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After reading the following hypothetical situation, write a response in which you will (1) identify and state the issue presented, (2) discuss the principles that might be considered based on our class discussions and readings, (3) apply the principles to the facts of the hypothetical, and (4) reach a conclusion. Consider in constructing your response the significance of facts cited, as well as language employed in setting out those facts.  Please note that there is no “correct” conclusion, as such, only one that flows logically from the choices you have made.  Bulleted responses are acceptable, but please limit your response to no more than 700 words.  (Value: 25 Points)

 

Situation:  The president has announced his plan to deploy troops to the U.S. border with Mexico in an effort to control what he claims is the threat posed by a caravan of criminals—drug traffickers, gang members and rapists—who are preparing to “infest” the United States.  News reports have documented that a group of individuals and families from Central America are fleeing what has been characterized as a “reign of terror.”  The reports indicate these refugees are headed to the United States, where they plan to seek asylum.  No evidence has been produced that members of this group of refugees have been associated with crime.  In support of his position, the president has pointed to U.S. television news reports that regularly show “nothing but crime stories with a bunch of Hispanic men in prison jumpsuits, chains and handcuffs.”  It is the latest statement in the president’s pattern of focusing on marginalized groups as the source of domestic criminal justice problems—a message that he has been repeating at rallies across the country.  In that connection, he has referred to the group of Latinx refugees as threatening.  There has been no support for that claim of increased criminal conduct.  Recent reports suggest the president’s political base (roughly 35 percent of the electorate, including many displaced workers) agrees with the president’s expressed views, especially in light of a surge in Mexican-American population growth that is leading to increased hostility toward Mexican-Americans among his followers.

You are producing an evening program on your all-news cable channel and want to prepare the anchor/host with probing questions for guests who will discuss the president’s action and its basis.  As you work on the briefing materials, you are reminded of your background work on elements of the politics of difference (identity formation, framing and representation and maintenance of social order), as well as agenda setting in connection with the emotional triggers for social enforcement.

What will you write in your briefing materials to support panel questions about the true nature of the president’s motivation and the reaction of his followers?

 

Bonus Question.   Considering the semantic differential in the context of the role of language in creating a mediated reality, how might the use of the word “tolerance” ironically contribute as much to the reinforcement of the politics of difference as to our attempt to move beyond it.  Please limit your response to just a few sentences.  (5 Points)

 

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