Nativist Policies: Hispanic Identity in Trump America

Lecture Center 5

In recent years, the political climate has shown that there has been a sharp increase in policies and politics that align with the political science theory of white nativism. This political effect on identity is one that has been overlooked by scholars of identity and ethnicity in the realm of sociology, but can heavily affect the rapidly increasing Latino population in the United States. As this rise of white nativism is relatively recent, little is known as to how this political climate may affect the racial and ethnic identification of Latinos who immigrated as children or who are the children or grandchildren of recent immigrants. Based on individual in-depth interviews with 1.5, 2nd, and 3rd generation Latino students at the University at Albany in New York, this study examines how politics and policies affect the identity of American-raised Latinos, as well as examining how other factors such as family and community may factor into this decision on how to identify. Building on approaches to identity that follow the acculturation theory, recent studies on white nativism in political science, and policies that have been implemented in the past few years, this article demonstrates how policies that favor white nativists can cause discrepancies that alter the way Latinos in the United States see their identity. This article also demonstrates how politics and policies can lead to a feeling of not belonging.