Description
Book SynopsisImmigration has been at the heart of US politics for centuries. In Moral and Immoral Whiteness in Immigration Politics, Yalidy Matos examines the inherent moral, value-based, nature of white Americans'' immigration attitudes, including preferences on local immigration enforcement programs, federal immigration policy, and levels of legal immigration allowed. Does identifying as white always signify a commitment to maintain the racial status quo or can it result in commitments to racial justice? How do we understand the passage of state-level sanctuary and anti-sanctuary immigration legislation through a white identity political lens? Thinking about whiteness as a moral choice complicates the idea that immigration policy preferences are mostly about demographic shifts. To examine the centrality of morality in white Americans'' immigration attitudes, Matos looks at public opinion survey data as well as the roll call votes of elected officials. She examines the conditions under which white
Trade ReviewThis book offers a theoretical framework for understanding white political attitudes and behavior...Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty. * Choice *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Moral and Immoral Whiteness in Immigration Politics 2. Immigration Attitudes as A Racialized "Morality of Exclusion" 3. How Whiteness Structures Restrictive Immigration Attitudes 4. White Racial Privilege and Progressive Immigration Attitudes 5. Enacting Whiteness Through State-Level Immigration Laws 6. Conclusion: In Need of a Moral Reckoning Appendix A: Survey Wording Questionnaire Appendix B: Online Appendix Information Notes Bibliography Index
