Final answer:
Nativism today mirrors historical nativism from the late 1800s by prizing White Americans over immigrants, fearmongering, and promoting exclusionary policies. Historical organizations like the American Protective Association expressed similar sentiments against Jews and Catholics, leading to restrictive immigration laws.
Step-by-step explanation:
The continuity of nativism shows in both past and present anti-immigrant policies and cultural fears.
Current nativism statements share similarities with those from the late 1800s in prizing White Americans with older family trees and in expressing fear and suspicion towards immigrants, believing them to be a threat.
In the late nineteenth century, organizations like the American Protective Association and the Immigration Restriction League rose to prominence with anti-immigrant sentiments, targeting groups such as Jews, Catholics, and immigrants from central and southern Europe.
This echoed in modern nativism through policies and rhetoric that aim to curtail immigration and put American-born individuals foremost.
Key events such as the anarchist assassinations of prominent political figures in the late 1800s and the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 fueled xenophobic fears, leading to restrictive immigration policies like the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924.
Today, there is a resurgence of nativist sentiment that echoes the past, fostering exclusionary politics, particularly toward nonwhite immigrants.
Despite the passage of time, these nativist sentiments reflect a continuity in American history of fears related to cultural diversity and the threat perceived from foreign influence.
The underlying motives and expressions of these beliefs remain remarkably consistent, focusing on ethnocentric ideals and exclusionary immigration policies.