Many political issues are diving the American population and immigration is one of the most controversial topics. The United States is not the only country facing such controversy. There is a movement that started in Italy and spread all through Europe called CasaPound, the name comes from American poet Ezra Pound. This movement is to limit the presence of immigrants in one’s country.
Immigration is a controversial topic since some think that multiculturalism has its pitfalls, but there are also those who think that the presence of different cultures is what builds a nation.
There are numerous reasons on why citizens of a country dislike the idea of immigrants. The most common ones are immigrants taking jobs that could be theirs, a burden on taxpayers, and security reasons such as terrorism and crime.
Immigrants tend to be perceived in the wrong light because of stereotypes. “When large numbers of newcomers arrive, they are often met with skepticism and distrust. That distrust is frequently fueled by prejudice and stereotypes. Those prejudices and stereotypes are carried in the stories we tell, by our behavior, and in what we read, see, and hear from media, friends, and in society.”
Crime, security and terrorism worries are based on stereotypes. Terrorism, for example, is associated with Arabs or Muslims; this all started in 9/11 mainly because all the hijackers were Arabs. “It is illogical because the chance that any given Arab is a terrorist is only marginally greater than the chance that anybody else is a terrorist. One needn’t be an ethicist to realize that it is unjust to slap such a noxious label on a whole group of people on account of the misdeeds of a few.” There have been many terrorist attacks by the hand of other races. Take as an example what happened in New Zealand last week, the man that took 50 lives and harmed 50 more is an Australian citizen; he even wrote a manifesto packed with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslimism ideas.
When the president of the United States, the leader of the free world, goes on television and categorizes a group of immigrants as “drug dealers, criminals and rapists,” many citizens start changing their views on such groups of immigrants, and the group starts facing backlash.
“Make America Great Again” is a controversial slogan. Some say that it represents pride, respect and appreciation of being American. While others see it as a racist slogan, Columnist Robian Abcarian states that wearing a MAGA hat “has the same fate as flying the Confederate flag,” and that the political message the slogan is trying to send is that “the past was better because it was white.” That slogan carries different meanings for different people; some see it as a compassionless phrase, a resistance to diversity and equality. Todd Davies, program associate director, said that what the MAGA hats represent has changed in the last few years, “I do think the cultural meaning of MAGA hats has evolved since 2016, and that many people (though not all) see the hat at least partly as a symbol of white nationalism in the U.S.”
Journalism influences the public in ways that not many realize, it shapes our views on things. Last week, E.J. Dionee discussed journalism and empathy here at Penn State. Dionne believes that in order to save democracy, America needs to become empathetic again “I feel that journalism has a particular obligation to build empathy in our society,” he said. “Many problems, political or not in our society stem from a lack of empathy.” If journalism was more empathetic, maybe immigration views wouldn’t be as polarized.
[This is a very controversial and delicate topic, and I am sorry if I offended anyone. If I did offend anyone, those were not my intentions and I really do apologize.]
Sources:
https://www.grammarcheck.net/the-10-most-controversial-essay-topics-of-2013/
https://reimaginingmigration.org/exploring-anti-immigrant-prejudice-stereotypes/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15205436.2017.1342131
https://www.courier-tribune.com/opinion/20190128/maga-hats-patriotic-or-racist
https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/article_4dab181c-4b1f-11e9-b7b4-ef6aa4fa4f8d.html
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-maga-hat-racism-blackface-20190208-story.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/opinion/27iht-edervin.2066296.html
Hi Vanessa,
This is a controversial topic but I think you handled it very well. Your viewpoint seems to be based off of facts, research, and an intention of what’s best for all of mankind. In your writing, you mentioned some about automatic stereotypes and or judgements that we make on immigrants automatically, that may not always be true. I think that this decision to make stereotypes about people who are “different” may be something that is a part of human nature.
Some would say human nature is inherently evil, while others say it isn’t. But where is the truth? Is it really a choice to make stereotypes, or is it programmed into our very beings, perhaps for survival? Or do we really have a say at all in what our first impressions are of other people? Also, how does society influence our thinking? Are our ideas our own, or just a collective opinion formed by an entire society?
These are all questions that I have been inspired to try and answer based off of your blog. To start, I would like to delve into the question why humans make stereotypes in the first place. There is cognitive research that proves humans “want to and need to categorize the physical world into preferably neat little groups”. One reason for this is because stereotyping is “cognitively efficient”, meaning once information is collected about a single group member, it can save your brain time to think about each group member, because we are “cognitive misers”. Another reason is because stereotyping satisfies the “need and want to understand”, so if someone understands one part, they assume an understanding of the whole. The last reason is because it “makes us feel good about ourselves”, alluding to an ingroup favorability bias (msu.edu).
In my opinion, psychology seems to be a science that is very deep, and very confusing. There are so many factors to consider about when talking about every little topic that one could ever imagine! It is easy to make an argument for this specific reasoning of why stereotypes occur. However, it is also easy to make an argument against a human’s tendency to stereotype.
I personally believe while there is research supporting the human tendency to stereotype, it doesn’t mean we have to follow our “natural” intuition. In life, there are many ways and opportunities we can go against our selfish human nature. To do this, we can choose to consciously end our stereotyping of other people. We can choose to sacrifice for others, even at the cost of our own lives. We can choose to be kind to strangers, to risk everything in order to show love to people who society would say are undeserving. In a world like this, I believe people would be much happier, healthier, and driven with a purpose that is indescribable, and truly unworldly.
Source:
https://msu.edu/course/psy/442/stereotypes.ppt/sld003.htm
I, too, found myself questioning the reasons behind why individuals stereotype. I think that the debate of immigration really does come down to the psychology of how and why people are thinking a certain way and categorizing others based on this thought process. Therefore, does this phenomenon mean that stereotyping is a natural instinct and to not do so is a way of going against human nature?
Hey Vanessa!
Immigration is such a hot topic in the United States and has always been very prevalent in discussions, especially with the current presidential administration. However, what I find interesting is that in a nation filled with immigrants there is still hatred towards and fear of people entering the United States. If we think about it, nearly everyone in the United States is of immigrant descent, with the exception of Native American populations. Therefore, I find it very hard to recognize the argument against immigrants who desire and strive for the same common goals and living situations as we all once did or had family that once sought out the United States as an opportunity to fulfill various goals.
When it comes down to immigration in the United States, I believe that a lot of anti-immigration arguments are created out of fear. I believe that citizens who create these particular arguments utilize the fear they feel as a defense mechanism to justify stereotyping in order to maintain their level within social class and society. For example, according to CATO Institute, many arguments stem from the idea that “immigrants will take American jobs, lower our wages, and especially hurt the poor,” or “immigrants are a major source of crime,” or “immigrants increase economic inequality.” Not only do these arguments utilize the threatening feelings that these individuals believe they will be exposed to but it reduces immigrants to something lesser than human beings, stereotyping them, and creating a uniformed category that deems immigrants as one monolithic entity.
Immigrants shouldn’t be reduced to statistics because this often gives way to easier exploitation, and I believe that this is an issue that is commonly seen in the United States when debating policies regarding immigration. I was able to find a very interesting website called My Immigration Story, which highlights the stories of immigrants rather than emphasizing statistics as a way to help overcome the stereotypes and lack of emphasis on intersectional issues that immigrants may face. The website states, “Statistics do not tell the story of immigration. People do. Since its inception, this nation has been continually infused with the energy of newcomers. Yet their assimilation has seldom been smooth. The challenges we face today are not new. Only the stories are.”
Sources:
Nowrasteh, Alex. “The 14 Most Common Arguments against Racism and Why They’re Wrong.” Cato Institute , 2 May 2018, http://www.cato.org/blog/14-most-common-arguments-against-
immigration-why-theyre-wrong.
My Immigration Story. myimmigrationstory.com.
Hi Grace!
I completely agree with you when you say “immigrants shouldn’t be reduced to statistics”! This is a beautiful way of phrasing the situation, because immigrants are real people, not “aliens”. I know that the term for illegal immigrants is “aliens”, but I feel like it is a very divisive way of categorizing people. What are aliens? They are creatures from outer space who are NOT HUMAN. What are illegal immigrants? Humans who are seeking asylum in a country that they believe will give them a better quality of life. I believe in giving extra to those who ask, and going the extra mile to help someone, because this will perpetuate a more caring and loving race of man.
Obviously immigration is a large topic and in many ways always has been and in some ways always will. This country was built by immigrants and by keeping immigrants out it would be hypocritical. The idea that we are a nation of immigrants who do not want other immigrants to come is complete selfishness. Those who are already here in the United States and are citizens should be thankful their ancestors had the opportunity to immigrate to the United States, and by being against immigration, they would be literally against letting their own ancestry in. Though, I understand as a country there need to be limitations for different types of security, whether physical or economical.
Looking at the website on how to be able to get to the United States, there are multiple ways, but they seem to be limiting. As an immigrant, I know that my parents were lucky to be able to get the chance to move here. Though, for my cousins to even visit the United States whether through a work or visitor Visa, it was very costly and a lot of work. So the system of immigration is open to many, but there are limiting factors on those who can meet the requirements or expectations to even be able to immigrate. For example, the United States’ immigration policies favor the rich and skilled who are seeking to immigrate. While understandable, it is not equal opportunity as the United States should be.
Obviously, the United States deals with a heavy problem of illegal immigration. It is expected for a nation to uphold their laws on immigration and those who get here illegally should technically be sent away. If there is no control or support of a law, everyone will begin to see it and it will be abused. So for the United States to be hard on immigration, it must to have people realize that illegal immigration WILL have consequences and they should find alternatives or a legal way to immigrate. This is also not only for a nation’s security, but illegal immigrants become risk to crime and abuse due to their illegality. Many times they fall victim to violent crimes and in cases of murder, there are no files on them to identify them.
While stereotypes and negatives views hinder many people’s perspectives, there really is no right or wrong answer to the issue of immigration. Some will look at security over being good, while others may look at helping people and not consider security. Some may seek a balance.
http://americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works
Unfortunately, I think that most systems within the United States are implemented to benefit the wealthy and more privileged and restrict the poor and immigration is just one of these systems. I’m really curious if the U.S. is attempting to better this system or are rather refraining from addressing this issue.
Hi Stephan,
I’m interested by what you’ve said about how there is really no right or wrong answer to the issue of immigration. I think this brings up an excellent point regarding the complexity of the issue. Last semester, I did a project in this class with a group that related to immigration. My job was to interview and contact professors of law to ask them about the issue. In this, I was able to interview Dean Victor Romero who talked about the problem of immigration, and he actually brought up a lot of points that you did. For example, in order for someone to stay in this country legally, they need to obtain a certain type of Visa card which is only allocated to a couple thousand. Many people are trying to acquire these Visas, and while they are waiting, they are “illegally” living in this country. However, if we improved our immigration system as a whole, maybe we would have less “illegal aliens” and more contributing citizens, which is what they do now, but under the label of illegal.
I agree with you. The United States has to control illegal immigration because then everyone will try to come here. I do think that the way the president is dealing with the situation is not the correct one though. He goes on TV and categorizes immigrants as criminals, terrorists and/or rapists. Then he lies about some things, for example, how the caravan was filled with ISIS supporters when that was clearly not true.
I think this is a really complicated topic because I’ve seen why most hispanics leave their country. In Venezuela everyone is dying, what parent wants to see their kids die? They would rather try to go to another country. Im not saying they should come to the United States, what I’m saying is that their reasons to come here are really serious and once they do come here, they are faced with hate when all they are doing is try to save their families.