Speech About Xenophobia

The topic of immigrants has been debated for centuries, and has been an even larger topic for discussion since the attack on the two towers in 2001. Many people contemplate whether immigrants are a reason to be scared, not; and if so, then why? If one finds themselves asking this conflicting question, Jeremy Adam Smith’s article, Our Fear of Immigrants, provides an answer. Relying on research from psychologists and sociologists, Smith gives sufficient evidence for why immigrants bring such intense feelings of both hatred and compassion, and recommends a way to increase empathy toward them.

In Europe, Islamophobia emerged together with new anti-Semitism, where the targets are the new immigrants, Muslims, as well as Jews. The reason for that is in France and United Kingdom, Muslims and Jews for the past decade inhabit the poorest neighborhoods. Media, on the other hand, portrays this as an incapability of Muslim immigrants to integrate into European society and susceptibility to the imported Islamist ideologies (Silverstein, 367).

An article by Nicholas Kristof titled, “Americas History of Fear” which mentions how America is not indifferent, but does not know how to deal with newcomers or immigrants. Fear and intolerance has been seen throughout America’s history. An event of this kind would be what recently happened in the Los Angeles L.A.X. airport; it was reported that a man began shooting and killed innocent people. Many people saw this person which includes his race and are now fearful. This even contributes to the reason why it is so relevant today. There has not been much change; therefor, today there are many minorities facing intolerance or indifference socially. Also, the ambivalence that many people show nowadays is similar to what most people did in the past and there are historical facts that document the struggles that have happened to many minorities like injustice.

Although the cause of prejudice is genuinely unknown, many different theories have come to light through various research. One study looks at how a person becomes who they are from learning from their parents, teachers and other people of authority what is normal and moral and what is not. These values are threatened when people with different views of what is moral and normal come to a foreign land. Castles and Kosack explain the general cause of prejudice against immigrates is because they are different. An example in American culture is that of the Hispanic community. In recent years a large influx of Hispanic immigrates workers have come to

So why is it that they are threatened by immigrants? Psychologist Susan Fiske explains why, “We care deeply about our in-groups, But the downside is that you’re then excluding people who are not in the in-group” (Fiske,752). According to psychologist Rodolfo Mendoza Delton not sympathizing with immigrants is a basic human trait. He states, “Fear of foreigners might well be the most intractable of all human prejudices because it is so tightly linked to survival and natural selection” (Mendoza-Delton, 752). This meaning that some don’t like immigrants coming to their territory because they are not willing to share their resources with others. As well as the fear of immigrants bringing diseases that their bodies are not used to. The fear of immigrants can be seen as an irrational fear for some, however some people are wired to feel this way because it is their basic human instinct.

I will start my presentation with a depiction of what legal and illegal immigration encompass. After, I will talk about the impacts of immigration on America. I will finalize my presentation with the current government actions that are changing the immigration system.

Discrimination is the process of identifying that someone is different and, due to this difference, treating them unfairly (Thompson, 2006). Xenoracism is discrimination that is aimed at people specifically because they are from a different country, and are therefore ‘strangers’ (Sivanandan,

Jeremy Adam Smith’s “Our Fear of Immigrants” proposes a sympathetic outlook towards immigrants. Smith wants the disgust and loathe of citizens to stop, and instead for them to start retaining empathy for newcomers. While reading the article, there is a sense of fear that people hold for immigrants. Many of these fears are mainly blamed on many motives such as psychological reasoning, genetic cognitive, and social status. Although Smith provides plenty logic behind the behavior of citizens, there should also be the point of view behind the immigrants themselves.

While many may not believe this, my claim matters because of xenophobia, lying and vengeance led to the downfall of many people. When something that is going on is wrong and no attempts to speak up or change it transpire, the mindset of the people around that have been brainwashed may never change and because of that they will teach their children their intolerance which may produce a platform in which things are bound to repeat themselves, until the cycle is broken. Whether it was during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials or the Red Scare of the 1950’s, when some attempt to tackle their fear of things that are different, others concur ignorance and allow it to drive them.

This discriminatory nature can somewhat be described as institutionalised racism which is also a historic legacy as a result of the British invasion. Institutionalised racism has occurred for a long period of time dating back to the British invasion, where negative/false ideologies were produced, and continued to be produced (Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey & Walker, n.d; G. Woods 2032HSV lecture notes, April 11, 2016) However, in contemporary times, relating to Aileen’s case, institutionalised racism persists in the child welfare worker that has excluded and discriminated against Aileen as a Indigenous Australian. As a result of this institutionalised racism, it is clear that it has heavily influenced the department workers work ethic, and ability to handle the situation in a respectful and socially just manner. Unfortunately, if this discriminatory behaviour continues, it will extend upon the social inequalities that have already been established, causing distress to Aileen and having a immense impact on her and her

Imagine a teenage girl, only seventeen years old having to go three states away to

Our country is supposed to be one about opportunity, neglecting to provide an equal chance for these children to learn would contradict the notion that America is the land of opportunity.

Islamophobia is defined as the "unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims." The first time

On his article regarding Xenophobia, Massino Pegliucci takes a scientifically approach describing xenophobia as a condition that will be very difficult to eradicate. He believes that humans have a natural

Social conformity can be toxic, it often leads to the epidemic that is prejudice. To give a better idea of what prejudice means, Judice translates to judge in Latin, therefore the term “prejudice” literally translates into “pre-judgment”. There are innumerable forms of negative preconceived notions that exist in our world today, the biggest one being racism, which often is a stem of having anti-immigration views. Immigration prejudice is not unknown to any person who lives in America and has eyes and ears to know it exists, but it’s important to know that prejudice is not innate, it is learned, and as long as we allow our society to practice xenophobia among present and future generations we will never be free of it.