
Dreamland
America's Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction
Carly Goodman(Autor*in)
The University of North Carolina Press
Erschienen am 2. Mai 2023
Buch
Hardcover
400 Seiten
978-1-4696-7304-2 (ISBN)
Beschreibung
In a world of border walls and obstacles to migration, a lottery where winners can gain permanent residency in the United States sounds too good to be true. Just as unlikely is the idea that the United States would make such visas available to foster diversity within a country where systemic racism endures. But in 1990, the United States Diversity Visa Lottery was created to do just that.
Dreamland tells the surprising story of this unlikely government program and its role in American life as well as the global story of migration. Historian Carly Goodman takes readers from Washington, D.C., where proponents deployed a colorblind narrative about our "nation of immigrants" to secure visas for white immigrants, to the African countries where it flourished and fostered dreams of going to America. From the post office to the internet, aspiring emigrants, visa agents, and others embraced the lottery and tried their luck in a time of austerity and limits. Rising African immigration to the United States has enriched American life, created opportunities for mobility, and nourished imagined possibilities. But the promise of the American dream has been threatened by the United States' embrace of anti-immigrant policies and persistent anti-Black racism.
Dreamland tells the surprising story of this unlikely government program and its role in American life as well as the global story of migration. Historian Carly Goodman takes readers from Washington, D.C., where proponents deployed a colorblind narrative about our "nation of immigrants" to secure visas for white immigrants, to the African countries where it flourished and fostered dreams of going to America. From the post office to the internet, aspiring emigrants, visa agents, and others embraced the lottery and tried their luck in a time of austerity and limits. Rising African immigration to the United States has enriched American life, created opportunities for mobility, and nourished imagined possibilities. But the promise of the American dream has been threatened by the United States' embrace of anti-immigrant policies and persistent anti-Black racism.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"A well-reasoned, evenhanded account of the immigration system . . . . Goodman offers a strong defense for the visa lottery, which is not weighted by country, allowing immigrants from all over Africa."-Kirkus ReviewsEssential reading for those interested in the past and future of U.S. immigration policy."-Library Journal
Phenomenally well-researched and wide-ranging . . . . a feat . . . . Goodman hops smoothly from topics as diverse as the history of Irish immigration to the impacts of structural adjustment in West Africa to the visa lottery's role in the first internet spam incident. Goodman chose her topic well. The visa lottery is a remarkable window into the role of the United States in a highly unequal world."-Tim Hirschel-Burns, Los Angeles Review of Books
Weitere Details
Sprache
Englisch
Verlagsort
Chapel Hill
USA
Produkt-Hinweis
Gewebe
Illustrationen
16 halftones 16
Maße
Höhe: 234 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Dicke: 26 mm
Gewicht
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4696-7304-2 (9781469673042)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Weitere Ausgaben
Person
Carly Goodman is senior editor of Made by History at the Washington Post.