Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan L. Hajnal, in their work “White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics”, analyze white Americans and their party identifications and voting decisions and through this, propose a question: what are the consequences of immigration for white Americans political attitude? Abrajano and Hajnal identify a contradiction in that there is a movement towards greater equality and acceptance of racial, ethnic, and religious differences, yet there are also heightened ethnic divisions and tensions due to immigration (e.g. rise in hate speech and crime against immigrants). Ultimately, the pair conclude that white backlash leads to greater white support for the Republican Party, which tends to advocate for restrictive immigration policy.

The article below outlines details of the recent shooting in New Zealand. In particular, it focuses on white-supremacists and identifies the shooter as one who targeted his attacks towards immigrants. This event is an example of a consequence of what Abrajano and Hajnal describe as “white backlash,” and President Trump’s lack of attention to the rise of right-wing supremacy only serves to fuel these actions as he continues to call immigration an “invasion at the US-Mexico border.”

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to Abrajano and Hajnal, one of the influencing factors of white backlash is the belief that immigrants are “dangerous.” In the New Zealand shooting, the white supremacist was the attacker and the immigrants were the victims. What do you think of this flipped scenario, and do you think that it is fair that white supremacists label immigrants as criminals?
  2. Hate speech is dealt with in a much more ambiguous way than physical attacks are. What constitutes as hate speech and how should the government respond to it (if it should at all) while still respecting our first amendment rights?
  3. Do you think that the president’s remarks on immigration are increasing white backlash? If so, should he be held accountable in any way?

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/16/704125736/a-mainstreaming-of-bigotry-as-white-extremism-reveals-its-global-reach