The “Know-Nothings” take a blow A “Know-Nothing”, as defined in David Cole’s argument, is an immigrant who sees himself as a “Native American” but blames society’s scourges upon recent groups of immigrants. If you are a Know-Nothing then David Cole has just knocked you down for the count. In hisessay, “Five Myths about Immigration,” David argues a very convincing point of view againstimmigrant discrimination. He uses good sources and a well organized argument to get his pointacross. Let us take a look at David Cole’s point of view and how it is argued quite well.David starts out by telling us about the general attitude of a Know-Nothing, stating thatthey have “no sympathy”(125) for the immigrants. After this he tells how the politicians jumpedon the opportunity to “exploit”(125) and use the immigrants as an excuse for all of societiesproblems. Using this Pathos argument, which certainly would unhinge any reader with thoughtsof the Holocaust and Hitler’s attitude towards the Jews, he hits home for most of us. Despitehaving nearly destroyed any sympathy for the Know-Nothings by comparing their attitudes to thatof the Nazis, David still goes on with the rest of his argument. David has a strong thesis. It states that since the early 1800’s our society has not changedin the slightest. We still discriminate against the immigrants that are entering our nation today justas we did then. He attributes this to ignorance and misinformation and uses these two faults as abasis for his argument. He combines these two terms and calls them a myth. It is the myths thatare letting know-nothingism thrive in todays cultures. With this in mind he sets out to disprovethe so called “Five Myths about Immigration.” The first “myth” that David addresses is the idea that the country is being overpopulatedby immigrants. ...
