When a person continually responds pessimistically to attempts at solving a problem, the person is displaying a defense mechanism called:

world war i had a devastating effect on german-americans and their cultural heritage. up until that point   german-americans, as a group, had been spared much of the discrimination, abuse, rejection, collective mistrust experienced by so many different racial and ethnic groups in the history of the united states. indeed, over the years, they had been viewed as a well integrated and esteemed part of american society. all of this change with the outbreak of war.  

i believe your answer is mountains.