Fearmongering, Racism, Border Control, and Swine Flu

  “No contact anywhere with an illegal alien!”    “This disgusting blight is because MEXICANS ARE PIGS!”  “It would be easy to bring an altered virus into Mexico, put it in the general population, and have them march across the border.”  These and many other quotes made by individuals in connection  to the recent outbreak of swine flu are reported by Brian Alexander of MSNBC.Com in an article he wrote which posted on Friday.  Alexander argues that the fearmongering and blame have been ever present from everyday citizens blogging on the internet to hosts of talk radio shows.  Alexander reports that the experts  claim that “fearmongering and blame” are common incidence associated with infectious disease epidemics. As reflected in the video clip from Countdown  available at the site, Keith Olbermann links the fearmongering to the pushing of political agendas, specifically immigration control.  In a recent article on immigration published in Sociology Compass, Tanya Golash-Boza notes the use of fear rhetoric and a “discourse of other-ization” in her discussion of the immigration industrial complex.

Read more from article written by MSNBC.Com contributor Brian Alexander

Read Golash-Boza‘s Article