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5423968_2_0555.xml
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5423968_2_0555.xml
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<bibl><title>Dziennik Chicagoski</title>,
<date when="1928-01-05">Jan. 5, 1928</date>.
<title level="a">America and Her People in the Eyes of the European</title><title level="a" type="sub">Racial Consciousness (Editorial)</title></bibl>
</title>
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<publicationStmt>
<publisher>The Newberry Library</publisher>
<pubPlace>Chicago, Illinois</pubPlace>
<address>
<addrLine>60 West Walton</addrLine>
<addrLine>Chicago, IL 60610</addrLine>
<addrLine>USA</addrLine>
<addrLine>http://www.newberry.org</addrLine>
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<idno>5423968_2_0555</idno>
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<note>Transcribed from digital images contributed to the Internet
Archive by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.</note>
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<bibl><title>Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey</title>, <date>1936-1941</date>,
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<div type="citation">
<bibl><title>Dziennik Chicagoski</title>,
<date when="1928-01-05">Jan. 5, 1928</date>.
<title level="a">AMERICA AND HER PEOPLE IN THE EYES OF THE EUROPEAN</title><title level="a" type="sub">Racial Consciousness (Editorial)</title></bibl>
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<body>
<p>Up to the beginning of the present century, the Americans believed in the popular theory that environment played a very important role in the growth of the people, but when the flow of immigration into this country began to increase greatly, this outlook was changed. It was then that they became the followers of the views of Mendel and de Gonineau, who expound the theory that heredity plays a more important factor than environment in molding the people. Along this road of reasoning, a certain racial hierarchy of the people of the United States was created. At its head were placed the Nordics. Writers and publicists presented this as a dogma, verily very advantageous to the Nordics.</p>
<p>All American scholars who are concerned about the American race as a separate nation, attached themselves to this theory, and began to search for its educational foundations. "Therefore, whoever desires to recognize <pb facs="5423968_2_0556.jpg" n="2"/>and understand Puritanical Americanizers"--says the talented Prof. Siegfried in his book, "America Is Becoming of Age"--"then he must by all means familiarize himself not only with the Puritanical bible, but also with the various works dealing with the races, their origin and superiority over one another." He, therefore, must become familiar with Lathrop Stoddard and Madison Grant, for these two authors are probably the ones that contributed the most to popularize the belief--that civilization is like a delicate plant, requiring constant care in order to keep it alive and growing. This idea differs from the others.</p>
<p>In our times,--these persons wrote--the invasion of hordes of barbaric tribes does not threaten us, but there threatens us the peaceful intrusion of an element with which we will not be at ease. The most backward people in the world possess the greatest ability for propagation because, from a physical standpoint, they are the fittest. They are drawn to the centers of civilization because of the attraction of a greater earning power and a higher level of living. But their peaceful invasion shows unfortunate results, for shortly they disturb the established order of things, forcing out the original higher race of people. The fusion of races is also <pb facs="5423968_2_0557.jpg" n="3"/>deplorable, because it undermines the ethnical foundations of civilization and introduces a mixture which, consequently, leads to decay. It is well known--it is written--that the acquired characteristic traits will not permit themselves to be conveyed to posterity. Then, too, the influence of the surroundings is closely limited, therefore, each individual cannot give any more of himself than he has acquired from his forebears. The great biological discovery of heredity is, therefore, of vast importance.</p>
<p>This theory is taken with calm by the one-hundred-per-cent Americans who ask: What can we expect after the great wave of immigrants? In their opinion, the countless numbers of immigrants who came to this country since 1890 are considered inferior and bad because many of them do not permit themselves to get caught so easily in the maelstrom of the American melting pot. Documentary evidence endeavors to show that their great ability of propagation is the result of their inferior race species, while contemporary data reveals that the superior race is not concerned about the assurance of its continuation in this respect. As a result, <pb facs="5423968_2_0558.jpg" n="4"/>American Puritanical aristocracy has found itself alarmed by its replacement by another. And now, if the words "superior race" are replaced by the words "Anglo-Saxon," and instead of inferior races, such terms as Polish, Italian, Russian and the Slavs in general--not mentioning the Negro, Chinese, and Japanese--are applied, then we will see the political side of the racial problems in the United States in stark nakedness. Let us look further, especially at the face of the Ku Klux Klan and its true purpose, for it is a true representative of the mentioned theories. The members of the Klan are of the mutual opinion that the position of the races is found in the blood, and can only be transmitted from the blood, consequently, character and race must be preserved with the help of adequate legislation. Along with all this arises the fear that there is something wrong with this superior race because it multiplies at a very low rate, whereas the incoming element shows a greater increase in proportion. This alarm has created a new thought, primarily propagation of the Malthusian theory of birth control.....amidst the immigrants. This step is brought to the attention of the public with scientific shrouds, but in reality there is a tendency to support the longest supremacy of the privileged higher races.</p>
<pb facs="5423968_2_0559.jpg" n="5"/>
<p>American birth statistics have shown more than once the higher increase among the immigrant families than those of the one-hundred-per-cent-American families. Professors Ross and Barber have proven beyond doubt that the present American families in the Central States are 38.5 per cent lower than the number of families of the previous generation; that 13 per cent of the one-hundred-per-cent-American married couples are childless, while 18 per cent have only one child. At the same time, there are 2.4 per cent childless families among the Czechoslovakians; 2.5 per cent among the Russians; 2.6 per cent among the Poles; 3.9 per cent among the Germans; and 4.9 per cent among the Italians. This kind of numerical comparison certainly must awaken a most unpleasant feeling in the hearts of those who consider themselves as the best Americans. To this must also be added the fact that amidst the American intelligentsia (sic) marriages are sparse and take place rather late in life, and as a consequence, there are no descendents. It is also proven that 60 per cent of the university educated American women do not ever enter the holy bonds of matrimony, while of the remaining 40 per cent,36 per cent do not have children. No wonder then that the above mentioned professors, Ross and Barber, <pb facs="5423968_2_0560.jpg" n="6"/>have come to a most melancholy conclusion after making a comparison of these statistics. They have confirmed the fact that the Anglo-Saxon race is gradually disappearing, and that within a hundred years only a small trace of it will remain.</p>
<p>But in spite of the conclusion of these two professors there is a ray of hope in another fact; namely, that the immigrants with the passing of time will also adopt the American mode of life, and although the first two generations may be prolific, even the third, the others will be comparable to the American families. But before the immigrant families will completely remodel themselves to American ways, there will only remain a small trace of the one-hundred-per-cent-American-family.</p>
<p>This apparent certainty, supported by figures, has stimulated the representatives of the "superior race"--the Anglo-Saxon--into action, creating various measures in the legislative realm and recapitulating towards the limitation of families, especially the lower classes. To this are added various ways of palliating hidden desires. There is a continual reference <pb facs="5423968_2_0561.jpg" n="7"/>to the variety of theories of the learned. This is the best means to achieve these aims because in this way vigilance becomes dormant. They even are adorned in the feathers of progress, if only to wipe out the track and misdirect the way. The Roman Catholic Church opposes this idea, for it understands the sources of the motives. It also opposes the great legislative actions originating out of this. Therefore, the Church is considered a menace within the spheres of the "superior race." This part should not be overlooked when "Americanization" is considered. It would be a mistake to overlook the role of the Church, for only then will it become clear that "Americanization" in the opinion of the Church must have a different outlook than the people generally believe.</p>
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