Xenophobic America
HE SHIN
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” These are the words from the current president of the United States of America, Donald Trump. Trump’s racist comments have been one of his distinct traits since his debut as a candidate. His racially tinged sentiments, however, do not end in comments. Donald Trump’s administration itself works towards excluding “others,” and his immigration policies perfectly illustrate how the government is doing so. The immigration policies have allowed xenophobia not only to become more open and apparent but also to create tangible consequences in society.
Trump’s immigration policies clearly convey his xenophobic sentiments to citizens across the country and even to those around the world. Numerous laws confirm that Trump is willing to go to great lengths in order to drive immigrants away and “make America great again.” According to Sarah Pierce and Andrew Selee from the Migration Policy Institute, Trump went as far as to “[ban] nationals of eight countries, most majority-Muslim, from entering the United States” in 2017.[1] The president’s tyrannical policies are no less harsh in 2018, as he decided to initiate yet another unnecessarily brutal immigration policy which allows the government to rip children from their families when caught illegally crossing the Mexican Border.[2] Either unaware or ignorant of the influence migrant policies has upon society, the Trump administration does not seem to hesitate when it comes to enacting laws against immigrants. Trump’s immigration policies do not stop in publicizing his own hate towards people different from “his own”; the policies even encourage others to display their xenophobic sentiments as well.
These racially-charged legislations act as a constant reminder to people that some do not belong in the country just because they are not white or American. This way of thinking allows people to justify wrong behavior towards others based on their skin color or the language they speak. Various bias incidents within these few years indicate that many Americans have accepted this approach as tolerable. A white woman harassing an African-American family having a barbeque[3], ABC’s cancelling its number 1 show “Roseanne” after its star Roseanne Barr tweeted a message deriding the former president Barack Obama and his former senior adviser “the offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes,”[4] a woman calling the cops on two Native American teens during a Colorado college tour because she thought they looked like they did not belong[5], and a white elderly woman verbally assaulting a Korean student studying business at UC Berkley for speaking Korean at Starbucks store[6] were all covered in news articles between 2017 and 2018. Although these examples are merely those from the top of my head, so many others can be found when you search “racist rants.” The frightening similarity between these events is that the events involve a Caucasian bully who feels entitled to express offensive opinions towards those they deem “different” and therefore “unworthy” of being considered as an “American,” or possibly even “unworthy” of being in the US. The events suggest that it is growing more socially acceptable to publicly display prejudiced behavior, especially under such an openly-prejudiced president.
The “social trend” of openly expressing xenophobic sentiments has led to increased hate crime rates in the recent years. According to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino, hate crime rates rose for four straight years in the ten largest U.S. cities. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People states that “the report shows that racially-motivated crimes comprise nearly 60 percent of overall crimes, and African Americans remain the most targeted group.” The report also mentions that the most common type of hate crimes in 2017 were anti-Black, anti-Semitic, anti-gay and anti-Latino.[7] The study signifies that xenophobia in America has brought tangible consequences in society through the public manifestation of racism in the form of hate crimes. The statistics show that xenophobia is no longer an abstract concept but a substantial problem that divides the country and its people.
Trump’s immigration policies have promoted xenophobia across the country and numbed citizens into being more tolerable towards inappropriate discriminatory behavior. This “accepting” social atmosphere has given courage for many people to openly express their prejudices especially in cases of bias incidents and hate crimes. Trump’s influence across this issue cannot be dismissed. Xenophobia has created social rifts between different races in a diverse country often referred to as a “melting pot,” and America should be aware of what happens to a country broken into pieces.
Works Cited
Koblin, John. “After Racist Tweet, Roseanne Barr’s Show Is Canceled by ABC.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 May 2018, www.nytimes.com/ 2018/05/29/business/media/roseanne-barr-offensive-tweets.html.
Levin, Sam. “’They Don’t Belong’: Police Called on Native American Teens on College Tour.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 May 2018, www.theguar dian.com/us-news/2018/may/04/native-american-students-colorado-state-colle ge-tour-police.
Mezzofiore, Gianluca. “A White Woman Called Police on Black People Barbecuing. This Is How the Community Responded.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 May 2018, edition.cnn.com/2018/05/22/us/white-woman-black-people-oakland-bbq- trnd/index.html.
“NAACP Sees Continued Rise in Hate Crimes, Legacy of Trump’s Racism.” NAACP, NAACP, 30 June 2018, www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-sees-continued-rise-hate- crimes-legacy-trumps-racism/.
Perez, Maria. “A Woman Was Kicked out of a Starbucks in California for Telling Two South Korean Students to Speak English.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 4 May 2018, www.newsweek.com/racist-woman-kicked-out-starbucks-telling-korean- students-america-speak-750435.
Pierce, Sarah, and Andrew Selee. “Immigration under Trump: A Review of Policy Shifts in the Year Since the Election.” Migrationpolicy.org, Migration Policy Institute, 22 Jan. 2018, www.migrationpolicy.org/research/immigration-under- trump-review-policy-shifts.
Rhodan, Maya. “The Facts About Donald Trump’s Family Separation Policy.” Time, Time, 18 June 2018, time.com/5314769/family-separation-policy-donald- trump/.
[1] Pierce, Sarah, and Andrew Selee. “Immigration under Trump: A Review of Policy Shifts in the Year Since the Election.” Migrationpolicy.org, Migration Policy Institute, 22 Jan. 2018, www.migrationpolicy.org/research/immigration-under-trump-review-policy-shifts.
[2] Rhodan, Maya. “The Facts About Donald Trump’s Family Separation Policy.” Time, Time, 18 June 2018, time.com/5314769/family-separation-policy-donald-trump/.
[3] Mezzofiore, Gianluca. “A White Woman Called Police on Black People Barbecuing. This Is How the Community Responded.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 May 2018, edition.cnn.com/2018/05/22/us/white-woman-black-people-oakland-bbq-trnd/index.html.
[4] Koblin, John. “After Racist Tweet, Roseanne Barr’s Show Is Canceled by ABC.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 May 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/business/media/roseanne-barr-offensive-tweets.html.
[5] Levin, Sam. “’They Don’t Belong’: Police Called on Native American Teens on College Tour.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 May 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/04/native-american-students-colorado-state-college-tour-police.
[6] Perez, Maria. “A Woman Was Kicked out of a Starbucks in California for Telling Two South Korean Students to Speak English.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 4 May 2018, www.newsweek.com/racist-woman-kicked-out-starbucks-telling-korean-students-america-speak-750435.
[7] “NAACP Sees Continued Rise in Hate Crimes, Legacy of Trump’s Racism.” NAACP, NAACP, 30 June 2018, www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-sees-continued-rise-hate-crimes-legacy-trumps-racism/.
