This book appeared on my radar after reading an article based on a speech given by the author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. The subtitle is very clear about the themes in this well-researched book. "'A nation of immigrants' was a mid-twentieth-century revisionist origin story." Each of the eight chapters are so packed with historical detail and critiques of interpretations of that history that are problematic that it feels as if you are reading eight different non-fiction books connected to the theme of correcting this revisionist origin story of America. We explore a critique of the popular musical Hamilton, the genesis of settler colonialism, the racial capitalism of slavery, the continental imperialism of manifest destiny, Irish settlers and policing, the efforts of Americanizing Columbus, the Western panic against Asian immigrants, and the history of aggression against Mexico. She wraps it up by discussing how actual refugees and immigrants are treated in our settler state, a place where white supremacy still holds a strong grip. It is a call for a more honest understanding of our American history.
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