Professor Reece Jones discusses his book, White Borders. Tracing the connections between the Chinese Exclusion laws of the 1880s, the “Keep America American” nativism of the 1920s, and the “Build the Wall” chants of the 2016, Prof. Jones makes the case that American Immigration policy has always been and remains racially motivated. Looking at the scholars and politicians who used the bad science of eugenics, population growth, and environmental conservation movement to further the idea of white nationalism. The slogans we hear today of “the great replacement” began as “racial suicide” and “white genocide” during the post-Civil War period. Prof. Jones exposes the direct through line from our racist policies and laws to today’s Immigration laws and debate.
Reece Jones is Professor and Chair, Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa. He is the author of four books, Nobody is Protected, White Borders, Violent Borders, and Border Walls.