The Cultural Archive: Split Labor Markets, the Working Poor, the Media and Discourses
Concerning Immigration
By
David Rigby
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Acknowledgment
I would like to express my gratitude to the following important folks for a long
year of patience and solid advice. Thank you to Mary Brown, Ben Feinberg, Siti
Kusujiarti, Laura Vance, and Cameron Lash for talking me down off the ledge when my
ambition and ego got bigger than the available time and resources could support. I hope
that the final result was worth your trouble. I learned a lot.
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Abstract
This research utilizes content analysis and semi-structured interviews in an
attempt to examine potential connections between the framing of stories concerning
immigration in print media and the expression of negative prejudice by domestic laborers
competing in a split labor market with Latin American immigrants. Tracking leading
economic indicators such as unemployment rates and the University of Michigan
Consumer Sentiment Index and making use of group-threat theory, Frame Analysis, and
Stuart Hall's linguistic model of representation, I look at possible correlations between
framing of immigration articles in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune and public
perceptions of immigration as the current economic crisis was becoming apparent. The
results indicate that there is no statistically significant correlation between economic
growth and discussion of immigration in terms reflecting competition for jobs and social
services consistent with group-threat in print media. My results do show that as
economic growth is increasingly negative, the number of articles concerning immigration
that appear in the newspapers studied drops significantly. There is also evidence of a
“cultural archive” of stereotypes regarding Latin American immigrants that domestic
laborers in Western North Carolina utilize to attach meaning to and interpret their
experiences with the local immigrant population.
Introduction
Given the convergence of several factors—an economic downturn of proportions
unprecedented in recent history, a glut of preexisting homes that has ground the
construction and labor markets to a standstill, a rapid increase in the South and Central
American immigrant population in Western North Carolina and subsequent government
intensification of attempts to root out and deport immigrants, and a massive relocation of
manufacturing and textile jobs from North Carolina to cheaper labor markets—there is a
unique opportunity to research the connection between group-threat theory
(Blumer:1958) and negative racial prejudice directed toward immigrants in Western
North Carolina. Other studies have demonstrated a correlation between increasing
subordinate-group population, economic insecurity, and dominant-group antipathy and
expression of prejudice. Increasing antipathy toward ethnic minorities may be expressed
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in many different ways, from individual statements of prejudice to legislation reinforcing
inequality (Semyonov, Raijman and Yom Tow 2002).
North Carolina has been hit hard by outsourcing of manufacturing jobs during the
thirteen years since the signing of NAFTA. In recent months, North Carolina has also
been forced to deal with the impact of the housing decline, the credit “freeze” and the
subsequent nationwide economic recession (at the time of writing, the national
unemployment rate is 8.5% compared to 5.1% in March of 2008). This research employs
interviews to assess participant perceptions of immigration and immigration policy, and
content analysis to examine the language used in mainstream print media. This analysis
explores patterns in discussion and framing of immigration during times of increasing
financial strain. This study contributes to existing research by looking at the ways that
the language used in public discourse, including interview responses concerning
immigration, limits the available response to and perceptions of immigration. Put
differently, the ways in which immigration is framed in the U.S. print media are expected
to have an effect upon the ways in which individuals perceive immigrants and
immigration policy.
Numerous studies have attempted to answer questions surrounding the ways in
which racial prejudice affects human social interaction. What causes individuals to
harbor negative, irrational assumptions about others? After World War II, sociologists
such as Gordon Allport and Theodor Adorno began to look at factors that contributed to
the racial prejudice that was used to justify unequal and violent treatment of others.
Theories were developed to explain anti-Semitism and the fascist personality (Adorno,
Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson,Sanford: 1950). Other theories arose to explain the creation
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of group identities and the interactions of theses social units. Since the creation of grouphreat theory (Blumer: 1958), many studies explore the effects of economic insecurity
upon the expression of negative racial prejudice (Belanger and pinard:1991;
Bonacich:1972; Persell, Green and Gurevich:2001; Tomaskovic-Devey and Roscigno:
1996). Recently, Quillian expanded the definition of group-threat to include the
awareness of growing subordinate-group populations (1995).
Research Questions
This research will explore individuals’ perceptions of South and Central
American immigrants in Western North Carolina and of immigration in general. I am
also interested in the ways in which opinions regarding immigration are influenced by
media discourse concerning immigrants and immigration policy. This study examines
participants' perceptions of the current economic situation in WNC and nationally.
Interview questions are also designed to gather information concerning stereotypes,
negative prejudice and out-group antipathy toward immigrants. A list of interview
questions is attached as Appendix A.
In their 2000 study, Burns and Gimpel indicate that variables such as level of
education, socio-economic status, and political views correlate with prejudicial attitudes
toward out groups. Using a theoretical framework that consists of group-threat theory,
split labor market theory, world-systems theory, and Hall’s notion of systems of
representation, this research is designed to explore what role, if any, dominant-group
perception of threat plays in shaping respondents’ opinions regarding immigrants and
immigration policy. For the purpose of this research, “perception of group-threat” is
conceptualized as a perception that: a subordinate-group population is increasing,
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members of a subordinate-group are in violation of the law, subordinate-group members
are a drain on resources, and subordinate-group members are in direct competition with
respondents for jobs. I use William Julius Wilson's explanation that dominant and
subordinate group identities are determined by differential access to “power resources”
(1973).
In constructing an instrument to analyze newspaper articles regarding
immigration, I operationalized group-threat as consisting of four dimensions: “legalthreat”, “job threat”, “social services threat” and “population threat”. These were
categorical variables that were recorded as emphasized or not emphasized. “Legal
threat” was judged to be emphasized if an article contained language which indicated
either the legal status of the immigrants concerned or crimes committed by immigrants.
“Job threat” was judged to be emphasized if an article contained language focusing on the
position of immigrants in job markets or the types of jobs in which certain immigrant
populations are represented. “Social services threat” was judged to be emphasized if am
article concerning immigration contained discussion of immigrants utilizing entitlement
programs, schools, hospitals or other social services. “Population threat” was judged to
be indicated if an article contained discussion of the size of an immigrant population or
the rate of immigration from a particular region. These dimensions are consistent with
the “feelings” that Blumer (1958) argues contribute to a perception of group-threat.
Hypothesis 1- Given this conceptualization of group-threat theory, during
months in which economic indicators suggest that the U.S. economy is experiencing
negative growth, newspaper articles concerning immigration will contain language that
emphasize the dimensions of group-threat. Hypothesis 2- Participants that express
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negative assessments of the current economic situation in the region, as well as of
personal finances and increased awareness of the growing migrant population, will
express negative, prejudicial attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy.
Hypothesis 3- Participant responses to interview questions regarding immigration will
contain language that is similar to that found in newspaper articles.
Theoretical Review
Micro and Macro Level Arguments
In the years following World War II, Theodor Adorno and his colleagues,
Levinson, and Sanford were interested in studying what traits and tendencies might
coalesce to shape a personality, or “mentality” that is predisposed to anti-Semitism or
fascism. In their book, The Authoritarian Personality, these researchers advanced a
theory of prejudice in which posited that, through the enormously influential relationship
with one's parents and the process of developing one's own thoughts and opinions
through personal experience, an individual may develop into any personality type along a
spectrum that ranges from intensely predisposed to psychopathic racial prejudice to a
more egalitarian, permissive personality (Adorno: 1950). Herbert Blumer criticized
Adorno's theory of the Authoritarian Personality as, “the idea that such prejudice exists
fundamentally as a feeling or set of feelings lodged in the individual (1958: 3). Blumer
introduced another view of racial prejudice, in which racial antipathy arises as a response
to perceived group-threat (1958). Blumer presupposes that racially prejudiced
individuals conceive of themselves as belonging to a particular group and of those toward
whom they are prejudiced as belonging to separate groups. Blumer also asserts that four
“types of feelings” always contribute to race prejudice (1959: 5): a feeling of superiority,
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a feeling of difference, a feeling of proprietary entitlement, and a fear of the ambitions of
the out-group. Blumer argues that viewing racial prejudice as a strategy that is utilized in
defense of one's perceived racial group status will better equip researchers to gather
information explaining inter-group dynamics and different forces influencing the
formation of racial identities (1958: 3). Following Blumer, Hubert Blalock (1967) states
that there are two reasons why the size of minority group population in a given region
contributes to dominant-group perception of threat. Blalock argues that as the size of a
minority population increases relative to the dominant-group, competition for limited
economic resources such as jobs and housing is exacerbated and that the potential for the
minority group to organize politically increases.
Lincoln Quillian (1995) traces a history of explaining racial prejudice in terms of
either individual-level theories of racial prejudice (such as the authoritarian personality)
or group-level theories of racial prejudice (i.e., group-threat). Quillian also distinguishes
three types of individual-level theories concerning prejudice. “Social-Psychological”
approaches to prejudice explain the psychological functions served by racial prejudice;
such as maintaining the continuity of psycho-social orientations developed during
childhood (Adorno, 1950). Quillian next distinguishes strains of research and theory that
explore the relationship between individual descriptors such as level of education, age
cohort, etc., and tendency toward racial prejudice. The third type of individual-level
theory of racial prejudice includes scapegoat theory and states that dominant-group
members are more likely to express antipathy toward minority-groups with whom they
come into direct conflict or competition for resources necessary to their maintenance of
their economic status or sense of identity. Quillian argues that the problem with
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individual-level theories is that, while they offer interesting insights into what may
predispose certain individuals to hold racially prejudiced views, these theories fail to
explain any of the variation in racial prejudice across different regions and populations.
Understanding what causes prejudice to be more widespread in some populations at
certain times is important because, “Prejudice causes the most damage when a dominant
national or racial group institutionalizes discrimination” (1995:590).
Group-level theories such as group-threat can help to explain the underlying
conditions that create a fertile environment for racial prejudice among a given population.
Group-threat theory can be modified to define dominant-group perception of threat as
influenced by both subordinate group population and economic insecurity (Blalock,
1967). Studies have attempted to synthesize group and individual-level theories by
showing that individuals scoring highly for indicators of racial prejudice show the
greatest increase in expression of prejudice as group-threat perception increases
(Quillian, 1995). One application of group-threat theory is the attempt to tie the
economic inequality of subordinate groups relative to dominant groups to their respective
population sizes by hypothesizing that the dominant group's perception of threat leads to
subsequent campaigns of economic discrimination (Allport, 1958; Blalock, 1967).
Global Context
Macro-level theories such as world-systems theory (Wallerstein, 1974) and
Appadurai's “social imaginary” model of cultural activity (1990) both seem to emphasize
the importance of group-threat theory when considering an increasingly globalized world.
Wallerstein (1974) discusses the exploitation of cheap labor from periphery nations by
wealthy consumers in core nations. Appadurai argues that this international flow of
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people and influence is not unidirectional or chiefly exploitative, but that goods, finances,
people and media images flow across political boundaries in multiple, directions
impacting all societies. Group threat theory provides one perspective for discussion of
the changing dynamics of multicultural populations. Split labor market theory
(Bonacich, 1973) further refines group-threat theory and accounts for seemingly
contradictory impulses in the alienated working poor by explaining that frustration at the
lack of resources in hard times is not solely directed at members of different ethnic
groups, but also at elites. In considering popular perceptions of immigrants expressed by
those interviewed during this research, Stuart Hall's constructivist model of
representation (1997) both corroborates Appadurai's notion of transnational flows of
“mediascapes” and provides a micro-level explanation of Goffman's Frame Analysis
theory (1974). Hall argues that:
The first enables us to give meaning to the world by constructing a set of
correspondences or a chain of equivalences between things – people,
objects, events, abstract ideas, etc. – and our system of concepts, our
conceptual maps. The second depends on constructing a set of
correspondences between our conceptual maps and a set of signs, arranged
or organized into various languages which stand for or represent those
concepts. The relationship between ‘things’, concepts and signs lies at the
heart of the production of meaning in language. The process which links
these three elements together is what we call ‘representation’ (1997:19)
This essentially means that people, objects, and worlds “have” whatever meaning we
attach to them as long as our system of correspondence between signs and “things” is
consistent. So, if the public discourse regarding immigrants and immigration policy
emphasizes certain issues, (e.g., legality, social services, competition for resources)
immigrants as a group come to mean something very specific to those that are deeply
affected by these issues.
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Semyonov, Raijman and Yom Tov found that, “under conditions of direct
competition, prejudice, and discriminatory ideologies rationalize the exclusion of
subordinate minorities from equal access to societal and material goods” (2002). Thus,
under conditions in which members of the dominant group perceive themselves as
threatened by a growing and ambitious subordinate-group population, members of the
dominant group are more likely to support legislation increasing discriminatory treatment
of ethnic minorities.
Findings indicate that a group-threat theory that accounts for subordinate-group
population size can be used to account for certain levels of negative prejudice. Studies
show that a perception of growing competition with a subordinate group for resources
significantly affects out-group antipathy and expression of prejudice (Burns and Gimpel
2000). The current study attempts to augment the claims that this theoretical framework
allows researchers to make by incorporating split labor market theory. This will
hopefully facilitate an analysis of the alienation of the working poor by those that wield
economic power.
What factors influence the connection of certain groups with economic
competition and threat to group position? If all groups identified as out-groups,
specifically as subordinate groups with respect to certain resources, are not considered to
be a threat to the “position” of the dominant group, how is it that particular groups come
to be identified as dangerous? David Taras (1989) argues that coverage of political issues
by the news media significantly affects public perception of those issues. According to
Cohen (1963) the news media may not have the power to change public opinion, but they
can shape public discourse by selecting which factors are presented as relevant to a
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particular issue, “It [news media] may not be successful much of the time in telling
people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think
about” (sic., 13).
The question of whether, and to what extent, media coverage frames discourse
concerning immigration of a group with unequal access to resources of power is a
question of what Foucault terms “power-relations”. In summarizing Foucault's concept
of power-knowledge, Hall says that, “discourse is one of the ‘systems’ through which
power circulates” (1992:205). The knowledge which a discourse produces constitutes a
kind of power, exercised over those who are ‘known.’ The distance that is created
between the dominant-group and subordinate-groups through the act of identifying
subordinate-groups and producing knowledge about them is a space in which inequality
can be produced and justified. Edward Said discusses ways in which the “West” has
historically taken advantage of this cultural distance to produce and disseminate
inferiorizing narratives that serve to legitimate western power fantasies by confirming the
status of the ethnic “other” as “peculiar”, “backward” and an object of ridicule (1979).
This is precisely the type of power that popular images of immigrants in the media can
have to idealize and subordinate.
This paper investigates the possible correlation between individual perceptions of
both economic stability/personal financial security and opinions regarding immigrants
and immigration. According to group-threat theory, expression of negative racial
prejudice is influenced by the perception of (a) economic instability and pressure on
staple resources, and (b) the attribution of this pressure to competition with a perceived
subordinate-group whose population is considered to be increasing (Blumer, 1958,
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Quillian, 1995). This dynamic of group relations is complicated by the accelerated
transnational flow of populations in an increasingly technologically advanced, globalized
world (Appadurai, 1990).
How do members of one society come to identify themselves as members of a
closed social unit and immigrants as unwelcome competitors siphoning off resources to
which they feel that they are uniquely entitled? In Representation (1997:19) Stuart Hall
states that members of the same culture share “broadly similar conceptual maps” that
allow individual actors to attach meaning to objects in the world around them as well as
Codes that allow them to translate this meaning into symbols that can be easily
recognized and communicated. In the case of nations, Benedict Anderson (1983) argues
that certain arbitrary symbols (flags, war heroes, etc.) have been coded in such a way that
they represent a supposed shared history/value system that allows a particular group,
delineated by contested borders, to imagine themselves as a collective. This language of
nationalism also allows individuals to imagine that there is a “national interest” that can
be served through the protection of resources such as jobs, money, etc. World-systems
theory states that workers from periphery-nations are drawn to core-nations in order to
satisfy the need of the world's elite for cheap labor (Wallerstein, 1974). Thus, a
proprietary claim to financial resources and social services based on national identity
comes into conflict with a growing population of displaced migrant workers.
As a result of the legal structure of core nations, the majority of undocumented
immigrants from the periphery only have access to low paying, low prestige, labor
intensive jobs. In a struggling economy, the unemployed and working-poor are
positioned in such a way that they are hurt the most by layoffs, rising foreclosure rates,
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inflation, etc. This creates a situation in which immigrants in the United States are
competing with the segment of the domestic population that has been the most severely
impacted by the current recession for fewer and more precious resources.
Methods
The first stage of my research consisted of quantitative manifest content analysis.
The goal of this research phase was to analyze newspaper articles to determine whether
(a) they were framed in such a way that the dimensions of group-threat were emphasized,
and (b) the discussion of these issues correlated inversely with measure of economic well
being. For the purpose of this research, group-threat is defined as the concern that the
population of Latin American immigrants is increasing and that subsequently these
immigrants are competing in greater numbers for social services and jobs. For the
purpose of my content analysis, Group-Threat also includes an emphasis on the legal
status of the immigrant population in question.
In constructing my instrument, group-threat was conceptualized as having four
dimensions: “legal threat”, “employment threat”, “social services threat”, and “population
threat”. Each of these was operationalized as a categorical variable that was marked as
“emphasized” or “not emphasized” Legal threat was marked as emphasized in an article
if it included any words in the following word cluster (illegal/legal, illegal/legal
immigrants, break the law, INS, ICE, deport*, convicted). Employment threat was
marked as emphasized if an article included words in the word cluster (employers, labor
market, competing, unemployment, unemployment rate, job market, wage decline, lower
wages, work-force, lost jobs, layoffs, shortage/s). Social services threat was marked as
emphasized if an article contained words from the following word cluster (Social
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services, bilingual education programs, Health care, Tanf, tax/taxes, social security,
welfare, welfare cheats, government benefits, food stamps, Afdc, education, schools)
Latent content analysis was used to determine whether population threat was emphasized
in an article. My Content Analysis instrument is attached as Appendix B.
As other researchers have found that individual perceptions of economic
performance predict negative prejudice more accurately than actual economic
performance indicators (Burns and Gimpel, 2000; Quillian, 1995), I chose to use the
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index instead of the stock market or GDP
as my economic measure (see Figure 1).
Consumer Sentiment Index
100
CSI
90
80
70
60
50
Nov-06 Apr-07 Sep-07 Feb-08
Jul-08
Dec-08
Months
Figure 1
Because group-threat and the split labor market model are concerned with competition
for jobs, I also tracked national unemployment numbers over the two-and-a-half year
period of interest I chose to monitor these numbers monthly. As of January, 2009, both
of these indicators were at their respective worst rates in more than a decade. In the case
of the Consumer Sentiment Index, it had just hit its forty-year low of 52.
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Using an instrument coded for: “legal threat”, “social services threat”, “population
threat”, “job threat” and “nation of origin,” I reviewed articles from two different
newspapers. Ho and Quinn measure opinions expressed in editorials in response to
Supreme Court rulings across twenty-five major newspapers nationwide (2008). The
opinions expressed in those articles are measured in comparison to the rulings of each
respective case from 1994-2004 in order to create an aggregate score positioning each
newspaper relative to the others on a continuum from politically most conservative to
most liberal (ibid.). Using this scale (see Figure 2), I visited the web sites of newspapers
on either end of the spectrum in order to find a liberal newspaper and a conservative one
that had comparable search engines.
Figure 2
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I decided to review articles from the Chicago Tribune, which, according to Ho
and Quinn, is one of the most conservative major newspapers in the United States. I also
chose to look at the New York Times, which they indicate is the most liberal and widest
circulating paper in the nation (Ho and Quinn: 2008). My search parameters on the web
sites were “Archives”-(November 1, 2006 to February 1, 2009) - Articles with
“Immigration” the title. I chose this two-year period because November 2006
immediately precedes the first mention in either paper of an economic slump. I hoped
that this would allow me to measure my data over the course of an unprecedented
economic downturn.
I used systematic random sampling to select articles from the archives of both the
New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. I used a random number generator with
replacement to generate separate sets of numbers for each paper, from one to the number
of articles that each search engine produced (262 for the New York Times and 212 for the
Chicago Tribune). I generated fifty numbers between 1 and 262 for the New York Times
and thirty numbers between 1 and 212 for the Chicago Tribune. Each of these numbers
corresponded to a particular order along the numbered list of search engine results. I
analyzed a total of eighty articles, counting the frequency of items that I had selected to
indicate my variables and recorded relevant quotes to provide context whenever an item
was present.
The second phase of my research involved developing a list of questions for semiformal interviews (Appendix A). My goal was to use snowball sampling that included
native-born American workers working in the construction, manufacturing, and service
sectors, as I theorized that these were the markets in which workers are most likely to
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experience competition from immigrants looking for work. However, once snowball
sampling proved ineffective, I moved on to purposive sampling. When it became
difficult for me to find participants to interview, I began to go to the day labor temporary
agencies in town. These agencies fill day contracts with construction sub-contractors for
laborers. They operate on a first come, first served basis and open at 5:30 a.m. As the
first employers begin picking up workers at 7:30 a.m., this leaves roughly two hours in
which potential respondents, fitting my research criteria, are simply sitting in a waiting
room.
I conducted a total of ten semi-formal interviews ranging in length from thirty to
fifty minutes. I interviewed individuals who were native-born American unemployed and
working-poor working in the construction and service sectors. Apart some
demographical questions, I asked each respondent a relatively fixed set of questions
ranging from questions pertaining to current employment, confidence in job security,
ability to meet personal financial needs, knowledge of current economic situation, media
consumption, work environment, experiences with immigrants, awareness of immigrants
in their particular labor market, cultural differences between Latin America and the U.S.,
and the likelihood of finding another job if they were laid off. Interview Questions are
designed to gather information pertaining to each of the dimensions included in my
model of group-threat as well as personal opinions about immigration, immigration
policy and the economy. The results of my content analysis did not support my
hypothesis that articles would present increasingly threatening representations of
immigrants during times of economic decline and therefore, interview responses
indicating negative prejudice toward immigrants do not exhibit similarities with language
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found in articles. However, both instruments were designed to collect data pertaining to
the same variables and I was able to compare the results to enhance understanding of my
research questions.
The Media Discourse Surrounding Immigration and Immigrant Stereotypes
Perceived Threat: Results of Content Analysis
Mediascapes... offer to those who experience and transform them... a
series of elements (such as characters, plots and textual forms) out of
which scripts can be formed of imagined lives, their own as well as those
of others. (Appadurai, 1990)
Appadurai refers here to the ways in which media representations of various
groups furnish media consumers with images and information that can be used to
formulate stereotypes about what certain groups are like and what motivates them. One
of my research goals is to explore whether the proprietary claim to jobs and social
services and subsequent preoccupation with the consumption of resources by immigrants
presumed by group-threat theory is evident in mainstream media discussions of
immigration. If it is true that workers in certain sectors are concerned about immigration
for reasons largely reflecting self-interest, it is likely that this concern is reflected in the
public discourse surrounding immigration.
My results found evidence to suggest that the Chicago Tribune takes a more
conservative stance on immigration issues than does the New York Times. The New York
Times provides coverage of the Immigrants Rights movement,
“Tens of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marched peacefully last
year across the country, and although organizers predict lower numbers this year,
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they said marchers would again demand legal status for illegal immigrants and an
end to raids aimed at deporting them. Rallies are planned in New York, Chicago,
Boston, Houston, Denver and many other cities. (NYT, “Los Angeles Police
Expect Calm at Immigration Rally 213: 2008),
as does the Chicago Tribune. However, the language in the Tribune seems to emphasize
conflict between immigrants and U.S. citizens, “Priest walks tightrope in divide
Waukegan; Pastor sees his role as peacemaker in a city where emotions run high over
immigration” (CT 113: 2007).
In the New York Times many articles seem sympathetic to the plight of many
immigrants that work low-paying jobs and of undocumented immigrants that are subject
to exploitation,
“The huge influx of immigrant workers to California since 1990 generated a 4
percent increase in the wages of the average American worker in the state,
according to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan
research group. American workers moved into higher-paying jobs as immigrants
filled low-skilled occupations, concluded the study by Giovanni Peri of the
University of California, Davis. The study also found no evidence that immigrants
arriving after 1960 had displaced American workers with the same education in
the state's job market.”(“2007)
Articles in the New York Times even seem to take a forgiving tone when discussing the
crimes that many undocumented immigrants are forced to make in order to live in the
U.S., ““Illegal immigrants often present false Social Security information when applying
for jobs.” (NYT, “Judge Suspends Key Bush Effort in Immigration” 148: 2007) The
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Chicago Tribune, tends to emphasize the criminal intent of immigrants that are willing to
go to any length to enter the country, “In the saddest cases--and the toughest for agents to
prove fraudulent--the foreigners have duped their spouses into thinking they're actually in
love with them, just to get a green card.” (CT, “L.A. Police to Review Use of Force
During Immigration Rally” 52: 2006)
Arguments for restrictionist immigration policy were only presented as quotations
from individuals not affiliated with the news papers—articles regarding Latin American
immigrants frequently mentioned immigrants’ legal statuses and positions in labor
markets. In this way, a message tying increasing immigration to fears of increasing
competition for labor can be transmitted without the newspaper courting controversy.
Using a method for measuring media bias that ranked papers along an ideological
continuum from most conservative to most liberal (Ho and Quinn 2008), I chose to
analyze articles from newspapers on opposite ends of the spectrum. I hoped that this
would allow me to broadly sample the range of opinions presented in new paper articles
about immigration. This may have been the case, however, the individuals that I
interviewed did not receive their news from these sources and the results of the analysis
seem to be relevant to interview responses in only a very limited way.
Statistical Analysis
My results show that there is no statistically significant correlation between
economic indicators and group threat. Pearson chi-square cross tabulation of data
indicates that there is no statistically significant correlation between CSI and legal threat
(p=.44, see tables 1, 2), CSI and employment threat (p=.501, see tables 3, 4), CSI and
social services threat (p=.366, see tables 5, 6), or CSI and population threat (p=.501).
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Pearson chi-square cross tabulation of data indicates that there is no statistically
significant correlation between the unemployment rate and employment threat (p=.587,
see tables 7, 8), unemployment and social services threat (p=.381), or the unemployment
rate and population threat (p=.528)
Table 1:
Legal threat * Overall CSI Crosstabulation
Overall CSI
within 10
points of the
50 year low
legal threat
poor (62-73.9)
strong (8697.9)
fair (74-85.9)
Total
no legal threat
3
3
4
7
17
legal threat
8
6
28
21
63
11
9
32
28
80
Total
Table 2:
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
Chi-Square Tests
Value
2.723(a)
2.808
3
3
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
.436
.422
1
.713
df
.135
80
Table 3:
Employment Threat* Overall CSI Crosstabulation
Cases
Valid
N
Employment threat *
Overall CSI
Table 4:
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
Missing
Percent
80
N
100.0%
Total
Percent
0
.0%
N
Percent
80
100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Value
2.359(a)
2.364
.012
3
3
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
.501
.500
1
.912
df
80
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Table 5:
social service threat * Overall CSI Crosstabulation
Overall CSI
within 10
points of the
50 year low
social service
threat
no SS threat
SS threat
Total
Table 6:
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
fair (74-85.9)
strong (8697.9)
Total
10
9
25
22
66
1
0
7
6
14
11
9
32
28
80
Chi-Square Tests
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
poor (62-73.9)
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
df
3.171(a)
4.777
3
3
.366
.189
1.731
1
.188
80
Table 7:
Employment threat * Unemployment Crosstabulation
Unemployment
Employment
threat
no Emp threat
4-4.9%
47
5-5.9%
10
13
60
Emp threat
Total
Table 8:
Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
6-6.9%
7-7.9%
Total
5
2
64
3
0
0
16
13
5
2
80
Chi-Square Tests
Value
1.931(a)
3.300
1.195
3
3
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
.587
.348
1
.274
df
80
Pearson chi-square cross tabulation of data indicates that there is a statistically
significant correlation between unemployment and legal threat (p-.052, see tables 9, 10).
Rigby 23
Table 9:
legal threat * Unemployment Crosstabulation
Unemployment
legal threat
4-4.9%
11
no legal threat
legal threat
Total
Table 10:
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear
Association
N of Valid Cases
6-6.9%
7-7.9%
Total
3
1
2
17
49
10
4
0
63
60
13
5
2
80
Chi-Square Tests
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
5-5.9%
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
df
7.747(a)
6.541
3
3
.052
.088
3.411
1
.065
80
Number of Articles
Number of Articles and Unemployment Rate
80
60
40
20
0
4-4.9%
5-5.9%
6-6.9%
7-7.9%
Unemplopyment Rate
Figure 3
Rigby 24
Number of Articles
Number of Articles and CSI
40
30
20
10
0
Strong
fair
poor
very poor
CSI
Figure 4
Analysis of my data also shows a statistically significant correlation between
national unemployment rates and number of articles concerning immigration (p=.000, see
figure 3), as well as between CSI and the number of articles concerning immigration
(p=.000, see figure 4). As U.S. economic growth declines so does the number of
newspaper articles discussing immigration.
An interesting and unexpected result of my study is that Pearson chi-square cross
tabulation of data indicates that there is a statistically significant correlation between
publication and population threat (P=.003, see figure 5 and tables 11, 12).
Publication and Population Threat
40
30
Number of
Articles
20
Emphasizing Pop.
Threat
10
No Poplation Threat
Population Threat
0
Chicago Tribune
New York Times
Figure 5
Rigby 25
Table 11:
Publication * Population threat Crosstabulation
Population threat
Publication
NYT
no Pop threat
37
Pop threat
13
12
18
30
49
31
80
CT
Total
Table 12:
Continuity
Correction(a)
Likelihood Ratio
50
Chi-Square Tests
Value
Pearson Chi-Square
Total
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
df
9.132(b)
1
.003
7.756
1
.005
9.132
1
.003
Fisher's Exact Test
Exact Sig.
(2-sided)
.004
Linear-by-Linear
Association
9.018
N of Valid Cases
80
1
Exact Sig.
(1-sided)
.003
.003
Some of the data gathered during the content analysis phase of my research does
show is a difference in reporting styles between the New York Time and the Chicago
Tribune. Across my sample, the presence of immigrants in labor markets is mentioned in
twenty-five percent of articles in the New York Times, as opposed to only ten percent of
articles in the Chicago Tribune. Definite patterns emerged in the presentation of
immigrants of different nationalities. In the vast majority of articles mentioning nation of
origin (ninety-five percent), the immigrants concerned are from Mexico or a handful of
countries in Central America. In articles in which the nationality of the immigrants
concerned is stated explicitly, Immigrants from Mexico, Central America and Cuba are
discussed in thirty-six percent of articles in the New York Times, but sixty percent of my
sample discussed this in the Chicago Tribune. These articles are the ones in which there
is a discussion of border security and immigration policy. In both papers, Asian
immigrants were mentioned only once, in articles regarding a labor shortage or “brain
Rigby 26
drain” in the high tech sector. African immigrants are mentioned once in an article about
immigration in France. Immigration stories printed in the Chicago Tribune emphasize the
number of immigrants living in the United States in sixty percent of my sample,
compared to twenty-six percent in the New York Times. Also, of the variables for which I
coded my instrument, issues of legal status were present in the majority of the articles
studied. Based on the reviews of eighty articles spanning a period from November, 2006
to January, 2009, stories in both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune discussed
legal status in eighty percent of the articles reviewed. These results make it clear that
print media outlets in the United States are predominantly interested in immigration from
South and Central America. Neither legal status, nor border security and labor issues are
discussed with regard to any other geographic region or ethnic group in the world.
Interview Responses: Images Representing Immigrants
“To be split, a labor market must contain at least two groups of workers
whose price of labor differs for the same work, or would differ if they did the same
work.” (Bonacich, 1972)
I chose to interview individuals either working in jobs or searching for jobs in
areas to which undocumented immigrants had access. Operating under the assumption
that the limited mobility imposed upon immigrants of “illegal” status relegates them to
positions in the service and construction industries, each of the participants in this project
worked in one or more of these areas. The data that I collected uncover interesting
patterns in the ways in which native-born citizens of the United States working in the
Rigby 27
labor, service and construction sectors think about, represent and discuss power,
immigration and community. Of the ten people that I interviewed, two had full or parttime jobs and one was confident that he would be hired at a company with which he had
been in contact within two weeks of the time of the interview. Three were AfricanAmerican, seven were “white,” nine were male and one was female. Eight of those
interviewed were currently working at a temporary agency as day laborers while looking
for work. Through many of their responses to questions regarding job security,
experiences with Hispanic immigrants and financial stability, it seems to me that each of
these people imagines themselves as belonging broadly to a community of Americans and
more specifically to one of American Laborers. As American Laborers, the key
distinctions that serve to articulate the boundaries between their “community” and those
outside this group are nationality/geography and access to power.
Idealized Images
Those that are excluded from the group based on nationality, i.e. immigrants (and
with respect to this research, Latin American immigrants especially), are described by
each of the individuals that I interviewed in very similar ways. These descriptions of
immigrants include personal stories about encounters with immigrants that seem to draw
on a relatively small fund of images and ideas about how Hispanic people see the world
and behave. In Orientalism Edward Said argues that, with regard to knowing people
living outside of “western” society, this body of popular and pervasive images and
stereotypes (Orientalism),
“was a library or archive of information commonly and, in some of its aspects,
unanimously held. What bound the archive together was a family of ideas and a
Rigby 28
unifying set of values proven in various ways to be effective. These ideas
explained the behavior of Orientals; they supplied Orientals with a mentality, a
genealogy, an atmosphere; most important, they allowed Europeans to deal with
and even to see Orientals as a phenomenon possessing regular characteristics.”
(1979, 41-2)
Keith, a man whom I interviewed and who has lived in Mexico for the past ten
years, explains his appreciation for the circumstances under which Mexicans come to the
United States and his preference for the company of Mexicans,
“The Mexican people specifically are here just to get the money, they’re very
family orienated, and for them to be here is really quite a burden. I’ve seen them
own their own home stores, down to doing the menial labor that nobody else will
do, and they’re willing to do it, they’re willing to work two jobs. They’re, ya
know, I feel like most of the jobs that they are doing, nobody else would do…
even if they weren’t here. They’re always the first ones on the job, they’re always
the last ones to leave… they enjoy working. They enjoy doing it. The way that
they have lived in the past, just the opportunity to be able to better themselves, to
be able to have something, to have work, they tend to do a better job, often times.
For them that’s not menial. They do their best.”
This excerpt exhibits many of what, in my research, appeared to be the main ways in
which those that I interviewed conceived of and discussed Mexican Immigrants. Latin
Americans are more oriented around family and community. They enjoy working and
will do any job no matter how menial. They will work for nothing. Stereotyping Latin
American immigrants as naturally predisposed to hard physical labor and unconcerned
Rigby 29
with compensation obscures power relations. Individuals need not ask why employers
seek out cheaper immigrant labor because “they” are happy to work for less. Power is
free to continue operating in the interests of the elite, to the detriment of everybody else.
The stereotype of Latino as “natural born laborer” also may contribute to the
disproportionate emphasis in the media that is placed on immigrants who break the law as
opposed to the systems that create a demand for “cheap” labor and those elites that hire
migrant workers.
Another generalization regarding Latin Americans that was expressed repeatedly
over the course of my interviews is closely connected to the image of Hispanic people as
very oriented towards to family and community. This is the idea that people from South
and Central America are dedicated to community and family values that Americans
allegedly once held, but lost some time in the past. When characterizing this difference
between immigrants and native-born Americans, respondents would use phrases like
“tradition”, “heritage”, “religion”, “the importance of family”, community”, etc. before
commenting about how it’s a shame that “we” aren’t that way “here” anymore. Once
again, Keith expresses his admiration for the people he has met while living in Mexico,
“The Latin American or the Mexican, they tend to be more family orienated. The
family unit in the United States has dissolved. They teach their children to stay at
home and help the family and support their elders, and we teach our children to go
away.”
In each of the interviews I conducted, I asked respondents whether they knew of any
differences between the culture in the United States and that of the peoples in South and
Central America.
Rigby 30
George’s response to this question is typical,
“Family wise they seem a little bit more closer to their heritage as well. They
seem like they tale a lot more pride in their heritage than what we do, to an
extent… in their religion and other stuff, heritage.”
These quotes are exemplary of both, the notion that immigrants from Mexico and South
America tend to be more closely connected to their families and communities, as well as
a sort of pervasive sentiment that Mexicans are holding on to something valuable that we,
as Americans, have lost or surrendered. In this way- by connecting the cultures of South
and Central America with values that are lost somewhere in the distant past of the United
States- Latin American immigrants can simultaneously be both idealized and depicted as
backwards. Immigrants can be shown to be somehow less caught up in the grasp of
modernity, to be less sophisticated than most Americans.
As Stuart Hall (1997) argues, members of the same culture or group share broadly
similar conceptual maps and codes that translate concepts into signs that represent those
concepts. Charles Berg (2002:38) states that, “While there is usually some general
agreement among in-group members about the rough contours of their stereotypical
constructs, it could be claimed that each individual’s mental stereotype is a personal
one.” The recurring stereotypes present in participant responses to my interview
questions present broad cultural stereotypes that are variable to a certain extent and that
many of the respondents personalized in stories about their interactions with immigrants.
When talking about Jose, a former co-worker, George says that,
“I knew one named uhh, I think his name was ahh, Jose and he was ahh, he was a
really cool guy. He worked over there at Classic Event Rentals and we used to
Rigby 31
pick him up every morning. He’d say uhh, ‘goodbye’ to his family everyday,
he’d come home ahh, and send most of his money back to Mexico too, to help out
the family he’s left down there, and ahh, I really respect what he’s done. He’s just
a really good guy and he work hard for his money, harder than ahh, most of us
do.”
This is the same man that, earlier in the interview stated that Mexicans are more strongly
tied to tradition than Americans. With this in mind, the first striking aspect of this quote
is George’s statement “I knew one”. Immediately George is describing an individual
with reference to his membership in a group, immigrants. Even though it has been
months since he has seen Jose, and they only worked together briefly, the characteristics
that have stuck with George are Jose’s commitment to family and his hard work.
Stuart Hall (1997:15) distinguishes between reflective and constructionist
approaches toward representation and the construction of meaning, “Does language
simply reflect a meaning which already exists out there in the world of objects, people
and events (reflective)? … Or is meaning constructed in and through language?” For the
purposes of this research, I argue that participant stories about interactions with
immigrants don’t highlight characteristics that idealize and stereotype them because these
reflect the way that all immigrants are. Rather, respondents give meaning to their
relationships with immigrants through the application of ready made stereotypes.
Interactions with individuals that can be easily located outside of the group of American
Laborers are described in such a way that one immigrant, known for a brief time on a job
site, sometime in the past, comes to represent all immigrants, if not all Latin Americans.
Rigby 32
The Immigrant as Scapegoat
This archive of readily accessible, effective images and ideas explaining
immigrant behavior can be used alternatively to idealize or to support anger and violence
towards immigrants. When I interviewed Gail, she spoke in a by now familiar way about
the admirable dedication to family that Mexican immigrants possess. However, at the
point in the interview at which she was discussing her personal experience with Latin
American immigrants, she expressed anger over her perception that their community ties
gave them an unfair advantage in the labor market, allowing immigrants to pool
resources, to send American wealth out of the country, and to work for less money than
she is able to.
“I just was on a job site this week where ahh, its really sad but ahh, there was one
gentleman... he told me he was illegal. He even told me he was arrested and they
didn't deport him! And he's out there making my money. I’m a taxpayer. I live
here. I spend here in this country, and there’s a gentleman that’s probably living
in a house with twenty other Mexicans, sending his money back to Mexico, while
I could be making it here.”
This excerpt shows the malleability of cultural information referring to out-group
populations. The information that had been used earlier in the interview to express
admiration for the “immigrant” sense of community is now used effectively to point out
the unequal playing field that exists between American and immigrant laborers, thereby
justifying Gail’s anger at what she sees as the growing immigrant population. Many of
the respondents who expressed respect for the lengths to which Latin American
immigrants are willing to go to support their families in their home communities
Rigby 33
alternatively expressed anger at the immigrant practice of sending American money out
of the country or building communities of immigrants in the Asheville area that may
allow them to draw from a pool of resources.
Of the seven people that I interviewed that neither had jobs nor were expecting to
be hired within a couple of weeks of the time of interviews, six stated that the presence of
immigrants in the labor market made it more difficult for them to find jobs and three
reported they felt that immigrants were taking jobs or resources out of their hands
directly. As far as group-threat theory goes, those that either had steady jobs or felt
confident that their particular skill-set would allow them to get good jobs after a short
period of unemployment expressed less frustration with Latin American immigrants
living in the United States. All of those who reported feeling as though immigrants were
either taking jobs or making it more difficult to find jobs stated that they believed that the
immigrant population was increasing. This was due both to perception that the overall
immigrant population was increasing and to a feeling that there were more unemployed
immigrants competing directly for jobs.
The Split Labor Market
In “A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism: the Split Labor Market”, Edna Bonacich
(1972) states that, “A split labor market produces a three-way conflict between business
and the two labor groups, with business seeking to displace higher paid by cheaper
labor.” In a labor market that is split by the entrance of a new group, differential labor
costs associated with each group can be driven down by the standard of living to which
the new group is accustomed. If a group of workers migrates from a region in which the
economy is depressed (perhaps by some international “free-trade” agreement), it is likely
Rigby 34
that they will be willing to accept lower pay than domestic workers are prepared to.
None of the people with whom I spoke expressed blatant racial-prejudice of the kind that
I expected to see. Anger at immigrants competing for resources to which Americans felt
entitled seemed to be mitigated by a broad belief that immigrants are “just doing what
they have to in order to take care of their families.” (John) Stopping short of expressing
anger at immigrants themselves, many respondents blamed either the government for not
regulating immigration or employers for constantly trying to save money by hiring cheap
labor at the expense of struggling Americans. Workers and those searching for work
seem to be constructing an idea of community that places the elite (the government, Wall
Street, people in a position to hire) on the outside, along with immigrants, who, rather
than betraying or damaging the community, are just trying to make a living. In answer to
my question about whether he feels that immigrants are taking jobs away from
unemployed Americans, Sali replied that,
“People will do a lot of things to get money when their family’s goin hungry.
And people’s families are goin hungry. It’s not their (immigrants) fault; the
United States government is letting em do it. It’s not their fault. If I lived in
Mexico and I was hurtin that bad, and I could come to America and make that
much money, I would come do it. So it’s not their fault. It’s not the Mexicans’
fault. It’s not the Spanish’s fault. It’s the American government’s fault for not
regulating immigration and not getting Americans work first, you oughta offer the
jobs to the people that's lived here and worked here all their lives, before you offer
it to somebody else. And if they don't want it then fine, give it to somebody else,
cause you gotta have your workers.”
Rigby 35
This response, along with those of many of the other people that I interviewed, clearly
show that unemployed workers feel that they have very little control over the conditions
that confront them in the labor market. Rather than a strict separation along the lines of
nationality, the native-born workers with whom I spoke seemed to feel that, because
those in power were making choices that impact them and the people they know
negatively, the exercise of power happens outside of the domain of their community.
Both the perceived increase of immigration to Western North Carolina of Latin
Americans competing for jobs and the seemingly ineffectual way in which the
government makes policy that directly affects the lives of domestic laborers are seen as
forces that impact their chances at earning a living. Immigrants, at least, are seen as
supporting their families. The power elite that makes policy and employs immigrants
who will work for less money than will domestic workers are seen as motivated chiefly
by greed,
“Basically, it’s it’s it’s uhh lies, deceit, uhh, ya know… from uhh, from higher.
Higher corporations you know. Uhh, why should, why should one man uhh,
that’s an executive lose his job and get a million dollars when I could lose my job
and get nuthin? Ya know? If you don’t have, you won’t have. That’s they policy.
Ya know what I’m sayin?” (John)
During the interviews that I conducted, the respondents referred to themselves in ways
that indicate that they were not identifying merely as Americans to the exclusion of
immigrants, rather as American Working-Class, to the exclusion - for different reasons of those that yield power to the detriment of the working-class as well as of immigrants.
Each of the people hat I interviewed assert their identity as working Americans every day
Rigby 36
that they show up for “hard”-work as well as through the ways that they talk about
themselves and to others.
This assertion is based not only on the types of stories that the respondents told,
but also the ways in which they refer to themselves, in context, through pro-noun usage.
In Metaculture: How Culture Moves through the World, Greg Urban analyzes the usage
of first-person plurals in public speeches to determine what patterns emerge. Urban
(2001:28) argues that these usage patterns are elements of culture that are, “analogous to
the phenomenon of accent” and can be seen as a two-dimensional map of social
boundaries. Pronoun usage provides information about the boundaries of the social
group with which an individual is identifying. Looking at “we's” and “us's” in context
can serve to map out the inner space of a social group while investigating “they's” helps
to map the outer space. Together these provide a diagram of group membership. When
discussing his lack of control over immigration policy and feelings of helplessness in the
face of economic forces affecting the job market, Michael provides a good example (I
have included my interpretation of the meanings of each pronoun),
“If they Hispanic immigrants don't, I guess, have the right to live here, they
immigrants shouldn't be here, but that's, really, it don't really matter what we
working-class Americans think about it, its all up to what they U.S. government
do, the house and all that, senators, and you U.S. citizens can't really do anything
about it, its all up to them U.S. Government. If they Hispanic Immigrants don't
have a social security card like I do, they Hispanic immigrants shouldn't be able to
be here. Why should they illegal immigrants be able to live here and not pay
taxes for ten years and we're U.S. Citizens born here and have to pay taxes from
Rigby 37
the time we're U.S. Citizens born? That ain't right. And they legal immigrants get
loans easier than us working-class Americans, and they U.S. Government don't
even, they U.S. Government don't trust us U.S. citizens, they'd U.S. Government
rather trust someone else and they've Hispanic Immigrants never even lived here
and I never have understood that.”
In this example, it seems to me that Michael is identifying not only as a U.S. Citizen but
also as a tax-paying American worker without influence. Michael's uses of “they”
position immigrants, the U.S, government and economic institutions outside of the group
to which he belongs. In so doing, Michael and others that I interviewed map out a social
space in which access to power, as well as nationality and legal status are key factors in
determining membership.
Limitations
My hypotheses that perception of group threat would be reflected in newspaper
stories addressing immigration and that language used in interview responses would
exhibit similarities with the language used to discuss immigrants in the news media were
not supported. However, if the research were redesigned and focused more on local and
popular media, this connection may be established. My results indicate that mainstream
media outlets are very careful about the ways in which they present information
regarding controversial topics. The editors and publishers on staff at the papers I
reviewed seem to have been very careful to not present blatantly racist arguments
regarding immigration. Further research could review articles concerning immigration
published prior the Civil Rights movement in order to examine whether declining public
Rigby 38
support for racial segregation is accompanied by a softening of media rhetoric
surrounding immigration.
The words and phrases that I chose to indicate the dimensions of group-threat
may not have been exhaustive or appropriate to my study. The strategies utilized to
frame articles regarding immigration may be more subtle than my instrument was capable
of investigating. My instrument is designed to count the appearances of words indicating
the presence of the variables I had identified and to provide context. Future research
would be well served by more thorough use of quantitative content analysis as well as of
discourse analysis (Urban, 2001) in order to more fully develop instrument parameters
and more accurately interpret what is happening in media stories regarding immigration.
For the population that I was studying, my purpose was not served by analyzing
articles from the New York Times and Chicago Tribune. In order to measure similarity
between media discourse and public discourse among laborers in a rural area, future
studies should perform preliminary interviews in order to assess which media are relevant
and then analyze these. Another limitation of my research is that the results can not be
too broadly extrapolated because my sample sizes were so small. I analyzed 80 articles
published over two years. In order to increase reliability, future research would need to
expand the time frame and increase the sample size dramatically. Also, the parameters of
the population of interest should be reviewed in order to determine whether stratified
sampling is appropriate. Again, the number of interviews would need to be increased in
order to increase reliability of findings. Finally, the literature review should be greatly
expanded and refined. I am positive that there is a wealth of information out there that
would have been useful for the purpose of this study and which I failed to find.
Rigby 39
Summary
Although analysis of national newspapers did not support my hypothesis that the
media discourse concerning immigration reflects elements of discourse, the research does
reveal that immigrants are discussed in particular, conscribed ways. The interviews
conducted with the unemployed and working-poor in the Asheville area are very helpful
in further explicating these discursive categories. Furthermore, participant responses
indicate that a split labor market exists in Western North Carolina in which Latin
American immigrants are perceived to be competing for a limited number of jobs doing
similar types of work.
Edward Said (1979) argues that “Western” cultures make use of an archive of
images and stereotypes to refer to non-western cultures in ways that highlight their
difference, and potentially, inferiority. The respondents that I interviewed often refer to
immigrants using idealized images, drawn from a limited set of stereotypes that can be
used to either express admiration for or justify anger towards the “other”. These
stereotypes are applied to personal interactions with immigrants in order to lend these
experiences a meaning that reproduces these prejudices by confirming their effectiveness.
However, the working-class people Americans that with whom I spoke do not only feel
isolated from immigrants, but from those in power as well. Many of those that I
interviewed expressed frustration at the government and those with economic power for
not protecting their interests.
Rigby 40
Index
Acknowledgements
p. 2
Abstract
p. 3
Introduction
p. 3-5
Research Questions
p. 5-7
Theoretical Review
p. 7-14
Methods
p. 14-19
- Figure 1
p. 15
- Figure 2
p. 16
Results of Content Analysis
p. 19
Statistical Analysis
p. 21-26
- Tables 1-4
p. 22
- Tables 5-8
p. 23
- Tables 9-10
p. 24
- Figure 3
p. 24
- Figures 4-5
p. 25
- Tables 11-12
p. 26
Interview Responses
p. 27
Idealized Images
p. 28-32
The Immigrant as Scapegoat
p. 33-34
The Split Labor Market
p. 34-38
Limitations
p. 38-39
Summary
p. 40
Rigby 41
Appendix A- Interview Questions
I. INTRO
What is you're name.
- Where do you live?
- Where were you born?
- How old are you?
- How long have you lived in the area?
II. WORK
What do you do for a living?
- How long have you been doing this?
- Tell me about your job.
- What is your favorite thing about this work?
- What is the worst thing about this work?
- Do you like the people that you work with?
- How did you get this job?
- Does your job pay enough for you to pay all of your billS?
- Are you feeling any financial stress at the moment?
- Trouble making payments on home or car, etc.
III. ECONOMY
- Do you watch any news programs or read any news papers?
- Which ones?
-How do you get your information about these types of things?
- What, if anything, do you know about the current economic situation?
- Has this changed the way you spend your money?
- Has it changed your willingness to make plans for the future?
- How confident are you that you will continue to have enough work at your job?
- Do you worry about losing your job?
-Can you tell me a story about the people that you work with?
IV. IMMIGRATION
- Have you ever worked with any immigrants from Mexico or South America?
- What was that like?
- Have you noticed any change in the number of people from Mexico and South America
living in Western North Carolina (Asheville, Buncombe County)?
- Why do you think people from Mexico and South America come to North Carolina?
- That you've noticed, do the hispanic people living in this area tend to work particular
types of jobs?
- If you know any people that have moved here from Mexico or South America, what
types of jobs do they have?
- What are some differences between Hispanic culture and American culture that you
know of?
Rigby 42
- Have you noticed many immigrants doing the same type of work that you do?
- If so, do you think that this would affect your ability to find another job if you were
looking?
- What do you think are some of the impacts on the community of the increasing
immigration of people from south and central america?
- Are there benefits?
- Are there negative impacts?
- Has immigration effected you personally in any way?
- Can you tell me some stories about interactions that you have had with Hispanic
immigrants?
- Do you have any idea how many hispanic immigrants there are in the United States?
- Do you have any opinion about immigration policy?
V. OUTRO
- Are there any other stories that you would like to share?
- Is there anything else you would like to say before we finish?
Rigby 43
Appendix B- Content Analysis Instrument
SOURCE ARTICLE #
TITLE:
DATE: SECTION: LENGTH:
AUTHOR: DATE OF REVIEW:
LEGALITY
() Emphasized
() Not Emphasized
Illegal/legal
criminal
Illegal/legal immigrants
Felony
Break the law
Crimes
INS
Undocumented
ICE
Aliens
Deport/ation
Fugitive
Convicted
SOCIAL SERVICES
() Emphasized
Tax/taxes
Social security
Welfare
Welfare cheats
Government benefits
Food stamps
Social services
() Not Emphasized
Bilingual education programs
Health care
Tanf
Afdc
Education
Schools
COMPETITION FOR FINANCIAL RESOURCES
() Emphasized
() Not Emphasized
Employers
Work-force
Unemployment rate
Lost jobs
Job market
layoffs
Wage decline
Labor arket
Lower wages
Competing
Shortage/s
Unemployment
POPULATION SIZE
() Emphasized
Emphasized
() Not
Latent analysis will be used
NATION OF ORIGIN
Rigby 44
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