Illegal Immigration and Racism

For years the issues of illegal immigration have been fought over by the Republicans and the Democrats.  The Democrats have typically gotten the majority of immigrants votes because they are less strict on sealing the borders and deportation laws. The Republican party is for a strong anti-immigrant platform to seal the borders and throw out the immigrants we "don’t have room for."  The Republicans being tough on immigration results in the idea that they are tough on Hispanics, racially insensitive, prideful, and so forth. The Republicans can sometimes get a bad reputation for being racist because of their conservative views on illegal immigration, and Democrats don't hesitate to bring that to voter's attention.  These cartoons highlight basic issues on the nature of immigration and "illegal" immigration, and how our patriotism can be a slippery path to elitism if we begin to see ourselves as better than others. 

Politifact/ Democratic/Republican Immigration




http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/9c1e1838-6411-4036-a71e-36c50ae8abab.html

Team Member Name: Seth Merrill
Publication: Cagle Cartoons
Date: October 11th, 2012
Cartoonist: Bill Day (U.S.)
Title of the cartoon: Kids Say the Darnest Things
Cartoon #: 120200
What action is taking place in the cartoon? What is the context? A dad is reading a history book to his son and is teaching him about the history of immigration in our country.  The son makes a wiser-than-his-years comment that takes the dad off guard.  The son points out that we took this country from other inhabitants, so we are essentially illegal immigrants as well.

Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive framing of undocumented immigrant
2) Negative framing of immigration policies
What “reality” is constructed/framed about immigration/immigrants? The cartoonist uses the idea that kids can often see and understand complex issues in the simplest and most brutally obvious ways.  It is essentially an issue of "casting the first stone" - if we are to accuse our Hispanic population of taking over our country, we need to remember that our ancestors first took it over from someone else. The child's comments frame any elitist, uber-patriotic, this-is-our-country-and-the-Mexicans-are-invading-it views as completely silly, because ultimately, we would be considered "illegal aliens" by the very same definition and basis far right-wing critics use when describing the current Latino influx as an "invasion" .

Team Member Name: Alex Jeppesen

Publication: N/A  
Date: February 2011

Cartoonist: David Fitzsimmons (U.S.)

Title of the cartoon: N/A                                                        
Cartoon#: N/A

What action is taking place in the cartoon?  What is the context?  The cartoon shows a man speaking and over a course of time his appearance is altered. The more radical and racist his comments become, the more he comes to resemble Hitler.

Tone of the cartoon:

1) positive framing of undocumented immigrants 

2) negative framing of immigration policies 

What “reality” is constructed/framed about immigration/immigrants?

A white man is preaching his negative thoughts about illegal immigrants and as the things he says become more prejudice, he gradually looks more and more like Adolf Hitler.  This shows the hatred that can develop overtime for a particular group of people.  It says that not only is it extremely judgmental to assume every illegal is a disease, but such hatred toward them can become steps to having the same thoughts as a man who tried to destroy an entire race of people. This cartoon negatively frames racist attitudes toward immigrants
.

Team Member Name: Alex Jeppesen

Publication: N/A                                                        
 Date: 2010

Cartoonist: Bob Gorrell (U.S.)                                                 

Title of the cartoon: N/A                                                         

What action is taking place in the cartoon? What is the context?

An Arizona politician is stating his views on immigration and how proper documentation should be needed in order to stay.  The donkey is accusingly pointing at him and calling him a racist.

 Tone of the cartoon:

1) negative framing of undocumented immigrants 

2) positive framing of immigration policies 

What “reality” is constructed/framed about immigration/immigrants?

This cartoon is favoring the stance Arizona has on immigration by making the Arizona senator look reasonable for saying a fairly agreeable comment.  The donkey, meant to represent a Democrat, is calling him a dangerous racist for simply wanting proper documentation for all citizens of the U.S. 
 It is a clearly a poke at the Democrats for trying to favor the immigrant vote by calling the Republicans racist and anti-immigrant. The Republican politician is presented in a calm and favorable way and the Democrat is portrayed negatively as a hot-headed donkey.