Immigration

The United States of America has a long history of claiming to welcome immigrants. In fact, the very term for this—“melting pot”—was derived from a description of European immigrants melting together in taking on the new identification of American as far back as 1782. That said, the story of immigration in the United States has a rather more conflictual dimension to it, as successive waves of immigrants were not always received warmly into the country. A story of Hellenophobia—of hatred to the early twentieth century Greek immigrants—built upon a disgust with the lifestyle of the Greek immigrants and wish on the part of some that Greeks not intermingle with the established Americans was the basis of riots against Greek-Americans in Omaha, in 1909, a series of riots, precipitating events, and background of labor unrest that prefigured race riots during the Red Summer that also affected Omaha in 1919.