states with large numbers of illegal immigrants soon
followed California’s lead. In 1996, the U.S. Senate
not only voted overwhelmingly (97-3) to tighten
U.S. borders but also voted to broaden the criteria
under which legal aliens could be deported and to
limit federally funded benefits to legal immigrants.
Meanwhile, rumors of a pending “Mexicanization”
of the country’s Southwest circulated widely, and
critics such as Pat Buchanan found receptive audi-
ences for their dire warnings of the pending end of
Western civilization.
The immigration issue remained salient entering
into the new millennium. By 2000, a thousand illegal
immigrants per day were entering the country, and
the number of illegal aliens in the United States
was estimated to be at least twelve million—more
than 5 percent of the population. Of these, two-
thirds were Latinos and half were from Mexico. Most
startling to the country’s political scene, the 2000 cen-
sus revealed that the Latino community had already
surpassed African Americans to become the coun-
try’s largest minority and that it was also the most
rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population.
Impact The daily arrival of more legal and illegal
Latino immigrants has created a new set of political
challenges and reshaped U.S. politics in the early
years of the twenty-first century. The welfare and
school systems of state and local governments, for
example, have been stretched to accommodate new
demands. Meanwhile, political parties have walked
the thin line between responding to the widespread
demand to halt illegal immigration and a desire to
court this rapidly expanding segment of the Ameri-
can electorate. Above all, even as national political
leaders have sidestepped the sensitive issue of what
to do with the millions of Latinos illegally living in
the country, local leaders have had to consider
how to assimilate a new, non-English-speaking mi-
nority so large and, in the Southwest, so territorially
concentrated that many of its members can enjoy a
middle-class lifestyle without ever leaving their lin-
guistic community.
Further Reading
Buchanan, Patrick J.State of Emergency: The Third
World Invasion and Conquest of America. New York:
Thomas Dunne Books, 2006. Contains a thor-
ough statement of the extreme Right’s uncom-
promising opposition to admitting further immi-
grants to the West from the non-European world.
Guerette, Rob T.Migrant Death: Border Safety and Situ-
ational Crime Prevention on the U.S.-Mexico Divide.
New York: LFB Scholarly, 2007. Perhaps the best
available work on the growing violence and crime
in the zone surrounding the border between the
United States and Mexico and on the risks run by
those crossing it illegally.
Swain, Carol M., ed.Debating Immigration.New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2007. An immensely
valuable paperback whose well-balanced essays
cover economic, social, and political dimensions
of the immigrant issue in the contemporary
United States.
Joseph R. Rudolph, Jr.See also Buchanan, Pat; Business and the econ-
omy in the United States; Demographics of the
United States; Employment in the United States; Il-
legal immigration; Immigration Act of 1990; Latin
America; Latinos; Mexico and the United States;
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In Living Color
Identification Comedy variety television series
Producer Keenen Ivory Wayans (1958- )
Date Aired from April 15, 1990, to August 25,
1994
Later regarded as a springboard for its cast members’ ca-
reers, this variety show was the first in television histor y to
feature a predominantly African American cast and to be
conceived, directed, and produced by an African American
family.
In Living Colorbegan airing on the Fox television net-
work in 1990, at a time when the urban entertain-
ment climate was increasingly influenced by hip-hop
culture and music. The show’s theme song was per-
formed by Heavy D & the Boyz, and the series earned
a reputation for showcasing popular hip-hop and
R&B artists as its musical guests, including Public En-
emy, En Vogue, Tupac Shakur. Sketch comedy seg-
ments focused on African American subject matter,
and the show had a decidedly urban feel.
The comedy series was created and produced by
Keenen Ivory Wayans, and the cast included Wayans’s
siblings, Damon, Kim, Shawn, and Marlon. Several
comedic actors received their start on the show, in-
cluding Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, DavidThe Nineties in America In Living Color 445