ABSTRACT: The present study examines the effects that U.S. President Donald Trumps political campaign has had on public opinion of Mexican immigrants. By examining the long history of oppression of Mexicans on U.S. soil and even prior to the establishment of the U.S., the study creates a base and then employs a discourse analysis that proves that Trumps rhetoric is perpetuating some of the same stereotypes that have followed Mexicans since Europeans began settling in the Americas. Public opinion was gauged using a carefully constructed survey and the results show that overall, Trumps harsh stereotypical rhetoric has spurred a narrative of defiance in U.S. citizens. They are hearing Trumps harsh words and outwardly opposing them, choosing inclusivity and love as a response to exclusivity and hatred. Among the more negative responses there were a few stereotypical themes that did come up including language discrimination, allusion to various stereotypes and assumed difference. Though there were some participants that clearly took a dominant decoding of Trumps rhetoric and are indeed perpetuating his negative stereotypical ideals, the vast majority of participants in the present study showed a great defiance and acceptance for difference, a trend that has clearly arisen in the U.S. as a result of Trumps campaign and now presidency.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04102017-143232 |
| Date | 04 May 2017 |
| Creators | Biolo, Brooke Ann |
| Contributors | Cortazar, Alejandro, Brody, Mary J., Orozco, Rafael |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04102017-143232/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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