From Publishers Weekly
In this intriguing and closely argued book, Jacobson tells the story of how it came to be fashionable for white Americans to rediscover their ethnic heritage-be it Italian or Irish, Jewish or Catholic-and how many of them made this into a "usable past" to forge a sense of identity, a quasi backlash to the civil rights movements of the '60s that occurred less on the front page than on the big screen (think Godfather, Rocky, or My Big Fat Greek Wedding). One of the book's strongest assets is the large number of examples and case studies Jacobson provides, including accounts of Michael Dukakis's relentless invocation of his Greek background during his failed presidential campaign and how artist Judy Chicago's "evolving sense of Jewishness" became central to her work. (Though Jacobson can let these stories run too long and lose track of his arguments.) He also discusses books like Portnoy's Complaint and movies like Working Girl in an excessively serious and jargony manner that's at odds with the rest of the book, which is intelligent without coming off as stuffy. Jacobson's considerable achievement is how he avoids reducing ethnic revival to simple multiculturalism or the inevitable result of the fabled hard-working Ellis Island immigrant. Photos.
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Review
In this intriguing and closely argued book, Jacobson tells the story of how it came to be fashionable for white Americans to rediscover their ethnic heritage--be it Italian or Irish, Jewish or Catholic--and how many of them made this into a 'usable past' to forge a sense of identity, a quasi backlash to the civil rights movements of the '60s that occurred less on the front page than on the big screen (think
Godfather,
Rocky, or
My Big Fat Greek Wedding). One of the book's strongest assets is the large number of examples and case studies Jacobson provides, including accounts of Michael Dukakis's relentless invocation of his Greek background during his failed presidential campaign and how artist Judy Chicago's 'evolving sense of Jewishness' became central to her work...Jacobson's considerable achievement is how he avoids reducing ethnic revival to simple multiculturalism or the inevitable result of the fabled hard-working Ellis Island immigrant. (
Publishers Weekly )
Given the current intensity of the immigration debate in the United States, perhaps no book could be more timely than
Roots Too. In this exciting new study, leading immigration historian, Matthew Frye Jacobson, argues that the white ethnic revival of the late twentieth century was about more than the individual rediscovery of one's "roots"...
Roots Too speaks to many audiences but will be of most interest to scholars of immigration and ethnicity or of late-twentieth-century American culture. For the former audience, it is among the most thought-provoking works in recent years and could potentially reshape the field. (David J. La Vigne
History: Review of New Books )
[A] tour de force. (John D. Buenker
Journal of American History )
The myth of Plymouth Rock has been replaced by the myth of Ellis Island; we understand ourselves as a nation of immigrants. This much has been broadly understood, and even exploited by moviemakers and politicians...But the origins of this development and its consequences for American racial and civic relations have not been as well explored.
Roots Too fills this gap; it is an excellent introduction to discussions of contemporary American discourse on identity. Using a close and persuasive reading of historical, literary, cinematic, and political materials, Jacobson identifies the roots of this ethnic identification in civil rights-era black politics and considers its impact on liberal, conservative, and feminist politics. (Cheryl Greenberg
The Historian )
