Beyond Immigration

Abstract

As the concluding chapter of the work, this chapter revisits the central thesis of the book, which is the import of the context and constraints of white supremacy on black public opinion formation. Using immigration as a lens to better understand black opinion, the book argues that white supremacy is at the core of black public opinion formation; in this way, it is not an individual story about immigrants or immigration policy. My theory of conflicted nativism helps the reader to understand how and why blacks hold seemingly divergent opinions on the issue of immigration. I am able to show, however, that these opinions are not in conflict. Rather, blacks have distinct considerations as Americans that come from their unique position in the American racial hierarchy and the ways in which white supremacy structures how they navigate an array of political issues. The chapter concludes with a brief examination of border separations, which has animated much of the recent conversation in this policy arena.