One Quarter of the Nation: Immigration and the Transformation of America

Nancy Forner, a preeminent comparative scholar on trends and impacts of immigration, offers a refreshing lens on the opportunities facing the nation in the midst of the inflows of millions of immigrants and their children. In One Quarter of a Nation, Forner’s expansive analysis and synthesis of post-1965 immigrants and their contributions to American life shed light on the dynamics of racial and ethnic stratification in the U.S. Forner breaks down the roots of racial threat, fear, and anxiety among White Americans. The author invites readers to look beyond the American experience with immigration to defy the bothersome truth about how racist and ethnocentric ideologies influence immigration policies throughout the world.

Packed with compelling data about how immigrants are transforming the American cultural and economic landscape, the book is a fast and engaging read. Immigrants are transforming every facet of society, from pop culture to the housing market to entrepreneurial ventures. From my positionality among the eighty-six million immigrants in the U.S., I found solace in Forner’s research and argument for understanding and embracing the immigrant experience. Immigration has fostered deep political divisions, spurring racially motivated speech and actions against newcomers from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.