The good ol’ days: White identity, racial nostalgia, and the perpetuation of racial extremism

A prevailing theme in White nationalist rhetoric is nostalgia for a time when Whites dominated American culture and had unchallenged status. The present research examines a form of collective nostalgia called racial nostalgia and its association with negative intergroup attitudes and extreme ideologies (White nationalism). In Studies 1 and 2, racial nostalgia was associated with higher racial identity, anti-immigrant attitudes, and White nationalism. Study 2 revealed that racial nostalgia was related to extreme ideologies, in part, through perceptions that immigrants and racial minorities posed realistic/symbolic threats. Study 3 manipulated nostalgia using a writing prompt (“America’s racial past” vs. “games of America’s past”) and an identity prime (prime vs. no prime). Racial nostalgia was higher in the racial prompt versus the games prompt condition, regardless of identity prime. Furthermore, there were significant indirect effects of the nostalgia manipulation on support for anti-immigrant policies and endorsement of White nationalism through increased racial nostalgia and its association with perceived threats. These findings show that racial nostalgia can be a maladaptive form of collective nostalgia linked to a sense of loss and threat, and can make people sympathetic to extreme racial ideologies.

Mexican-Origin Women’s Construction and Navigation of Racialized Identities: Implications for Health Amidst Restrictive Immigrant Policies

This study examines how Mexican-origin women construct and navigate racialized identities in a post-industrial northern border community during a period of prolonged restrictive immigration and immigrant policies, and considers mechanisms by which responses to racialization may shape health. This grounded theory analysis involves interviews with 48 Mexican-origin women in Detroit, Michigan, who identified as being in the first, 1.5, or second immigrant generation. In response to institutions and institutional agents using racializing markers to assess their legal status and policing access to health-promoting resources, women engaged in a range of strategies to resist being constructed as an “other.” Women used the same racializing markers or symbols of (il)legality that had been used against them as a malleable set of resources to resist processes of racialization and form, preserve, and affirm their identities. These responses include constructing an authorized immigrant identity, engaging in immigration advocacy, and resisting stigmatizing labels. These strategies may have different implications for health over time. Findings indicate the importance of addressing policies that promulgate or exacerbate racialization of Mexican-origin communities and other communities who experience growth through migration. Such policies include creating pathways to legalization and access to resources that have been actively invoked in racialization processes such as state-issued driver’s licenses.

AN ANALYSIS ON THE ISLAMOPHOBIC ACTS IN FRANCE POST-ARAB SPRING

The discourse of Islamophobia in Europe has become increasingly popular after the endless war in the Middle East. The instability that hit the Middle East after Arab Spring and the civil war in Syria has forced some of its population to migrate to European countries, including France. The large number of immigrants who have entered France has also been accompanied by rampant acts of attacks and terrorism, thereby revives the feelings of Islamophobia among the native white French. Meanwhile, Front National as an ultranationalist party known for its racist anti-immigrant policies has gained more influences in France by using Islamophobic narratives. In its political campaign, Front National uses the concepts of Laicite to corner French Muslim in the public sphere. The presence of French Muslim community is considered as a threat toward secular values and Christian civilization. In this study, the author will analyze the increase of Islamophobia which has been triggered by the immigrant crisis and the influence of the right-wing movement. The concept of race by W. Thomas Schmid will serve as a theoretical framework to answer the increasing Islamophobia in France. To conduct the research, the author uses the qualitative method to analyze texts and narratives related to the Islamophobia acts in France. This research concluded with a statement that Islamophobia in France post-Arab Spring generally occurs in three aspect: cognitive, motivational and behavioral aspects. A tendency of certain groups in the French society which looks Islam as a racial problem becomes one of the main roots of the rise of Islamophobia in France. Wacana Islamofobia di Eropa berkembang pesat, didorong oleh intensitas konflik di Timur Tengah yang tidak berkesudahan. Instabilitas yang melanda kawasan Timur Tengah pasca Arab Spring dan perang saudara di Suriah mendorong sebagian besar penduduknya untuk melakukan imigrasi ke berbagai wilayah di Eropa, termasuk Perancis. Hal ini membangkitkan kembali perasaan Islamofobia di beberapa kalangan penduduk Perancis yang berkulit putih. Dalam kondisi ini, Front National sebagai partai ultra-nasionalis menjadikan narasi-narasi Islamofobia untuk merebut pengaruh dalam politik Perancis. Front National juga menggunakan konsep Laicite untuk menyudutkan masyarakat Muslim di ranah publik. Kehadiran kelompok Muslim di tengah-tengah penduduk Perancis dianggap dapat mengancam nilai-nilai sekuler dan peradaban Kristen. Dalam tulisan ini, penulis akan menganalisis mengapa terjadi peningkatan Islamofobia yang dipicu akibat krisis imigran serta pengaruh gerakan sayap kanan. Penelitian ini menggunakan konsep Ras yang dikembangkan oleh W. Thomas Schmid. Dalam melakukan riset, penulis menggunakan metode kualitatif untuk mengkaji teks serta naskah-naskah yang terkait dengan tindakan Islamofobia di Perancis. Penelitian ini mengungkapkan bahwa Islamofobia di Perancis setelah Arab Spring terjadi dalam 3 aspek, yakni aspek kognitif, motivasional, dan behavioral. Adanya kecenderungan sebagian masyarakat Perancis memandang Islam sebagai masalah rasial menjadi akar penting yang menyebabkan berkembangnya Islamofobia di Perancis.

Conclusion

This chapter cites the statement of rebellion drafted by a group of revolutionaries in the late eighteenth century. It highlights the need to address the Declaration of Interdependence following the severe challenges that the United States face today. The chapter asserts that we are far more interdependent than we are independent, and our lives are all deeply interconnected within a web of both obvious and not-so-obvious threads. It evaluates how education inequities, mass criminalization, anti-immigrant policies, and other racial justice issues do not just harm those who attend the underresourced schools, suffer the effects of overpolicing, and face the prospect of being deported. The chapter recognizes that addressing those issues does not just help the people of color who have the burden of systemic racism lifted off them, but also everyone is in a position to benefit when communities of color are able to live higher-quality lives and the rot of injustice is purged from the public systems.

The Racism Profiteers

This chapter begins by recounting the experiences of Anna Jones, Carlil Pittman, and Mónica Acosta who endured a persistent emotional and psychological torture that comes from the knowledge that their lives, or the lives of their children, are not valued as much as others. It analyses how the systemic racial injustice affects communities of color across the United States, and persuades more people to listen to what people of color are saying about the challenges they face and how they should be addressed. The chapter also discusses that the residents of the communities of color share a set of common experiences, some of which are similar to the predominantly white communities, and some of which are remarkably different. The chapter then describes how, and why, ultra-wealthy leaders from Corporate America and Wall Street are the driving force behind many of the public policies that uphold systemic racism and cause severe harm to communities of color across the country. It unveils how the nation's mass criminalization and incarceration system can be traced back to the leaders of many of the largest and best-known corporations in the United States, Wall Street banks, private prison companies, and the Kochs' network of ultra-wealthy allies. Ultimately, the chapter explores how many of the same individuals and organizations have played a significant role in the creation of the extreme anti-immigrant policies that have plagued millions of migrants for decades.

Protecting America’s borders: Christian nationalism, threat, and attitudes toward immigrants in the United States

Attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policies are divisive issues in American politics. These attitudes are influenced by factors such as political orientation and religiousness, with religious and conservative individuals demonstrating higher prejudice toward immigrants and refugees, and endorsing stricter immigration policies. Christian nationalism, an ideology marked by the belief that America is a Christian nation, may help explain how religious nationalist identity influences negative attitudes toward immigrants. The current research addresses this through four studies among participants in the US. Across studies, our results showed that Christian nationalism was a significant and consistent predictor of anti-immigrant stereotypes, prejudice, dehumanization, and support for anti-immigrant policies. These effects were robust to inclusion of other sources of anti-immigrant attitudes, including religious fundamentalism, nationalism, and political ideology. Further, perceived threats from immigrants mediated the relationship between Christian nationalism and dehumanization of immigrants, and attitudes toward immigration policies. These findings have implications for our understanding of the relations between religious nationalism and attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy in the US, as well as in other contexts.

Surviving the Continued Assault of Cultural Centers

Staff from cultural centers and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices will present their experiences as leaders that are often responding to contested times due to their roles and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as heart work. Examples of contested times include financial constraints, anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration, Black Lives Matter uprisings in response to increased visibility of police violence, and reimagining the role of centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter will explore how the authors' identities have shaped their leadership approach to build capacity by centering student needs and engaging campus partners. The chapter ends with the authors outlining approaches and next steps for supporting cultural centers and DEI offices during crises.

The adverse health effects of punitive immigrant policies in the United States: A systematic review

Background Immigrants in the United States (US) today are facing a dynamic policy landscape. The Trump administration has threatened or curtailed access to basic services for 10.5 million undocumented immigrants currently in the US. We sought to examine the historical effects that punitive laws have had on health outcomes in US immigrant communities. Methods In this systematic review, we searched the following databases from inception–May 2020 for original research articles with no language restrictions: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, Cochrane Library (Wiley), Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate), CINAHL (EBSCO), and Social Work Abstracts (Ovid). This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42019138817. Articles with cohort sizes >10 that directly evaluated the health-related effects of a punitive immigrant law or policy within the US were included. Findings 6,357 studies were screened for eligibility. Of these, 32 studies were selected for inclusion and qualitatively synthesized based upon four themes that appeared throughout our analysis: (1) impact on healthcare utilization, (2) impact on women’s and children’s health, (3) impact on mental health services, and (4) impact on public health. The impact of each law, policy, mandate, and directive since 1990 is briefly discussed, as are the limitations and risk of bias of each study. Interpretation Many punitive immigrant policies have decreased immigrant access to and utilization of basic healthcare services, while instilling fear, confusion, and anxiety in these communities. The federal government should preserve and expand access for undocumented individuals without threat of deportation to improve health outcomes for US citizens and noncitizens.