Week 7 - Katherine Tran A04

Katherine Tran
Section A04
Week 7

Hana E. Brown’s article “Refugees, Rights, and Race: How Legal Status Shapes Liberian Immigrants' Relationship with the State” is an interesting study not only of how refugee identities are built and used to justify a group’s presence in the United States, but also how refugee status and experiences can lead to internal divisions among those who would otherwise be considered of the same race. The attitudes among the mainly Liberian refugees that Brown encountered during her work with a Liberian refugee community in California center around how traumatic experiences and tangible lack of support form the cornerstones of a community’s claim to citizenship and belonging in their new country. As refugees, they are entitled to welfare and other forms of governmental support because they do not have anything else - a mindset that is not by any means exclusive just to Liberian refugees in the United States. I have encountered similar ways of thought while exploring the literature of earlier refugee communities - specifically that of the Vietnamese refugees of the post-Vietnam War era and the studies that are focused on them. The entitlement to government services, especially when in comparison to other, more entrenched ethnic groups such as black Americans, based on being a refugee is a common train of thought. It embodies both superiority - on the base of being a group that will (eventually) contribute to American society - and inferiority - having come from much worse backgrounds of war and loss. In reality of course, there is not that much of a difference in how such groups - primarily dependent on welfare and oftentimes people of color - are seen by the general American populace. Humanitarian obligations aside, the general opinion of refugees entering the United States at any time in history has never really been that positive. So why is it then, that these mindsets of entitlement and superiority continue to persist? And how can we as a society change so that this country might actually be able to live up the ridiculous standard it advertises itself as? And, maybe mostly importantly - what makes a refugee? The experience? Or the legal status?

Reference:

Brown, H. (2011). Refugees, Rights, and Race: How Legal Status Shapes Liberian Immigrants' Relationship with the State. Social Problems, 58(1), 144-163. doi:10.1525/sp.2011.58.1.144

Image Source:

Mexico. Tijuana. Wall on the beach between Tijuana and San Diego. [Photograph found in Photononstop, Getty Images]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2019, from https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mexico-tijuana-wall-on-thebeach-between-tijuan-and-royalty-free-image/885387418

Photograph by Philippe Turpin