A mutter of disquiet undulated through the clan-proud, old-stock Daughters of the American Revolution when Franklin Roosevelt once impishly greeted them as 'my fellow immigrants'. Roosevelt later elaborated: 'All of our people all over the country - except the pure-blooded Indians - are immigrants or descendants of immigrants, including even those who came over here on the Mayflower.' Strictly speaking, even the exception for Indians might be disallowed, since they, too, migrated to the American continents from elsewhere.

LRB 22 February 2001 | PDF Download