Color Lines & Immigrant Games at NYU

When I learned earlier this week that the College Republicans at New York University were planning a “Find the Illegal Immigrant” event - meant, they say, to “bring attention to the issue of immigration,” – my first reaction was, “How will the students-playing-border patrol-agents know who the immigrant is, and how will people know who these play patrollers are, for that matter?” It took me about 2 seconds to answer my own question – the patrollers will be white, the immigrant, some shade of light brown to black.

Coincidentally, I happened to show up for part of the event. I’d later learned that the play Republican border patrol were to wear name tags reading INS. And, I never did see who the lucky illegal immigrant was, to confirm my suspicions. Nevertheless the color line – those white on one side, and those dawning darker skin tones on the other – was clearly evident when you looked at the crowd of participants: Those supporting the College Republican’s gimmick, largely white, the protesters, largely non-white. The participation of members of the former group was guided by racist premises, while those in the latter were – and if the youth of today are indeed our future, will continue to be – the unfortunate victims of this racist game, played by those in power and those duped by it.

I should hope that there is no explanation necessary about why the College Republicans’ shenanigan’s were overtly racist. As such, it contributes little to serious discussion and debate about U.S. immigration policy, aside from fueling the racist fears, prejudices and resentments of those who would presume (along with CNN’s Lou Dobbs) that “immigrant” and “illegal” are by necessity joined at the hip, or implicitly believe that today’s immigrants are more dangerous than yesteryear’s because the latter were overwhelmingly whiter than those of the former.

The stunt by NYU’s College Republicans is hardly original, nor is it exclusively Republican. Just last year, would-be elected representatives from the U.S. Senate on down to state legislators, and Republicans and Democrats alike, spent untold amounts of money filling the television airwaves with unfettered images of brown-skinned Mexican illegal aliens, undocumented workers, drug traffickers, and welfare recipients in countless television ads – images central to the political advertising and rhetorical appeals of candidates across the country hoping to capitalize on the inciting racial imagery to gain political support.

Some used the staple trope of hordes of Mexicans jumping a wall at the border, while others used little white girls to showcase the threat posed to their safety by illegal (mainly Mexican) immigrants. And others just came right out and said in no uncertain terms that these black and brown “illegal” immigrants were stealing our jobs, raping our women, and killing our children with the drugs they incessantly traffic.

So, what is quite apparent about the group of students who spearheaded, participated in, or otherwise supported the College Republican event, is that they simply know how to blindly follow the lead of their political elders – right into the deep, dark, murky pit of racism and prejudice that continues to pervade almost every aspect of American society. If they hope to truly be leaders one day, one would hope that they could somehow dispense with the fear and hate that fuels their ideas and choice of political strategies, and change the nature of this debate in a way that many of their own political leaders can’t seem to do.

Note: Charlton McIlwain is the sole author of these comments. Though I'm sure Stephen would agree with me, he did not read this before it was posted.