Invasion, Occupation, and Threat: Constructing "Justifiable" Violence to Immigrants Through Educational Discourse

• In Event: 61.040 - Violating Childhood: Latina/o Students Navigating the U.S. Policy Terrain

Abstract

Self-defense is often seen as an inherent and autonomous right capable of justifying violent response to a significant threat. Because immigrants to the U.S. are often constructed as a significant threat to American resources, safety, and privilege, various violent responses propagate that could not be otherwise substantiated. Discourses of invasion, occupation and dehumanization make “viable” responses like increased “boots on the ground,” denial of public education, and the mobilization of armed militias to the border. Importantly, education is a battleground where these discourses manifest in the form of immigrant influx as monstrous educational, economic, and social disaster. This paper discusses how American education is exploited to both construct immigration as a “threat” and make acceptable violence as a self-defensive response.

Author

• Justin G Whitney, University of Utah