Humanizing the Immigrant: A Combination of Scholarship and Activism
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Political Science
Faculty Mentor
Jennifer Disney, Ph.D., and Michael Lipscomb, Ph.D.
Abstract
This paper combines the primary data from an interview, lyrics from contemporary songs about immigrants, poetry about U.S. imperialism and the human experiences of people of color in the U.S., with theories created in the academic sphere. The author, Ana Karen Castellanos, uses the songs, poems, and interview to highlight aspects of the unauthorized immigrant experience, such as the difficulty of leaving the home country, the unnaturalness and flaws of U.S. restrictive immigration policies, and immigrant resilience. In doing this, the aim is to display important, untold stories of people with very human dreams and inhumane traumas who are trying to make it in the U.S., in the face of restrictive immigration policies, punitive deportation policies, and an overall unwelcoming atmosphere in their new home. In this paper, the author argues that fear, distrust, and/or hatred of foreigners exists because the dominant white population in the U.S. is generally distanced from the entire humanity of these immigrants. With knowledge about different kinds of people comes understanding and acceptance. Castellanos calls this work a combination of scholarship and activism, because it uses academic means for a clear normative end: this paper not only proposes an optimistic solution to the current divisive political climate, but is also part of that solution. It itself is a bridge seeking to deliver hidden stories to those deprived of the ability to readily see different people as full, humanized people.
Course Assignment
PLSC 490 – Disney, Lipscomb
Start Date
20-4-2018 3:30 PM
Humanizing the Immigrant: A Combination of Scholarship and Activism
DIGS 222
This paper combines the primary data from an interview, lyrics from contemporary songs about immigrants, poetry about U.S. imperialism and the human experiences of people of color in the U.S., with theories created in the academic sphere. The author, Ana Karen Castellanos, uses the songs, poems, and interview to highlight aspects of the unauthorized immigrant experience, such as the difficulty of leaving the home country, the unnaturalness and flaws of U.S. restrictive immigration policies, and immigrant resilience. In doing this, the aim is to display important, untold stories of people with very human dreams and inhumane traumas who are trying to make it in the U.S., in the face of restrictive immigration policies, punitive deportation policies, and an overall unwelcoming atmosphere in their new home. In this paper, the author argues that fear, distrust, and/or hatred of foreigners exists because the dominant white population in the U.S. is generally distanced from the entire humanity of these immigrants. With knowledge about different kinds of people comes understanding and acceptance. Castellanos calls this work a combination of scholarship and activism, because it uses academic means for a clear normative end: this paper not only proposes an optimistic solution to the current divisive political climate, but is also part of that solution. It itself is a bridge seeking to deliver hidden stories to those deprived of the ability to readily see different people as full, humanized people.
