America has a very long history of xenophobia. It really started in the 1840s, when Irish and Italian immigrants started coming. A legitimate political party, the American Party or "Know-Nothing" Party (so-called because of their secret wing's password) ran on a single-issue platform: keep these immigrants out because they bring (gasp!) Catholicism! We'd all become Vatican pawns in a New World Order if we let them in! They ran candidates in several elections and actually won 13 electoral votes in the 1850 election. Although the Know-Nothing Party would die out in 1860, the feelings became ingrained. In the following decades, we would panic about Germans, Russians, Poles, even effing Scandinavians; in other words, anyone who came from a country with different values, politics, and culture.
Despite what we try to portray through our relations with Israel, we also have a history of fierce anti-Semitism. Up through the 1950s it was considered standard for there to be "Gentile only" country clubs, beaches, and nightclubs. There was even a term for it: "5 o'clock anti-Semitism", which meant that a person would have no issue working with a Jew during the day, but wouldn't dare socialize with them after hours. And, since Arabs are Semitic too, it is worth mentioning that we have probably the most widespread and ingrained form of Islamophobia on the planet.
On the West Coast, discrimination against Asians was our version of Dixie's discrimination against Blacks. Asians would settle into the cheapest residential areas, and the whites would vacate, turning it into a "Chinatown". Most every city on the Pacific coast from Frisco north had one and all of them were treated terribly. Seattle had several deadly race riots between whites and Asians, and San Francisco disenfranchised its Asian population from even becoming U.S citizens, a policy that was corroborated by the Federal government; in fact, Asians were the second to last ethnic group to earn citizenship in the United States. Our horrifically maligned Native Americans were the last, in 1920.
This xenophobia is practically a genetic trait in some regions of this country. We've had several presidents (Wilson, both Roosevelts) who were closet racists- and we regard these men as some of the best presidents we've ever had.
And now we have this movement, this anti-political correctness movement. Now, I understand where these people come from--there are several instances where PC does go too far--but it seems like the vast majority use their hatred of PC to mask racism and xenophobia. It's one thing to be annoyed about semantics and bizarre PC bits in the news, but quite another when you say something blatantly racist or homophobic and then cry out, "You're just too politically correct!"
Rise above, America.