Abstract
America began and remains a nation of immigrants, where citizens of foreign countries leave their birthplace for a chance to realize the American Dream. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe. For them the American Dream represented an opportunity for religious freedom, where they might worship without fear of retribution from foreign governments or hostile dictatorships. This first wave of immigrants was white, by racial identity. After a single generation, once their children had acquired English language and American cultural skills, they were accepted as members of the bona fide American mainstream. In a short span of time, the American Dream had become a reality for them.
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Hall, R.E. (2010). Immigrants: The Desire to Be White. In: An Historical Analysis of Skin Color Discrimination in America. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5505-0_11
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