Racism continued throughout American history. During the Cold War, the threat of communism held Americans in fear. As Nagi describes “Cold War politics influenced the course of reform variously.”[3] Prior to the Cold War, the use of quotas was determined to be racist and thus the practice was phasing out in America. During the Cold War, the fear of allowing those that could potentially spread communism. Fear led to the use of quotas again, as they were being used in other countries. Historian Oscar Handlin criticized the use of quotas, “The laws are bad because they rest on the racist assumption that mankind is divided into fixed breeds, biologically, and culturally separated from each other.”[4] Image Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:America_Under_Communism_Cold_War_Propaganda.gif |