Papercut

Art Of Rhetoric 2020

    In our class Rhetoric, we began looking at pieces of history (mainly tied to the colonial era) and analyzing its rhetorical meaning, the views of both sides of the conflicts we viewed, and the build up to those situations. Visiting Marquette park for a field experience and talking about the history of the memorials, talking with Ugo Okere, a previous competing runner for alderman in Chicago, we were able to get a better grasp of how to perceive history and the art of debate through both field experiences. In this action project I was tasked to make an art piece that connects to an important political issue and explain the rhetoric of the piece. In this case I will be talking about immigration policy from Mexico to US, and the requirements to become a US citizen as a Mexican. 

   This is the art piece I've decided to create in order to replicate the situation I have chosen that matters to me. Here's some context onto why exactly I've decided to address this situation, not only as a Mexican, but as someone that has witnessed one of the many awful cases of how enforced the work it takes to get a "green card" for the United States. Back in elementary, my old friend's father had snuck past the border to get into America, eventually meeting with my friend's mother and getting married and having a son. His father was eventually caught and sent back to Mexico, leaving both his wife and child behind. Rather than risking sneaking past the border again, he decided to get the paperwork done to become a legal US citizen. This task ended up taking 5 years to complete of endlessly filling out papers, leaving his son and wife to live those 5 years alone. 

There's a reason for those 5 years too. According to the US citizenship process, you need to take multiple tests, complete an interview, and pay a fee of $750 in order to gain citizenship access. Keep in mind that this type of money doesn't come easy when you're a minimum wage adult in Mexico trying to keep yourself housed, fed, and all while trying to save for the money to get US citizenship. The process is ridiculous and is very clear of what audience it wants to make into the country. This can give the feeling of being caged and overwhelmed with the work you have to put in just to get out, which is what I've depicted here. The US citizenship process was never made to give low class Mexican immigrants a chance, because it combats against so many of the things that the people wanting a better chance at life can't do. Majority of low class Mexicans don't actually end up staying in school for long due to money being more of a priority than education, Spanish is their native tongue making it a difficult learning curve to learn English in order to pass a history and English test, and $750 ends up being a fortune in their eyes. The system was meant to keep out the poor, not threats. It's made apparent too when there have been multiple reports of institutional racism within the border, making it no sweat to get passed if you're just a white guy driving through, in comparison to being a Hispanic and getting pulled out of your vehicle, going under multiple inspections even with your paperwork with the chance of the patrol just turning you away because you looked suspicious. With reports from even an ex-border patrol member, it's clear there's a bias. 

Do things like this go unpunished? Of course they do. Donald Trump had started off his presidency on a foundation of hatred for Mexico with his constant speeches of "building that wall." It became so infamous when his supporters painted it on their signs and held them proud. I remember being with my father, driving down the highway back home and seeing the signs being held over the highway bridge. "BUILD THE WALL." "KEEP THE MEXICANS OUT." "WOMEN SUPPORT TRUMP. BUILD THE WALL." I was 12 seeing all this, and I still don't get the concept of being racially biased against Mexicans trying to find a place of salvation, of opportunity. I have yet to see a single white person work a job in the fields at FRESCO where they pay Mexicans cents for a day's work. It's another case of US making their people fight against one another, rather than an abusive system made to cause conflict in order to distract from its intentions.