The Immigration Problem Again Political Cartoon

Analyzing Anti-Immigrant Attitudes in Political Cartoons

past Adam Strom

Nosotros are living in a paradoxical moment, while all reliable data suggests that immigrants are integrating equally fast, or faster than in previous generations, anti-immigrant rhetoric and violence announced to be on the rise. Maybe that is to be expected.  During periods of mass migration, newcomers have often been met with skepticism and distrust. Beyond the predictability of prejudice, an informed observer volition recognize that many of the stereotypes directed at immigrants today echo those that were used to characterization immigrants in the by.

Nosotros believe that ane way to empower young people is to help them gain a perspective on electric current events past developing their historical understanding. They can learn from the past that there are patterns of prejudice that we can identify and the ability to brand well-reasoned historical connections —recognizing what is familiar from a study of the by, and what is new and unique to our present moment — is an important skill for both young people and adults.

There are many means to innovate histories of anti-immigrant prejudices. As an educator, I prefer to use primary sources and straight quotations as much as possible.

Here are a few things to remember about:

• Encountering prejudice, even in language stings, and information technology may sting for some of your students more others because of who they are, what they have experienced, and what they have or non been exposed to.
• In that location is always a danger of introducing stereotypes while you are attempting to identify and eradicate them. For that reason, there are educators I respect who choose non to innovate chief sources from perpetrators of prejudice into the classroom. Plain, I am suggesting a different approach: deconstructing them.
• How have you contracted for the discussion? Are in that location words that are off limits? If so, students should know that ahead of time equally well as the reasons behind those decisions.

For this lesson, I selected a number of anti-immigrant cartoons. You should choose your images advisedly. Don't just choose the best images: remember your teaching goals, know your students, and brand certain the images yous selected are representative of menses and attitudes you hope to introduce, and finally, brand sure you know most the sources of your image. Information technology is very difficult to identify the intent of a political cartoonist if you don't know the period in which they worked or the audiences they hoped to influence.

Thinking about Media:

I might begin by asking students to think about the human relationship between images and ideas they come across in media (social media, entertainment, news, etc) and the manner they think and act. While many people believe they are allowed to the influence of media on their actions, well-nigh all of us tin can think of times when we felt that a group we are role of was unfairly depicted in media. Moreover, researchers have found once again and over again a relationship between consumption of stereotypes from various media and the fashion people behave in the real world .

"Throwing Down the Ladder by Which They Rose, by Thomas Nast, 23 July 1870

Why Political Cartoons?:

For much of the history of the U.s.a. print, newspapers and magazines, in particular, was the ascendant form of media.  In the late 19th and turn of the 20th century, big cities in the The states ofttimes had several competing newspapers with different editorial points of view. There were likewise popular magazines with national distribution, such equally Harper's Weekly . Those media outlets aid to frame the way people thought nigh the world in which they were living. Ane great source for thinking most these issues is a robust weblog about the piece of work of the illustrator Thomas Nast .

Historical Context:

Italian Immigrants at Ellis Island, 1905

From the arrival of the Commencement Nations of native peoples, to European explorers seeking treasure and religious freedom, to the mass involuntary migrations of enslaved Africans, to the trans-oceanic migrations of yesterday and the ongoing global migrations of today, migration defines the American experience.  Many scholars explain that there take been waves of migration that have ebbed and flowed over fourth dimension. Those ebbs and flows take been a result of push factors that have led migrants to leave their homes (including violence, poverty, and force), pull factors that have made the U.s.a. a destination, legal restrictions on clearing, and anti-immigrant attitudes.

The political cartoons in this lesson are from the mid to late 19th and early 20th century. This period is recognized as both a time of mass migration to the U.S. Migrants to the country found both new opportunities every bit well every bit nativism and anti-immigrant prejudice. You might contextualize this lesson by introducing a timeline or an overview of the history of migration to the United States. Below I've identified a few sources that y'all might notice helpful every bit you call up nearly the historical context.

• Immigration Before 1965 from History.com
• Aspiration, Acculturation, and Bear upon: Immigration to the U.Southward. 1789-1930  from Harvard University Open Library
• Trends in Migration from the Population Reference Agency

Analyzing and Interpreting Political Cartoons:

In this lesson, we will ask students to analyze political cartoons to identify patterns of anti-immigrant stereotypes. Information technology is important to convey to students that political cartoons are intended to have an editorial signal of view. Therefore the cartoonist is shaping their message in order to influence the style their reader thinks and acts in relation to an issue. In most every one of the cartoons, negative stereotypes are embedded in the editorial bulletin.

Below we have curated a selection of anti-immigration cartoons for use in this lesson. Click on an epitome to scroll through the images or utilise the pagination on the lower left of the gallery.

This is part of our Media Highlight Serial which aims to support curriculum about migration through the exploration of storytelling – this includes literature, film and more.

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Source: https://reimaginingmigration.org/analyzing-anti-immigrant-attitudes-in-political-cartoons/

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