Thursday, April 28, 2011

X is for.....

X is for.....Xenophobia.

When I decided to do the A-Z Challenge, I made a list of the alphabet and wrote ideas for each letter. Some letters were easy, some where hard. I had multiple ideas for certain letters and none for others.

The one letter that never caused me a single problem was X. That's right - X. Sounds weird you say? There aren't many X words, certainly not good ones for this type of exercise. Well, I live in Arizona. 'Nuff said.

I had grandiose plans to write a searing 5 paragraph essay about xenophobia. The history of xenophobia in America. The recent xenophobic leanings of my adopted state. A systematic approach to wiping out xenophobia in American politics. I'm pretty sure it was going to be great. But then I came across this clip from The Daily Show, and I figured this would be a lot more fun.

It's about a year old now, but sadly, with our legislature obsessed with birth certificates and the like, the general point still applies.


11 comments:

  1. Arizona state motto: God enriches.

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  2. Oh, man, I don't even know what to say. When Arizona passed that law I about had an apoplectic seizure. My husband is hispanic (son too), and it's funny, his family has been in this country longer than mine (my grandfather immigrated from Sweden), yet I'm NOT the one who would be questioned about my citizenship.

    As a teacher, maybe you can appreciate this: We moved a few years ago and my son entered a new school. His last name is hispanic. I'm not kidding, they pulled him out of Advanced English class to test him to see how much English he understood, because obviously if your last name is hispanic you just crossed the border.

    This whole topic makes me crazy. Xenophobia, indeed.

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  3. Great post, and very disturbing topic. Agree completely with LG.

    And I love Jon Stewart!

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  4. Sadly xenophobia seems to be the rule rather than the exception for a lot of people.

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  5. WOW. I've been reading about Xenophobia on a few A to Z blog posts today and man oh man, I've got to commend you on your clever use of the term.

    I'm not too familiar with Xenophobia but I do like the way that you made it relevant to what's going on in the world today.

    The Madlab Post

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  6. I always see a mental image of the Arizona governor when I think of xenopobia, nice post.

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  7. Munk: I did not know that (delivered in my best Johnny Carson voice).

    LG: Wow. That situation with your son is so wrong, it's hard to even comment.

    Julie: I don't watch The Daily Show a lot, but I always enjoy it when I do.

    OT & Nubian: I completely agree, that's why I thought a little humor would be good.

    Laoch: I agree, and it really becomes a problem when politicians use it to get ahead.

    Nicole: I appreciate the kind words.

    David: Not what you want to be know for I'd think.

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  8. Perfect. No better word choice here! Makes you wonder what the heck people are thinking sometimes.
    Great post. Precisely why I named you a recipient of an award today. No pressure to accept--just wanted to link you up because you're blog is most linkworthy. ;)

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  9. Fanbloodytastic - think we have problems here in UK but not (so far) as bad as that!

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  10. Native Arizonan here, seething with pride.
    (I wonder how well sarcasm comes across in a blog comment?)

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