on the monthly program in-depth

longtime historian, activist, professor and author roxanne dunbar ortiz joined to talk about native american history and culture, the liberation movement, the founding of the united states and more. here is a portion of the discussion. >> the term a nation of immigrants is actually very recent. i was surprised to find it dates to 1958 and was implemented by john f. kennedy when he was senator. it seemed to me his purpose was planning to run for president that he had a difficult past because he was a child of immigrants. up until that time, his

presidency had been scots irish and protestant. so i think what he emphasizes in the book he published called a nation of immigrants he emphasizes all the great qualities about the irish in particular and it's mainly about that. but the terminology i don't remember it frankly when i was in graduate school. i don't remember the term having caught on yet. i think it was with multiculturalism in the 1970s, 80s and by the '90s it's in all of the textbooks in public schools and simply an accepted term so i see it as a post world

war ii, cold war competition. so to create a image what people were seeing on television, where black people being bloodied and beaten in the south, the desegregation movement so this competition was not only in weapons and also cultural. the soviet union was making and publicizing these negative qualities so i think the nation of immigrants was also an immigration law that john f. kennedy did initiate.

he wasn't alive when it was finally passed in 1965, but it did open up immigration for the first time to the non-europeans so there was a liberal pinch. the new nationalism but we also have a fast developing wide whie nationalism that opposes that and still doesn't want immigrants, people of color pretty much want a white republican so it isn't uncontested. >> when we go back in history if we look at the 1700s, were there open borders into the united states? >> there were no immigration laws but there was a great deal

of suspicion. alexander hamilton was absolutely paranoid about french immigration that these would infiltrate the united states and create ideas. so the acts during that time was a preventative so there was great suspicion of anyone who was not english-speaking or german or scandinavian soon after but in the beginning it

was limited.

>> hello, everyone and welcome to the national book festival.