Abstract
“Thin Edge of Barbwire,” a reference to Gloria Anzaldúa’s poetry, doubles as the title of this paper and a collaborative art project undertaken by university art students resulting in the creation of a 30’ wall. This project was, in effect, a response to the Trump presidency and students’ fear of increased violence on the border. This paper describes in detail the month-long unit that included readings, dialog, and creative responses to recent histories of the border and students’ personal relationship to violence on the border. I use the project as a case study to consider antiracist pedagogies, confronting white-supremacy in the classroom, and successes and failures of the project. Finally, I reflect broadly on the role of creative and artistic response to political crises.
Highlights
Wednesday, November 9, 2016, was likely the most difficult day of teaching I have experienced
A young Mexican-born man spoke of his family having been broken up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and told us that he had not seen his father in several years as a result
A working-class Latina from El Paso, told a story of being late for a class that was held in a large lecture hall and having no choice but to sit between two young white men
Summary
Being located in Texas, many students were especially concerned with the looming threat of Trump building a wall and the corresponding escalation of racism. The research and discussion format allowed students to do original research, discuss and develop their own opinions in a group setting, and make their own connections between content and personal experiences This strategy created a framework for an intersectional analysis of the border to emerge by asking students to think about immigration from Mexico, but economic policies like NAFTA, continual colonial violence on the lands of the Tohono O’odham Nation, and the xenophobia of Trump’s travel ban, among others. In these moments, comprehension wasn’t objective but contextual, narrative, and multi-generational and access to that knowledge required cross-cultural sharing within the classroom. With the help of students who understood the cultural nuances of Anzaldúa, the classroom was encouraged to recognize that white and/or American culture is not the culture but a culture, and an imperialist culture at that
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