The United States is known as a nation of immigrants. But as award-winning author, historian and professor Erika Lee will discuss, the U.S. is also a nation of xenophobia. An irrational fear, hatred and hostility toward immigrants has been a defining feature of our nation from the colonial era to the Trump era. Drawing from her new book, America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States, Lee forces us to confront this history and explains how xenophobia works, why it has endured and how it threatens America. Her book was just named a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in general nonfiction. Erika Lee is a Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies and Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota.
This is one in an ongoing MCC program series under the banner “Driven to Discover.” The series features University of Minnesota faculty and students sharing current research or programming at the University.