Immigration has made the United States the most composite nation on earth. More peoples of widely different national and racial origins have been brought together and welded into a single political, economic, and social system than anywhere else in the world.

What constitutes a race? Does each race have certain hereditary characteristics which determine its mental life and social behavior? Is there a racial stock which is superior—physically, mentally, and morally—to other racial stocks? Just what differences, if any, exist between those who were born here and those who have adopted this country as their home land?

There is no such person as a native American, nor was there ever such a person if we are to be strictly accurate. We are told that even the American Indian is an immigrant who came from far-off Asia by way of the Bering Straits and Alaska. Our ancestors may have come on the Mayflower or in the steerage, we may be descended from immigrants who settled here generations ago, or we may have come direct from other lands, yet one fact remains crystal clear—WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS.

Physical Characteristics

From the physical standpoint, races do have certain very definite differences that are obvious. One of the most obvious is that of color. White, black, yellow, red, brown, and yellow-brown are the colors we usually associate with certain racial types. Some of us are tall, blond, and blue-eyed. Others are short, dark, and brown-eyed. Some people have long, narrow heads while others have short, round heads. However, the same physical differences may be found not only between racial and national groups, but also between individuals within the nation, tribe, or family.

Mental Characteristics

In answer to the contention that certain racial groups are mentally superior to others, Franz Boas, an outstanding scientist, says, “No one has ever proved that a human being through his descent from a group of people must of necessity have certain mental characteristics.... If we were to select the most intelligent, imaginative, energetic, and emotionally stable third of mankind, all races would be represented.”

Hooton, another scientist, is even more emphatic. He declares that “each racial type runs the gamut from idiots and criminals to geniuses and statesmen. No type produces a majority of individuals from either end of the scale. There are no racial monopolies of either human virtues or vices.”

Carefully controlled intelligence tests given by educators and scientists to different racial groups show that, where environment and social conditions are the same, no group can claim mental superiority. In fact, it has been clearly apparent that “man, everywhere, is basically and fundamentally similar” and that his differences, be they physical, mental, or moral, are determined not by race so much as by the social conditions and opportunities around him.

Important Findings

The assimilation of different groups within the United States would seem to show that:

1. Under favorable conditions of equal opportunity, all racial groups, whatever their original homeland conditions and status, are capable of rapid social change both as individuals and as groups.

“It can easily be shown,” says one scientist, “how dependent mental differences are upon social conditions. For instance, exact observations have been made on Negroes who have moved from the country to the city and it has been shown that assimilation of these people to the behavior of the city population takes place within a few years.

“Likewise, it has been shown in the case of Italian immigrants that they grow to resemble the Americans in behavior the longer they have been in this country, provided they do not remain isolated. One of the most instructive illustrations of this assimilation is the ease with which children adopt the dialect and manner of expression of their environment.”

2. All groups, under the stimulus of opportunity and contact, have capacity to produce exceptional individuals of high creative ability or genius and thus help build up and perfect human culture.

The Nordic and Slav, the southern European and Jew, black, white, brown, and yellow have all produced men and women of outstanding brains and genius. To confirm these statements it is only necessary to read, in the pages that follow, the contributions of the immigrant and his descendants to American life.

Research studies, conducted on an objective basis, prove that individual brilliance may be and is, found in all groups.

3. Under the influence of a common environment, physical and cultural, the offspring of different racial and national groups in a democracy tend toward a common culture with common customs and ideals.

John Dewey has emphasized that, “in a democratic society, individuals give freely to others of the peculiar value, essence, quality, and contribution of the group to which they belong, and receive freely the corresponding treasures of other groups, and this without violence to the complete uniqueness of the group.”

At birth, no individual has any culture and so the culture he eventually acquires is the one he finds around him and is capable of assimilating. However, “new conditions bring the need of new ideals and new emphasis on certain aspects of old ideals.” Civilization itself is not only safeguarded but advanced when a nation, composed of many races, finds it possible for each racial group to “function creatively in building the culture of the race into the whole culture pattern.”

4. Within the framework of common political and economic institutions, a variety of cultural elements makes for a richer and more active social culture.

In all history, some of the most advanced civilizations have been the product of a mixture of cultures. No great nations or civilizations have been born in isolation. Inbreeding inevitably results in one-sidedness and, eventually, in stagnation and decadence.

Spain was at its greatest “when the mixture of peoples was at its height.” England grew great because the ingredients of many racial groups ran in the Englishman’s blood. The United States will continue to be great because the intermingling of many groups tends to build a culture or civilization that unifies the best of their contributions.

5. A civilization of many different elements develops religious, social, and cultural tolerance. It also creates ability which may permit it to grow and change.