant which merged among Anglo-Saxons of the middle-and upper-classes more than a century ago, and still maintain considerable power. The figures which he marshals indicate that, historically, immigrants have not created the widespread socio-economic problems of which they've often been accused. Instead of taking jobs and housing from natives, lowering wages, committing a disproportionate number of crimes or exploiting relief and welfare systems, the nation's newcomers have for the most part contributed to America's societal and fiscal health by entering the jobs and housing which natives leave behind. As members of these latter groups climbed the socio-economic ladder and moved to better occupations and better homes, often outside the city, immigrants were usually there to replace them. In fact, Muller posits a strong correlation between high immigrant populations and economic growth in the urban Northeast during the 19th and early 20th centuries, in contrast to economic stagnancy and cline in a region which over the same period was essentially free of immigrants--the South. When immigration levels have been reduced, the nation's economy, particularly in its cities, has suffered; thus, the author argues that the decay of American cities since World War II is due in part to Congressional reductions in immigration from the 1920s through the 1960s. There were no longer enough newcomers to fill the jobs and housing vacated by those more prosperous, and neither the numbers nor the acumen of the nation's minorities entering the cities were sufficient to stem the decline. Improvements may be in the offing, however: Muller asserts that recent legislation (1965, 1990) to renew immigration could help repair urban erosion, though the struggle for political power among the various minorities and growing concern among whites over dilution of the national identity have created new antagonism. Still, he is cautiously optimistic.In constructing his case, the author seems admirably evenhanded, acknowledging opposing viewpoints, summarizing them and responding. As he does so, he covers a good deal of historical and socio-political ground, often surveying it in innovative ways. Congress' decision in the 1920s to restrict immigration Muller attributes not to the traditionally assumed causes-isolationism and fear of the economic impact of renewing immigration after the 1914-18 hiatus--but to the combined effects on American attitudes of three disparate groups: eugenicists, Progressives and the Ku Klux Klan. …
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot