Nativism is the name given to an exclusionary discourse directed against immigrants. It promotes the interests of the native born as defined by a select group of native-born persons that self-identify as concerned citizens or as patriots. Nativism, populism, and racism have long, intersecting histories in the United States going back as far as the colonial era. At no time in American history has there ever been a period free of nativist, populist, and racial discourses designed to validate one group at the expense of another. As a prelude to writing this paper, read this brief article on anti-immigrant hate groups in the United States, published in 2019 by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Afterwards, read the mission statement of the Federation for American Immigration Reform and watch carefully the video imbedded in the page. You are now ready to write the paper.
Instructions: Discuss the strategies and/or techniques used to make this video appealing to a general American audience, and formulate an argument against something specific that has caught your attention in it using This Land is Our Land. Your task is: (1) to make a convincing counter point to something said or seen in the video, and (2) utilize effectively This Land is Our Land to support the counter point you have devised. Your reader should be persuaded by your argument and gain from your essay a strong sense of how the content and the message of the video contrast with the content and the message of This Land is Our Land.
Note: This paper requires an argumentative thesis statement. It is therefore recommended that you review this page before sitting down to write the paper. Also, this paper requires you to selectively reread and draw from This Land is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto.
Submit paper here by October 30 at 8AM. *Remember to include a works cited at the end and to review other links to writing resources as needed (see Handouts and Links above).
