Manifest Destinies

At the turn of the century, America is both retrenching and expanding, becoming more restrictive and more expansive, more utilitarian and, more value- and religion-oriented. As was true a century ago, the flow of these changes is very much a story of immigrants, their lives in America, and the changing lives of those they join. This book examines the interaction of immigrants and the native-born in nine widely varying locales, including Richmond, VA, St. Louis, West Palm Beach, FL, Tacoma, WA, Garden City, KS, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City.

The volume considers a broad range of immigrants from well-educated and economically successful Chinese and Indians, to legally recognized refugees, who often have more difficulty accommodating to U.S. society, to illegal immigrants, who are being Americanized to a shadow world of limited opportunity and limited protection. Through insight into the interactions between immigrants and native-born at the local level, the authors collectively sketch an America that is changing but also re-creating its past.