“I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” –President George Washington
“These aren’t people. These are animals.” –President Donald Trump
The “land of the free” was built on the wonderful ideal that the people here could obtain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And yet, as we look at what rhetoric is used when we talk about immigration, about the people who wish to come to the United States in hopes of finding a better life, it is utterly and entirely disappointing.
In previous American history, immigrants were mostly white Europeans wanting to gain wealth in a new land. Even though their skin color was so-called “superior” compared to black and brown people, the Italians, Irish, Poles, and Hungarians all faced prejudice and had to overcome it. There was a certain rhetoric back then that still exists now: immigrants were going to take away jobs from the real Americans. However, this presumptuous stance was not as nearly as prevalent as it is today.
In our present-day and age, the vast majority of immigrants are people of color. Already in our society, POC are seen as less than. When we see news outlets show videos of Mexicans climbing up the fences to enter the States, people view them as criminals. When we see the videos of Afghanistanis climbing on airplanes to escape their war-torn country, people view them as savages. There is a distinct negative undertone that the media and society have when talking about immigrants, especially those who are people of color. We can see this clearly through the language that is used by our government officials, with former President Donald Trump referring to immigrants as animals.
However, the concerns of Americans are still valid. Many people still wonder if there will be fewer jobs or housing offered due to an influx of migrants. Yet, it has been proven that where there are large waves of immigrants, the economy blooms with more job opportunities, leading to the creation of more housing developments. A U.S. Department of Labor study even noted that “the perception that immigrants take jobs away from American workers is the most persistent fallacy about immigration in popular thought”(https://www.aclu.org/other/immigrants-and-economy).
To move forward in better understanding this issue, there needs to be better communication about immigrants entering America. The media can stand to do a better job at portraying migrants, and politicians and government officials should be more particular about their language use. The connotations of words can have a bigger impact than one may imagine.
I like your take on this hot issue. As I mentioned in my most recent post, the media and its politicized rhetoric often fails to capture stories and events from a human standpoint. Decontextualizing or telling parts of stories does humans no justice. As far as language goes, I think we can all make a conservative effort to improve our day to day language. Even if we don’t consider some types of phrases or words offensive, we should always be on the edge for possible questionable diction in our vocabulary.
Wow, this was insanely well written! I really appreciated the take on the negative connotation given to immigrants just trying to provide a better life for themselves and their families. I liked the comparison with the quote “land of the free” country that America represents itself to be and the reality of the fact that freedom typically does not extend to immigrants and/or POC. Overall, this post was insightful and it really lives the reader to reflect on how immigrants and immigration have been viewed over the years.
I could not agree more with your take on this issue. The media plays such a pivotal role towards portraying immigration, and I like that you specifically mentioned the amount of influence government officials play towards shaping people’s views of it. I think that your mention of previous immigration waves was particularly insightful, because many people might not recognize that although some rhetoric regarding the issue has continued, recent viewpoints on immigrants have become incredibly dehumanizing. Overall, this post is super well written, and I think it very effectively sheds light on how the rhetoric surrounding immigration has drastically changed for the worse during the past few decades.