Finished Not a Nation of Immigrants just in time for Thanksgiving! Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz argues that the American claim to be a “nation of immigrants” is a founding myth of the U.S. used to obscure the fact that the U.S. was founded as a white settler society that was based on the ethnic cleansing of native peoples, saying “If Europeans in the United States were immigrants, they would have joined the existing societies in the New World. Instead they destroyed those societies and built a new one that was reinforced by later waves of settlement.” It’s not that immigration is not important in U.S. history, but rather that immigration is not the defining characteristic of the United States. Not a Nation of Immigrants also points out that many of the immigrants who came & come to America are refugees, who are often fleeing crises that the U.S. fueled or instigated. The endnotes are mostly worth reading for further reading recommendations on the topics covered. Dunbar-Ortiz cites many interesting authors & titles. The first chapter about the musical Hamilton really drew me into the book. Not a Nation of Immigrants is a great intro to looking at the world through a de-colonial perspective.