The More Things Change: H. G. Wells on American Immigration.

Ah, once again European understanding is hulled on the reef of the American experience. It is well to be reminded that the Europeans were racist towards each other long before they were racist about anyone else. When I worked in Germany in the early 60's the Germans regarded the Italians as lazy and, frankly, they hadn't been a whole lot of help in WWII either. On the other hand, they had a certain affection for the Finns, I suppose because of their heroic performance in the Russo-Finnish war. Anyway, sayeth Wells of the Russians, Poles, Southern Italians, and other riff-raff coming to these shores early last century,

I doubt very much if America is going to assimilate all that she is taking in now, much more do I doubt that she will assimilate the still greater inflow of the coming years... By "assimilate" I mean make intelligently co-operative citizens of these people. She will, I have no doubt whatever, impose upon them a bare use of the English language, and give them votes and certain patriotic persuasions; but I believe that if things go on as they are going the great mass of them will remain a very low class - will remain largely illiterate, industrialized peasants.

They are decent-minded peasant people, orderly industrious people, rather dirty in their habits, and with a low standard of life. Wherever they accumulate in numbers, they present to my eyes a social phase far below the level of either England, France, North Italy, or Switzerland. And, frankly, I do not find the American nation has, either in its schools - which are as backward in some states as they are forward in others - in its press, in its religious bodies, or its general tone, any organized means or effectual influences for raising these huge masses of humanity to the requirements of an ideal modern civilization.

HT:Clive Davis, who has a bit more.

Apropos European racism, here is the esteemable Marx :

"The Scandinavians and the Germans have in this way found that they cannot base their respective national claims on the feudal laws of royal succession. They have had the even stronger experience that they, the Germans and the Scandinavians -- who both belong to one overall race -- will only pave the way for their hereditary enemy, the Slavs, if they fight with one-another rather than uniting."

Hitler fell not far from the same tree on which Marx ripened. A nut tree, I suspect, or maybe pig apples.