Daniel Okrent’s (DG 2014) new book The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America is finally out.
The book examines a forgotten, dark chapter of American history with implications for the current day, The Guarded Gate tells the story of the scientists who argued that certain nationalities were inherently inferior, providing the intellectual justification for the harshest immigration law in American history. Brandished by the upper class Bostonians and New Yorkers—many of them progressives—who led the anti-immigration movement, the eugenic arguments helped keep hundreds of thousands of Jews, Italians, and other unwanted groups out of the US for more than 40 years.
The book has been listed among the “14 New Books to Watch For in May” by the New York Times. Click here for the full article.
Click here to read Okrent’s full interview on The Guarded Gate for the Intelligencer.
Additionally, Daniel Okrent will present his new book in a conversation with journalist, diplomat and former president of Brookings, Strobe Talbott. The event will take place Saturday, May 18th, 2019 from 18:00 to 19:00 at Politics and Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20008. For more information click here.