Through evolution and sociobiology, the human race had developed an awareness and concept of the ‘other’, or, those that differ from them. History had morphed this concept in the form of value differences, class differences, and ethnic and race differences, as shown in examples such as the Republican versus Democrat, upper class versus middle class, and whites versus people of color differences respectively. After reading Arlene Audergon’s “Welcome to ‘The War Hotel’”, and the two New York Times articles titled “President Trump’s Reckless Shame Game” and “Spicer Says Maryland Rape Case Shows Need for Illegal Immigration Crackdown,” creates a modern example of how the American system creates the ‘other’ out of immigrants as a step by step process …show more content…
In the justice and the wheels of history, the section goes into detail of how history and conflicts cycle and repeat, almost always in the name of justice. Great wars and battles occurred when the people involved readily claim their actions and motivations out of justice, and how it must be served out of an obligated sense of morality; this is illustrated in how we as people identify with being right and just out of suffering and privilege, and how said urge for justice is used in creating new rounds of conflict. Said sense of justice looks at how polarized group thinking could become, and how concern for justice affects loyalty and group bias. Using World War II and the Holocaust as a respectful and historical example of a tragedy, this is shown in how, in the rise to power, Adolf Hitler used the lingering but potent resentment …show more content…
In the Spicer article, the White House press secretary elevates a rape case at a Maryland high school in which an undocumented immigrant has been charged, and how that specific case was just another example of why the Trump administration was dedicated to a ceasing of illegal immigration. The article goes on to show the biasness and targeting of immigrants, demonizing a whole group based on the efforts of a few, by the quote, “the case has been reported extensively by the local news media in Washington, as well as on Fox News, which has provided detailed and adjective-laden accounts of the sexual assault and used it to illustrate what it called the dangers of lenient immigration enforcement (New York Times, Spicer).” The next day, the New York Times published the Shame Game article stating the case of Homeland Security Department turning its immigration crackdown and contesting of the Constitution upping their actions: the idea of shaming and accusing agencies of letting dangerous ‘aliens’ onto the streets instead of keeping immigrants in jail to give federal agents time to pick them up. This accusation is a dishonest claim, and a dangerous and fearful
In “Legal Aliens”, “A Indian fathers plea “and Everyday use how that it affects cultural diversity because as individuals we don’t give each other respect. In Pat Mora’s “Legal Alien”, she feels like she is cultural unwanted in her own country. ” You may speak Spanish but you’re not like me” (Mora 40). One’s eyes look at her like that and she could just see them say that.
“Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants Since 1882,” by Roger Daniels analyzes the United States’ immigration policy as one that has forever been flawed. Roger Daniels puts forward a clear yet through criticism of how racism, blind politics, and ignorance have all overtaken the immigration legislation since the past 140 years. Specifically, he claims, immigration laws have had an evocative effect on the immigrants during all eras and the issue has been magnified by the foreign threat nativist believe outsiders are bringing in. The prevailing belief during periods of restricted immigration to the United States was that alien groups, due to their innate inferiority, are not capable of absorbing the United States’ values and ideologies, and are a threat to the political institutions. Moreover, an increased flow of immigrants will trigger a loss of jobs that are rightfully for native citizens, will bring lower living standards, and overall annihilation of American values.
Humans rarely change their ways; they stay in their own worlds and always interact with the same types of people. Unfortunately, this habit often creates unseen barriers that divide and alienate human beings from one another. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway, Urrea provides a personal perspective to immigration by telling the story of 26 illegal immigrants, known as the Wellton 26, who are abandoned as they cross the Mexico-U.S. border. Through their story, Urrea proves there are invisible borders among people that create prejudice, such as language, ethnicity, and economic status. By reading The Devil’s Highway, it is clear that these barriers must be broken down to ensure harmony within society.
Choices play a critical role not only in people’s daily lives, but in shaping history as well. The stronger those choices are, the greater impact they have on society. During the Holocaust, when the Germans considered themselves racially superior to the Jews and caused millions of innocent deaths, ordinary European citizens and perpetrators shaped history through their actions and inaction. While some stayed quiet, many brave individuals, called upstanders, decided to rescue Jews and other victims of persecution, based on their past experiences and from the goodness of their heart. These upstanders chose to rescue and assist a race marked for death, while knowing full well the harsh penalties for doing so.
In their opinion piece published in the New York Times, Miriam Gleckman-Krut and Nicole Bedera, two students from University of Michigan, claim that students being accused of sexual assault on-campus should not be the ones providing the definition of sexual assault because more victims will stay silent. Their article tackles the research question “how does allowing the accused to define sexual assault affect the victim?”. The piece was written in response to Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, who claimed that former President Obama’s policies on on-campus rape stripped the accused of their liberties because less evidence was required from the victims, who often struggle to create concreate evidence due to trauma or difficulty remembering.
As immigration and relations between races become more influential issues in politics, there have been many opposing views on the treatment of minority groups. Some people believe that diversity and immigration is a threat to original identity while others believe that they are extremely beneficial to society. Writers Samuel P. Huntington in The Hispanic Challenge and Herbert Marcuse in Repressive Tolerance express these differing views regarding these important topics. Huntington takes the ‘threat to identity’ side when explaining how Mexican immigration is extremely different from European immigration. On the other hand, Marcuse takes a different route when explaining the idea of tolerance, claiming that majority groups who oppress the minority
Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.
In this interview, it illustrates how power may ignite cultures to have a division based on their cultural group. It may cause a nation to become captivated by misleading mistakes and false representation of a political group. Although, segregation exists, individuals felt the need to react in ways that became unjustifiable causing destruction affecting beliefs, values, and other perspectives amongst other cultures, religions, and beliefs differently than their own. By taking the lives of innocent individuals and shaping and conforming lives according to their biases alters how children may shape their own human world views based on exceptionalism, power and segregation, and improving history and evolution through integration.
The United States of America, is known to be one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world. It has often been referred to by many as a global melting pot or as locals may say callaloo, due to the amassing of diverse ethnicities, cultures and nationalities. Within its borders, resides immigrants or descendants of immigrants from almost every region in the world, and each has in some way added to the American culture and way of life. America is known for its stance on freedom, it is a nation that values equality and justice, this can be noted in the last few words of their national anthem ‘indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’ However, for many, high levels of economic and social inequalities are daily struggles, a battle that has been fought for decades to claim the most basic rights, in the pursuit of achieving the American Dream.
The groupthink, or group mentality theory occurs when the majority of the group follows a certain ideal or idea, and causes individuals who might have thought otherwise to support the majority’s conclusions. This has never been more prevalent then in one of the most horrifying events in history: the Holocaust. The events of the Holocaust baffled the world – no one could understand how Hitler convinced thousands of German soldiers to murder millions of innocent Jewish citizens. The world could not understand how a sophisticated and refined European country could follow a mindset that systematically eradicated generations of people for the sole reason that they practiced a certain religion (Tindale, Munler, Wasserman & Smith, 2002). The largest contributor to the events that took place during the Holocaust are the effects of conformity.
Cohen’s fourth thesis talks about the differences among groups of people in areas of race, gender, etc. and how those differences can create monsters in society. Unauthorized immigrants often get placed into a “different” or “unwanted” group and that causes them to face unfairness in society. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” correlates to Cohen’s thesis because unauthorized immigrants can be made into monsters due to differences in race and legal status. The group of unauthorized immigrants can become alienated in society, and the people themselves are sometimes referred to as “illegal aliens.”
After Germany’s loss in World War I, Adolf Hitler was appointed the chancellor of Germany. He blamed all the world’s problems on the Jews, and explained how they needed to be exterminated in his speech about International Jewry. During his speech, the crowd loved what he had to say, and they too believed that Jews were a menace to society. Hitler was able to persuade them that killing them would do the world a favor, which established an ethnic tension (Doc I). This shows how genocide is also a result from rivalries between different groups of people.
Disappointment. Betrayal. Deceived. All these terms are common themes in the writing of several immigrants during their journey to America. After reading many personal accounts of immigrants and learning about their expeditions to America, it became evident it is not as joyous a ride as many make it seem.
For years now there has been a lot of controversy involving the looming question: Is the criminal justice system racist? Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one 's own race is superior. Ever since the Trayvon Martin case of 2012, the justice system has been in a complete downfall including all of the police brutality cases since then also. According to sources, 1 of every 4 African American males born this decade are expected to go to prison in their lifetime. Census Bureau reports that the U.S. is 13 percent percent black, 61 percent white, and 17 percent latino.
Undocumented immigrants live with fear of deportation every day of their lives. Those with control of state institutions who do not consider undocumented immigrants as worthy American residents in our society, take advantage of their power by instilling fear of deportation. The restrictive federal and state laws towards migration in the U.S. has become a way to keep undocumented immigrants and their families living in the shadows. Arrocha (2013) claims that the paradox of the U.S. migration seems be that our free democratic republicanism is viewed as the land of freedom, equality, and justice. Yet, these undocumented immigrants aren’t treated equally or given the freedom to live in our society without intimidation.