The Role of Language in Anti-Immigrant Prejudice

What Can We Learn from Immigrants' Historical Experiences

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5936069
AutoresKai Wei (0000-0001-8113-1763, University of Pittsburgh), Daniel Jacobson López (0000-0002-6407-8590, University of Pittsburgh), Shiyou Wu (0000-0001-6531-5351, Arizona State University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen8
Número3
Páginas93
Fecha de publicación2019-03-11
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci8030093
OpenAlexW2921268100
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas12
Referencias citadas58

Prejudice remains an unpleasant experience in immigrants' everyday lives, especially for those of stigmatized groups. In the recurring struggle of various immigrant groups, historical and contemporary events reveal the important role of language in the creation, transmission, and perpetuation of anti-immigrant prejudice. Living in an anti-immigrant climate, immigrants are frequently exposed to stigmatizing language in both political and social discourse. This may be a more significant and frequent experience for immigrants since the beginning of the 2016 United States presidential election. Although it has long been understood that language is inextricably linked with prejudice, the investigation of the role of language in creating, transmitting, and perpetuating anti-immigrant prejudice remains undeveloped in social work research. This paper provides a theoretical explanation of anti-immigrant sentiment by discussing how stigmatization has allowed for immigrants to be subjected to various forms of prejudice throughout history. Building upon prior theoretical concepts of stigma, this paper argues that being an immigrant is a stigma. This paper reviews historical and contemporary cases of prejudice against immigrants to provide evidence for how stigmatizing language transmits and perpetuates anti-immigrant prejudice in the United States and building upon prior stigma theories, defines one's status of an immigrant to be form of stigma itself. The paper concludes with a call for appreciable attention to the role of language in anti-immigrant prejudice and the need for social workers to advocate for immigrants within higher education and in our communities to reduce such stigma though social work practice, education and research

Immigration · Political science · Politics · Prejudice (legal term · Sociology · Stigma (botany · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social Psychology