Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Keywords

Xenophobia, race, citizenship, United States, immigration, GOP, Republican Party

Department

English

Major

Writing and Rhetoric and Politcal Science

Abstract

In January 2014, the Republican Party released new "principles of immigration" which among many reforms, made space for the possibility of a pathway toward "legal status" for certain groups of undocumented immigrants in the United States. This paper investigates the rhetorical difference between "citizenship" and "legal status" and claims how these principles reflect the GOP's motives to ease their conservative constituents' anxieties surrounding the protection of a traditional, euroamerican definition of American citizenship. This paper analyzes the relationship between whiteness and citizenship, a class which extends beyond ethnicity and involves education, income level, and values associated with WASP America.

Faculty Mentor

Lorie Goodman

Funding Source or Research Program

Global Tides

Presentation Session

Session D

Location

Rockwell Academic Center 175

Start Date

21-3-2014 3:30 PM

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Mar 21st, 3:30 PM

Xenophobia, Whiteness, and Citizenship in the United States

Rockwell Academic Center 175

In January 2014, the Republican Party released new "principles of immigration" which among many reforms, made space for the possibility of a pathway toward "legal status" for certain groups of undocumented immigrants in the United States. This paper investigates the rhetorical difference between "citizenship" and "legal status" and claims how these principles reflect the GOP's motives to ease their conservative constituents' anxieties surrounding the protection of a traditional, euroamerican definition of American citizenship. This paper analyzes the relationship between whiteness and citizenship, a class which extends beyond ethnicity and involves education, income level, and values associated with WASP America.

 

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