Political Resistance Movements and the Legacy of Eugenics
As the demographic transformation of the United States accelerates, political movements have emerged that respond to, resist, or seek to reverse this change. Among these movements, the Tea Party and its ideological successor, the MAGA movement, have played prominent roles. Both rely on rhetoric rooted in racial anxiety, cultural resentment, and the perception that white Americans are losing social, political, and economic dominance. These anxieties have historical antecedents in early 20th-century eugenics, a pseudoscientific ideology that sought to preserve a racially “pure” nation through population control and exclusionary immigration policies.
The Tea Party gained momentum in 2009 following the election of Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president. While publicly framed as a movement dedicated to fiscal conservatism, limited government, and tax reform, research indicates that racial resentment and fears of cultural displacement were significant motivating factors (Skocpol & Williamson, 2016; Parker & Barreto, 2013). The movement appealed to individuals who felt alienated by demographic change and threatened by the shifting racial composition of the electorate. Although economic rhetoric dominated public messaging, scholars contend that concerns about race and national identity were deeply embedded in the movement’s growth (Tesler, 2016).
The ascent of Donald Trump amplified these sentiments. Trump’s 2016 campaign embraced slogans like “Make America Great Again” and “Build the Wall,” which implicitly appealed to nostalgia for a pre-diverse America. The MAGA movement expanded the groundwork laid by the Tea Party, using overtly nationalist rhetoric that cast immigrants—particularly those from Latin America and Muslim-majority countries—as threats to the nation’s cultural and economic stability (Hochschild, 2016). MAGA represents not simply a political movement but a social identity built around the belief that demographic change diminishes American greatness.
To understand these movements, it is essential to revisit the influence of eugenics on American policy. In the early 20th century, eugenic theorists advocated selective breeding, racial purity, and exclusionary immigration practices. These ideas influenced key policies, such as the Immigration Act of 1924, which imposed quotas designed to preserve a predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon population (Ngai, 2004). Eugenicists used pseudoscience to justify racial hierarchy and to claim that non-European immigrants posed threats to social stability (Stern, 2005).
Although eugenics was discredited after World War II, elements of its ideology persist in contemporary political discourse. Today’s demographic resistance movements echo early eugenic fears of racial dilution and national decline. MAGA’s portrayal of immigrants as invaders, criminals, or destabilizing forces mirrors eugenic narratives that positioned nonwhite populations as inherently threatening (Bonilla-Silva, 2018; Smith, 2016). The movement’s nostalgia for an imagined past, in which American identity was unambiguous and racially homogeneous, parallels eugenic efforts to restore or preserve a white-dominant nation.
The Tea Party and MAGA movements exemplify how old ideas take on new forms. While not explicitly tied to eugenics, their resistance to the browning of America and the rhetoric surrounding demographic change reflect deeper ideological continuities. These movements do not merely oppose immigration or cultural diversity; they challenge the legitimacy of a multiracial democracy.
Part Two establishes the ideological roots of demographic resistance, showing that contemporary political movements draw heavily from historical narratives of racial preservation. The next section examines how these forces translate into policy and impact social cohesion.