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Xenophobia is discrimination against and hatred of foreigners, targeting outsiders and strangers or more often those who are in effect part of one’s own society but are perceived as incommensurably different from the majority population (encyclopedia). Xenophobia is not a new subject to the world, in fact it is a recent issue concerning not only America but several parts of the world. While discussing xenophobia, perhaps the most pointed, long-term, and widely documented case of xenophobia is that of anti-Semitism, which culminated in the mass murder of six million European Jews and countless others during World War II (encyclopedia). However, there are new forms of xenophobia that have grown in places such as North America one of the most …show more content…
One important theme in the novel is racism which can alternatively be connected to the idea of xenophobia. Although xenophobia and racism are not the same thing they can be interconnected because both display hatred towards others; one deals with hatred towards individuals of a particular race while the other deals with hatred towards those who do not belong. Tortilla Curtain targets specifically Mexican immigrants in the United States and describes a xenophobic ambiance that is presented during the interaction of certain characters towards Candido and his wife America for instance. One example from the novel that supports the xenophobic behavior is when both Jacks and Jim often express how having immigrants whether they are legal or not can be a danger for the United States. These three character in particular seem to be experiencing xenophobia because they cannot seem to accept that the only thing immigrants are looking for is the opportunity to better their situation. Jack Jardine in particular shows a strong anti-immigrant attitude that results in violence. He purposely destroys possessions of those who live in Arroyo Blanco and escapes the blame for his actions by unjustly blaming the Mexicans. Of course the accusations are not questioned because after all he is white and when it comes down to it the intruders will be the ones to blame for causing
Many of the people trying to cross the border were not given same luck. Their efforts to leave the situations they are in only cause them a different kind of pain. The lack of safety for these people was astonishing. As Jessie was, I was impressed by Anazulda’s description of living there and the realistic depiction of how it was to live there. As Natalie put, I also loved the realistic writing that Anazulda brought to this piece. She did not try to ease the tone or make it lighter than the reality of the situations. She brought the realness of what happened there to life in her writing, which I greatly admire. The imagery that Brooke points out from Borderlands from page 2 is such a clear image of being trapped within a place you cannot escape from. While I had not thought of the curtains in such a way, I understand the reasoning behind it. Curtains are supposed to provide privacy, shelter from the outside world. Yet, these steel curtains are prisons, keeping those near them from getting away. As Jessie pointed out, the United States is governed to protect the rights of each American citizen, including each of us. Nevertheless, Anazulda and many others who try to cross the border can be subjected to the rules of those who live near the borders and not the laws of the United States that are in place to protect them. I did not think about the call for unity as Natalie described until I read her essay. While she does not make light of the situations caused in the United States, she does leave this impression of hope that we can fix this. We can make it so these borders are less of walls that divide us, and we can make the journey in our country a less terrible and horrifying
... racial inequality. Macaria never succumbs to this inequality between men or race, but Marcela is the sacrifice of both. Tony succumbs to the stereotype of a race-induced machismo, becoming the villain among the Anglos of Texas and the hero among the Mexican women in his barrio by redeeming their collective virtue.
In a country full of inequities and discriminations, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discriminations and hunger, and finally his decision of moving Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle illustrates similar experiences. In this book, the lives of two wealthy American citizens and two illegal immigrants collided. Delaney and Kyra were whites living in a pleasurable home, with the constant worry that Mexicans would disturb their peaceful, gated community. Candido and America, on the other hand, came to America to seek job opportunities and a home but ended up camping at a canyon, struggling even for cheapest form of life. They were prevented from any kind of opportunities because they were Mexicans. The differences between the skin colors of these two couples created the hugest gap between the two races. Despite the difficulties American and Candido went through, they never reached success like Wright did. However, something which links these two illegal immigrants and this African American together is their determination to strive for food and a better future. For discouraged minorities struggling in a society plagued with racism, their will to escape poverty often becomes their only motivation to survive, but can also acts as the push they need toward success.
Throughout history, Americans have always been intimidated by immigrants. The idea of an immigrant coming to America and easily being able to get a job scared Americans. Americans feared that good jobs would be taken from hard working Americans and given to immigrants for less pay because they required less money to live on or were used to no wages or lower wages in their Country of origin. People would immigrate to America in search of a better life, and often times they could find homes and jobs that made them want to stay. A melting pot is described as being a mixing of different cultures into one universal culture. In Erika Lee’s, The Chinese Exclusion Example, immigrant exclusion helped re-define the melting-pot
Since its inception, there has always been a subsection of the American people that think that sharing a country with people different than them is unacceptable. Whether it was the 5 tribes of Native Americans relocated in the Trail of Tears, or the prejudice against irish immigrants during the turn of the century, white anglo-saxon protestants have always tried to ‘stick together’ and keep others unlike them out. With the end of the civil war and an end to slavery, this nativism present within the American people manifested itself once more. While the journey taken by African-American citizens was long and unnecessarily arduous, the backlash against them has waxed and waned as time passes. During the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was at it’s peak,
Racial discrimination is the one thing that is in the novel the most. For example, when the Spaniards first came to Tenochtitlan, the first thing that was taken from the Aztecs was their religion. This would include their customs, traditions, sacrifices, ceremonies, and belief of their gods. Every Aztec was then baptized as a Christian and were then given a Christian name. “Have I upset you?”
As the first major U.S. success for a Spanish language film, Como Agua Para Chocolate (Alfonso Arau, 1992) has had a major impact on Hispanic culture and the future of Hispanic cinema. This film has many implicit and explicit layers that challenge typical cultural ideals, not only in Hispanic culture, but in various cultures across the world. Based on his wife, Laura Esquivel’s novel, Arau used this film, known commonly as Like Water for Chocolate, to bring to the surface the liberation of females through the empowerment of food. Although food and cooking are often associated with the oppression and generalization of Hispanic women, Like Water for Chocolate captivates an empowering view of women using intimate and heightened cinematography of the food.
Harris, Colin. "Why Do We Fear Others Who Are Not Like Us?” Ethnics Daily, 20 June
The fences also represent the barrier between African Americans and the rest of the society. Alchura says that the way Wilson uses the setting dominates the fact of racism in this play (Alchura 1). Wilson uses the following quote as a way to show how racism affected African Americans.
In the novel The Tortilla Curtain, written by T.C Boyle the reader is presented with two distinctive families who both shared the same dream—the American Dream, without even taken any notice of it. Boyle separates both families by giving them a different form of life styles distinguishing them from one another. In one side living at the top of the hills we have the Mossbacher’s, who live in a wealthy community; at the bottom of the hill the Rincon’s live out in the open—literally. This indicates that the Mossbacher’s represent the wealthy and the Rincon’s represent the illegal immigrants in America. Through the use of symbolism such as the car accident, the coyote and the wall, T.C Boyle unfolds the unattainability of the American Dream for
Immigration is a current issue that has caused a lot of drama in the media but this isn’t the first time. During the early nineteen hundreds immigration was treated in a harsh light. The start of the First World War brought a strong distaste for immigrants. People hoping to assimilate by working in the American community were quickly faced with troubles. Immigrants from countries in Eastern Europe (specifically in the Slovak region) were discouraged from working and the new motto “100% American” began t...
Perea, Juan. Immigrants Out! The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the United States. New York or London: New York University Press, 1997. Print.
Xenophobia is the fear and hatred of foreigners. In Jeremy Smith’s, “Our Fear of Immigrants”, Smith argues that native born Americans have xenophobia, and explains the cause of it and how we can all take steps to overcome our fear. Reading this argument really opens my eyes and forces me to put myself in the shoes of an immigrant, evaluate places in my own life and see where I allow xenophobia to manifest, and plan ways that I can personally fight against it.
Xenophobia can be divided into two forms: The first form includes a population group that is not considered to be part of the society in which they live. This often includes immigrants from other countries, who have either fled their home country, or are in search of better lives. However, it may also be directed towards a group that has been part of the society for centuries, such as the Jewish population in the Third Reich. This will result in violent and aggressive reactions towards the group, such as mass expulsions, pogroms or genocide. The second form is mainly cultural, under which cultural elements are considered “extraterrestrial”. This occurs when a certain culture, as all cultures, is externally influenced and adapts external elements while replacing existing elements.
Surely this includes all the other races who are not South African as Xenophobia is driven by racism. On the other hand according to ("Rhodes Would Have Smiled at Afrophobia" - Cape Times (South Africa), April 16, 2015 | Online Research Library: Questia: 2015) “ Afrophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards black people or people of African descent around the world, whereas xenophobia refers to a deep-rooted, irrational hatred towards foreigners”. The concept behind Pan-Africanism related to the ending of the slave trade, and the need to rebut the 'scientific ' claims of African inferiority (What is Pan-Africanism?: 2015). When referring to “foreign nationals”, one would imagine that to be African and Asian non-nationals (Why black South Africans are attacking foreign Africans but not foreign whites: 2015), However in South Africa we saw that not to be the case with the recent attacks, when only black Africans came under