The Ideologies of Racism and Nativism

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The ideologies of racism and nativism and the structural causes of politics and laws create and sustain the social injustices associated with immigration.
An ideology is a type of belief system based on societal values and norms.
Ideologies are shared by a group of people and are passed down through generations.
The attitudes of racism and nativism, as harsh and unfair as they may be, have existed in this country for hundreds of years. Nativists years ago feared loosing cultural, political, economic, and social control of America to immigrants just as the American people do today. The American people have adopted an anti-immigrant position that has not only stopped and prevented immigrants from achieving profoundly in this country, but has given U.S. immigration a grim and doubtful future (Van Dijk 45).
This anti-immigrant perspective is present and widespread in our country today.
The nativist mindset lives in the minds of many Americans and manages to show itself in the harsh actions of our people, as seen by a group of students at the University of Texas in Austin. The Young Conservatives of Texas, a group of conservative students at the university, decided to organize a game of “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” scheduled for Wednesday, November 20, 2013. The game would allow UT students to catch any student with an “illegal immigrant” sign on for the reward of a $25 gift card. The point of the game, as explained by the group, was to “spark a campus wide discussion about the issue of illegal immigration, and how it affects our everyday lives”. Although the Young Conservatives have decided to call off the event in light of the backlash they have received, the message has definitely been received: illegal immigrants should not b...

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