Ascriptive Americanism and The Border Wall

Abstract

Throughout American history there has been a common theme of multiple traditions taking influence over the culture of our country. These traditions, however, often tend to contradict one another and cause rifts of turmoil and double standards that are introduced through the lenses of Ascriptive Americanism. We can compare the narratives that surround events and people and how these double standard narratives can be harmful to minorities and be detrimental to the sustainability of healthy political discourse.

With the current divide in our current political discourse, there are ample instances of ascriptive Americanism within our society today. During my research I will look at multiple examples of how these views are influencing policy today. More specifically I will look at the crown jewel of the Trump Campaign, The Border Wall with Mexico. The Border wall was a large promise made by Trump as a candidate and was used to bring out Ascriptive views of minorities and immigrants. I will attempt to analyze the rhetoric and reactions surrounding the Border Wall and use the lessons learned from that and use them in concert with different academic theories and hypothesizes to try to discover the sources and avenues that these views use in order to effect public policy.