Essay 4
In a recent article on Fox Nation by Yaul Halon (2019) a reporter named Tomi Lahren calls for tighter immigration policy on the U.S.-Mexico border, following a cartel massacre that claimed nine American citizens’ lives. She portrays immigrants from Mexico as “monsters”, unlike Americans in the slightest. This is a perfect example of cultural threat according to Zarate et al (2003) as Lahren implies that allowing them to immigrate will impact our morals and values as a society. Another article in the Washington Post by Tyler Anbinder (2019) discusses that President Trump spreads hatred of immigrants, and discusses how they are here to steal our jobs and resources, which is a great example of group conflict themes (Zarate et al, 2003).
An article from The Washington Post by Jay Mathews (2019) discusses his feelings of school being named after an undocumented immigrant. He states it’s stunning a school district would do this considering recent events with historians being removed from school names based on “wrongdoings”. An article from USA Today by Josue de Luna Navarro (2019) shows a positive emotional reaction to immigrants. The author discusses how both legal and illegal immigrants are living in more fear because of an executive order signed by the president. Navarro exhibits empathy towards how this impacts their lives
and mental health.
Furthermore, Navarro depicts how life for immigrants is hard and that in general, the American people do not make it any easier. This contact is more likely to increase prejudice because the government is showing this is how it should be. Another example of intergroup contact is an article in the New York Times by Adeel Hassan (2019). The basis of this article is about how the hate crime rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high. Hassan states hate crimes rates should ultimately decrease prejudice because it is bringing the issues to light and making it an open discussion. According to the reading by Pettigrew et al. (2011), it is suggested that having intergroup contact should generally reduce prejudice, however, it depends on the complexity involved in the state of the prejudice.
References
Halon, Yael. (2019, November 11). ‘Wake up, this could’ve been any of us’: Tomi Lahren praises Trump’s wall efforts after cartel massacre. Fox Nation.
Matthews, Jay. “An American Life: He’s 38, an Undocumented Immigrant and a School Is Being Named for Him.” The Washington Post, 31 May 2019.
Anbinder, Tyler. “Trump Has Spread More Hatred of Immigrants than Any American in History.” The Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2019.
Hassan, Adeel. “Hate-Crime Violence Hits 16-Year High, F.B.I. Reports.” The New York Times, 12 Nov. 2019.
I think your group did a great job finding a wide range of articles from different perspectives on different topics and relating them back to the articles. I thought it was particularly interesting that you mentioned the mental health of immigrants which is heavily affected by the experiences they often face.
You found a lot of great examples of different terms linking to the readings! I like that you included a positive response to immigrants as well (USA Today by Josue de Luna Navarro, 2019). I think it is especially important in the current hyper-polarized political climate we live in to seek out a variety of views on issues such as immigration. Some of the views and opinions expressed (especially on the right, such as Fox News) treat immigrants with no empathy and dehumanize them, grouping them all as criminals and nothing like Americans which promotes intergroup conflict.
Great job integrating your articles within your analysis. Really well organized and you covered a broad range of subjects which is hard to do while staying in the word count!
I liked that you guys could show the different perspectives of the articles, while being able to relate them back to the class articles. It wasn’t enlightening to see the cruelty in the different varieties but it helps us see where the differences lie, and you guys depicted this well.
I love how your group combined the example with reading theories! And you really interpreted the examples in various perspectives. Especially you qualified the condition where intergroup contact could reduce prejudice.
Good job on finding articles to support claims and argument! Did a great job expressing immigrant struggles and what they face everyday and tying in course material.
I enjoy the articles you found to display each perspective. I like how you showed how people can effect other people’s perspective as well. Some people only watch certain news stations so they would only be getting a single perspective.
Your group did a great job at analyzing several different articles. The articles used help support both positions on immigration which I feel helps give a more biased opinion. Y’all also did a really good job at discussing concepts from the readings and connecting to them to the articles you found.