@Brandon9000,
Brandon9000 wrote:
maxdancona wrote:By that logic, Trump supporters are rapists.
(People who are from Mexico do take offense at this.)
No, by that logic
some Trump supporters are rapists, an assertion that must certainly be true, since we're talking about millions of people.
Let me take a shot at this: maybe naming a specific national identity, e.g. 'Mexicans,' is not exactly fair regarding attribution of trans-national crime like rape or anything else; but the fact remains that for ALL humans at the global level, there is a trend toward validating international exploitation to an extent that
intranational abuse is regarded differently than its international counterpart. The reason has to do with in-group favoritism/protection vs. out-group hate/exploitation.
This is a form of collectivism/socialism that is about the same as racism, but it is sadly a reality that is not limited to the level of governments discriminating against foreign citizens with border control and the like. In fact, we have to realize that non-racist/xenophobic border police are the best way to protect legitimate migrants while also working to stop people who are migrating to get away with exploitation and abuses that they would not procure against people with whom they share the same national identity, for whatever reason.
Of course 'rapism' is not only something people of Mexican identity do when migrating through the US. There are numerous travel destinations where people go for various forms of indulgence in sexual abuse/exploitation. In this sense, US tourists/migrants are rapists as much as Mexican migrants/tourists. Despite that fact, it does not make sense to reduce vigilance against such sexual violence by failing to legislate and enforce fair, respectful border control. If border/migration control is a tool that can stop or reduce rape and other forms of abuse, why should we argue against it?
To answer that: the reason why we can legitimately and should argue against borders is that they confirm and fuel the larger collectivist/nationalist sentiments that stimulate exploitation and abuses like the practice of sex-tourism and 'rapism' when perpetrators think they can get away with it because they are not locally recognized. E.g. why would rapists feel more comfortable or empowered raping foreigners than those who share their own national identity except because of nationalism? When someone is biased toward regarding women who share their national identity, racial identity, or other collective/ethnic/political identity as 'sisters,' but they regard all other women as whores, lust objects, etc. that sets up a cultural situation where migration becomes a means and legitimation for abuse instead of a responsible act of liberty.
Sadly, the public doesn't respond well to complex explanations like this one so someone like Trump knows how to address the public in a way they can understand, i.e. by saying that "Mexicans are rapists." When a headline-making statement like that hits the media, it becomes a hot potato that many people pass around and discuss. As such, it stimulates constructive discussion about racism/nationalism, stereotyping, etc. that prompts many people to think more deeply about what it means to say that "group X are rapists/criminals/etc."
Intelligent people should already be aware that individuals are not and should not be defined by group identities, but for those who are still teetering on collectivism, it is important for them to think about what it means to say that, "Mexicans are rapists," I.e. does it mean 'some' are? does it mean there is a higher propensity among Mexicans for rape than other nationalities? Or is it simply a statement to alert people to the potential for rape as a result of migration/tourism culture, which provides a justification for border control despite the racist/collectivism borders and migration control represent in and of themselves?
Yes, we should question any statement that "group X are Y" because it's generalization and stereotyping, but we should also think about how to stop and prevent rape and how to recognize patterns without lapsing into collective demonization of all people identified with a given group, category, or classification.
