Its almost been a year since Donald Trump’s campaign came to an end; but for many Mexicans and Latinos like me there is still something that resonates and makes us uneasy. Yes, I am talking about his threat to build the wall. What upsets me is not so much the political stance against immigration; but the fact that his arguments for it during the speech spoke so poorly of a country that already suffers from a copious amount of stereotypes. I am biased as I am a Mexican; but I think we can all agree that there are some points made by Mr. Trump that would have gone down better had they not been so prejudice. I aim to discuss the message Mr. Trump gave to his public and the way these create stereotypes about Mexicans, in addition the latino community as a whole.
The first point I would like to make is to discuss the way Trump talks about all Mexicans by referring to them as ‘rapists and criminals.’ This generalization is not only an unfair way to characterize the population; but it also propagates a negative image for Mexico and its people. I have personally experienced this first hand, as not once in my life have I met an American that didn’t ask me if Mexico City was safe. Okay this is a hyperbole. But what is definitely true is the fact that many Americans already consider Mexico to be a dangerous place to live, and talking about it’s citizens in such a negative way promotes this.
I would also like to discuss the fact that closing borders is in fact against many American ideals, including the most cliché one; The American Dream. Mexicans look up to the economic development of the USA and the opportunities that they have while here. Many latin countries either look up to the US or despise it based only on the industrial power that it is. Closing off your borders to these countries would not only damage social dynamics and the economy; but it can also be compared to lashing out at your younger brother or sister. While they can be annoying and disruptive, they are only trying to be like you.
To conclude, while the speech covers many interesting and controversial topics and sociological, economic and political stances, I will focus on the portrayal of Latinos and specifically Mexicans in this essay with the hope of proving that much of the language used was unnecessarily harsh and damaging to the Mexican community.