The migratory phenomenon in the United States. Otherness and xenophobia

Globalization is defined, according to Ulrich Beck, as a “process that creates transnational social links and spaces, revalues local cultures and brings third cultures to the fore”.1 In this sense, globalization opts for a world without social, cultural or ideological barriers. . Despite being considered by many as an ideal world far from any social division, the truth is that this has caused a cultural shock marked by fear and hopelessness, reflected in turn in hate speech that increasingly fractures the social stratum. countries social.

The migration was widely accepted by the US governments, since it was loaded with an exploitable labor force that would directly impact the economic growth of the country. However, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the creation of xenophobic immigration policies, as well as hate speech against anything that does not represent North American values, would begin to flood the social consciousness of the North American citizen. Interestingly, those who once shared a neighborhood would begin to highlight ethnic otherness fueled by political discourse.

America's multi-ethnic condition.

After more than 200 years of independent life, it is impossible to understand the history of the United States without mentioning its multi-ethnic quality. Since its creation, the country has suffered various waves of migration that have been transforming and nurturing the culture of North American society for generations. However, the migratory phenomenon has evolved and, during the last decades, the flows of people have increased exponentially, putting the American national identity at risk.

The first century (1777-1877)

The United States was established as an independent country in 1776, after which people from different parts of the world began to migrate in search of opportunities in the North American country. Lisa Rough points out that, during the 18th century, many European immigrants came to the new nation with the promise of jobs and prosperity. During this period, the country's population tripled due to the influx of migrants and a multi-ethnic nation began to take shape.2

As can be seen in the following graph, from the beginning of the 19th century to the end of this century, the majority of migrants settled in the United States came from three main countries: Ireland ranked first, followed by Germany and England. Thus, the bulk of the population of the three countries made up about 4.5% of the total population of the United States.

Despite coming from the other side of the world, most European migrants at the time easily adapted to the American way of life. They began to populate the territories of the former 13 colonies and, in the states of Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, the cultural mix between Americans and Europeans began to gain greater relevance.

Cultural homogenization among the first waves of migration was so prosperous that even today festivities such as Saint Patrick's Day, characteristic of the Irish people, have become symbols of American identity. For this reason, many scholars on the subject have considered that the first waves of migration have been the most fruitful and those that, to date, have remained intact.

European migration continued for a long time. The number of individuals migrating from their country of origin was increasing more and more. At the end of the 19th century, the countries of origin of the great migratory waves had tripled. In this way, the United States began to take shape as a multi-ethnic country in search of a national identity.

_The second wave (_1877-1977)

During the course of the second century of the formation of the United States as an independent country, European migration continued to intensify, this, in turn, began to present variations with respect to the origin of the individuals. If during the first 100 years of independent life, migrants came from Western European countries, by the middle of the 20th century the largest migratory waves were located in other latitudes around the world.

The United States began to present a great economic development that continued to encourage migration. During the first years of the 19th century, migrants served as cheap labor used in the construction of today's large cities. According to Rough, “between 1836 and 1914, more than 30 million European migrants arrived in the United States. By 1910, there were already more than 13.5 million immigrants living in a nation with a population of 92 million.”3

With the outbreak of World War I and the participation of the United States during it, the male population of the country decreased exponentially. The US government faced the problem by encouraging the migration of men. However, as the years progressed, the pattern of migration to the United States changed. At the end of the 19th century, it was the countries of Eastern Europe (Hungarians, Poles), Ireland and, especially, Italy, which contributed the largest expatriate population to the country. Scandinavians are also added: Swedes and Norwegians who inhabit the north of the country (Minnesota, the Dakotas).

The great cultural diversity that was present in the main cities of the country caused the formation of ghettos characterized by poverty and racial segregation. The high concentration of Italians lacking job opportunities was a factor in the creation of mafias from Sicily, which took advantage of Prohibition to illegally enrich themselves through alcohol trafficking. During this period, the Italian population was persecuted indiscriminately due to the actions of a few.

After World War II, the migratory pattern began to change again. During the sixties, Mexico began to lead migration to the United States and displaced Europeans as cheap labor. Through the Bracero Program, thousands of Mexicans leave for the North American country in order to find the so-called “American Dream”.

The change in the migratory pattern caused American citizens to begin to view migration as a phenomenon that put the American national identity at risk. This sentiment was reflected in the development of laws such as the Simpson-Rodino Act in 1986 and California's “Save our state” initiative in 1994, which sought to reduce the migratory flow from Mexico. Despite this, since the second half of the 20th century, Mexico is the country with the largest number of migrants living in the United States.

The new migratory phenomenon

The main reason that led individuals to migrate from their country of origin was the search for better life opportunities, as well as the ease of finding well-paid employment in the United States, however, the outbreak of armed conflicts in other latitudes of the world It caused the migratory pattern to be reconfigured once again, becoming a search for escape from terror and death.

With the invasion of Western Asia by the United States, and the outbreak of civil wars in the region, many individuals found it necessary to seek refuge in the "promoting" country of freedom and democracy. In this way, a new migratory paradigm began to take shape. Many of the migrants settled in the United States came from a country at war, creating an even greater cultural melting pot, as well as the breeding of hate speech from the political elite.

9/11 the triumph of terror and socio-cultural differences

With the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, fear and disputes between equals arose. President George W. Bush, through his political discourse, generated a kind of model of the average terrorist, which fit with the figure of thousands of citizens who had different ethnic roots. US citizens began to highlight otherness and demand greater regulation of the migratory flows of those individuals from Western Asian countries. Since then, regulations towards individuals who seek to escape terror have intensified, unfortunately this fact is applauded by many.

Where is the threat coming from?

The migratory phenomenon and its repercussions on local culture and identity is a controversial issue. For many, migration is an opportunity to strengthen the cultural melting pot with which the United States was formed, for others, multiculturalism causes the loss of identity values and the fear of the eradication of the original population. The debate, then, has caused an endless number of problems that are reflected in acts of racism and xenophobia.

This concern has been expressed by Samuel Huntington in his book "Who are we?" of the year 2004. A controversial publication that many label as racist and xenophobic, however, the reality is that it expresses the feelings of millions of North American citizens. Huntington's basic argument can be summed up in the contrast of two metaphors. The United States is not, as is often claimed, a melting pot in which different cultural identities have melted to form a new one. They are more like an amorphous figure in which the cultural contributions of the waves of immigrants are less and less diluted and have reached a point of shock.4

Following this logic, Dominique Moisi offers a panorama of analysis that helps to understand the North American sentiment. In his book "The Clash of Emotions", Moisi argues that the sentiment that guides the political and social actions of the United States and Europe is fear.5

"America and Europe are divided by a common culture of fear. On both sides, one finds, to varying degrees, a fear of the other, a fear of the future, and a fundamental anxiety about loss of identity in an increasingly complex."

Moisi, D, The geopolitics of emotions, 2007, Foreign Affairs,

Based on the above, it can be deduced that the main concern of US citizens is based on the loss of identity. It is estimated that by the year 2060 one of every three inhabitants of the United States will be Hispanic6, thus becoming one of the majority populations in the country.

Political discourse has been too influential in strengthening terror for Americans. The current US president has placed special emphasis on the difficulty of integrating Muslims into US society. His main argument is based on his place of origin and the situation of these.

An approach to understand the impact of the discourse is given by John Agnew who establishes the term "geopolitical imagination", which can be understood as those places formed under the perspective of foreign interests, thus generating a simplification in the analysis of the various spaces around of the world.7

The geopolitical imagination of many Americans with respect to various countries such as Mexico and Syria causes a series of negative characteristics to be attributed to individuals from these countries. President Trump's speech reflects the clearest example of geopolitical imagination when considering, for example, that Mexico is a country ruled by drug traffickers, lacking in security and with a population shaped by violence. It is impossible not to think that the speech proclaimed by the US Head of State is shared by millions of US citizens who fear losing their identity.

A future diagnosis.

The irrational fear of what is different may be justified by statistics. The concern of American citizens is not so far from reality. According to a report by the CNN news network, in 2043 the United States will definitely be a country in which the majority of the population will be made up of the country's ethnic minorities. In total, all minorities, who now make up 37% of the US population, will be 57% by 2060. 8

Faced with the imminent reality and with a large number of migrants arriving every day, the only action of the United States citizen is to form a new sense of identity that co-opts each of the local cultures, in order to generate a sense of belonging in common. To conceive of the United States as a unique multicultural melting pot capable of strengthening itself socially.