In the chapter "Interlopers in the Land of Sunshine" the
city thought "confining these problems to a single city space seemed both
possible and rational.” Does that mean they were discriminating against the
Chinese for the “greater good”? A lot of the social Darwinism seems very
similar to Nazism; if history repeats itself then America has ADD. So really
what would qualify as the greater good? As a society how far can we go today to
abuse people to achieve that “greater good”? In the article from The San Diego
Reader “The Ugly Trailer Park across the Water” the city deemed the park to be
unprofitable and wanted to get rid of it. The city put up fences around the
area, took away basic amenities, and posted security guards who harassed the
elderly. I guess money is worth breaking ribs and face planting senior citizens
to the City of San Diego?
Last year in class we talked about how one war justified the means
for the next, first the enemy was labeled as Nazis, then the communists, and
now terrorists. I think this concept also applies to racism. Segregation set
the terms of engagement for the Chinese, Mexicans, and Japanese populations.
The use of propaganda was used in newspapers to enforce the racism the city
wanted just as war propaganda cultivated nationalism through fear. I mean even
Hitler used “scientific” evidence to condemn the Jews but today we know that
the evidence was nothing short of pseudo-science. Another question might be
once racism has been thoroughly repressed, nature abhors a vacuum; will
regionalism become a problem in the future?
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