Lateral (Dec 2017)
The Trump Wall: A Cultural Wall and a Cultural War
Abstract
In a phonetic reverberation between 'wall' and 'war,' this essay is centered on the interplay between a cultural wall and a cultural war. When President Trump vows to build a "great, great" wall, physical and impenetrable on the US-Mexico border, an increased level of fear, bigotry, intolerance and distrust among different races and cultures has become self-evident in our society. The Trump Wall is designed to stop Mexican illegal immigrants entering the US so that Americans’ interests will be protected, English language will not be "contaminated," and American values will not be challenged. The Trump Wall sets out to delineate what America is and based on a walled delineation, attempts to make America great again. This essay decodes a Wall-DNA in American culture with an examination of two shaping moments in history, namely the Founding Fathers and the Mexican-American War. It argues that the Trump Wall, instead of protecting, endangers American values and opportunities; instead of uniting the nation, divides it and ignites cultural wars. The Trump Wall portends fear, bigotry, distrust, intolerance and disconnection; it is the Trump War. Therefore, this border construction is more of a mental construct than a physical one, especially when it involves a cultural re-landscaping and boundary shifting between the US and Mexico and within the two nations. The essay also challenges a one-dimensional and static view on American values, and calls for a 21st century sophistication for a culturally nuanced definition of what America means, and a 21st century agility to cross back and forth any walls without sparking a war.
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