I Was Born Alone.
“ Hate becomes attached or ‘stuck’ to particular bodies, often through violence, force and harm.” — Ahmed
Sara Ahmed, in her article “ The organization of hate” argues how hate is an imbedded idea and it opens itself to a group of people. She gives us example of a long struggle between white people vs. foreigners. White people are justifying their actions by saying that they are responding with love when they discriminate against foreigners. They do this through hate towards the people that have taken their land, jobs, and opportunities. They see foreigners as threat to their success. “This imagine other-threat to the object of love makes hate reasonable” (Ahmed). Ahmed argues how a person is no longer looked upon as an individual but instead, he becomes a representative of his group. For example, a Latina is no longer part of her own body, but she is now part of the immigrants group. In other words Individuals are now being aligned with communities. Ahmed continues to repeat “what is at stake in hate crime is the perception of a group in the body of an individual.” Reading Ahmed’s analysis made it clear to me that when I feel uncomfortable due to discrimination from some people, it is due to the fact that they are putting a stamp on my face that states that I am undocumented Latina, and that I am just as bad a small number of them. I feel lucky to be educated and understand that these people are missing love. Understanding this allows me to connect the story of myself and other Latino students with Hooks arguments that we are missing love in our hierarchical systems. She argues that “without love we continue allegiance to systems of domination- imperialism, sexism, racism, and classism.” I definitely agree with Ahmed and Hooks because there is a tie relationship between love and hate. When hate is over, institutions can love and be able to help everyone, not just a particular group.
For instance, take the case of a college student Claudia Rueda. Rueda is a student in Cal State LA that qualifies to apply for DACA but does not have the money to pay for it. She has been a target for the Border Patrol because she is a knowledgeable student activist. She advocates for her rights and that of other minority groups like latinos and blacks. Very recently her mother was taken into jail because there was a drug bust in the building she resided in. Rueda’s father can be held responsible, but in the other hand her mother was found not guilty of her indifference in her husband’s business, (that by the way is still not proven that he was involved). Ever since they took her mother, Claudia has been very active on social media, and the streets to call out for the rescue of her mother. On May 18, witnesses said she was kidnapped by border patrol, that also took seven other people of the same race as Claudia into Chula Vista county. Witnesses claim Claudia was just going to move her car due to street cleaning passing that day when border patrol got a hold of her. The reason why this case has brought attention to the public its because she was not responsible for her fathers business, she is currently studying and professors and classmates love her, most importantly she is an activist bringing awareness about systems that are injustice. Her body clearly presents a threat to the stability of white people, and it was clear how her race was a target for the border patrol system. We see that hate that ICE has towards immigrants. Based on her physical image she was identified, not as an individual but, as being part of the Latino group. She was not violating any laws, but yet she was still a target. This comes to show that people don’t hate the individual, border patrols don’t hate Claudia, they hate the idea that she is part of the immigrants group and since they hate on them, they hate on Claudia.
On twitter I saw the arguments between people defending her and others hate/rage towards her. Racist people were saying that “she should go back to her country and finish her education there, calling her free loader, and to go back to her roots.” I know that this hate was not directed to Claudia but it was directed to the group of people she represents. It was directed to all Latino immigrants like her trying to achieve the American Dream in a land that is claimed to be own by white. Cases like this show that this institutions will not change until people start choosing love, and use “love as the practice of freedom.” — Hooks
