Once, we were slaves, crossed land and sea, began again, strangers, became for once, free!

Label

Refugiado, asilado, migrante, nómada, ilegal. Estos son algunos de los términos utilizados para describir a los forzosamente desplazados. Estos descriptores intentan encapsular la razón por el movimiento transnacional de personas: debido a la inseguridad alimentaria o el cambio climático, la pobreza, la violencia política, la discriminación, e históricamente, según el gráfico de Bec Young, por esclavitud. Estos marcadores sirven como símbolos inestables para distinguir a los extraños de aquellos que se consideran parte de la comunidad nacional. Si bien es posible que tengan buenas intenciones, estas palabras refuerzan la coherencia del estado-nación al marginar y racializar a los que se consideran ajenos.

A los pueblos migrantes, a menudo representados como invasores y hostiles en la actualidad, se les imponen estos términos como una forma de clasificación social, para categorizar sus reclamos y evaluar su valor humano. Dicho de otro modo, estos marcadores se utilizan para evaluar el mérito de los migrantes y tienden a ofuscar el contexto político y la historia. Si una persona logra ingresar, los migrantes están interminablemente cargados para demostrar su pertenencia y autovalor, como en el formulario I-94 emitido por la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de EE. UU., que aquí dice: "Los documentos no definen al ser humano".

Refugee, asylee, migrant, nomad, illegal: these are some of the terms used to describe the forcefully displaced. Such descriptors are deployed to describe the reason for people’s transnational movement—from food insecurity or climate change, to poverty, political violence, discrimination, and historically, as in Bec Young’s graphic, as chattel. These terms serve as unstable signifiers to distinguish outsiders from those considered part of a national community. While possibly well-intentioned, they also reinforce nation-state coherence by marginalizing and racializing those considered other.

Migrating peoples, often figured as invaders and hostiles today, have these terms thrust upon them as a way of social sorting—to categorize their claims and assess their human worth. In other words, these markers are utilized to evaluate migrant deservingness and tend to obfuscate political context and history. Should a person gain entry, migrants are interminably burdened by documents to prove belonging and self-worth, such as in the I-94 departure form issued by US Customs and Border Protection, that here reads: "Documents do not define the human being."

From the 2022 exhibition Bolas de Fuego: Culture and Conflict in Central America, curated by Jorge E. Cuéllar, Assistant Professor of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies

Course History

WRIT 5, Quests, Carl Thum, Winter 2015

LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022

LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022

LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022

Exhibition History

Bolas de Fuego: Culture and Conflict in Central America, Teaching exhibition, Guest curator Jorge E. Cuellar, Class of 1967 Gallery and the LeWitt Wall, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 28-September 25, 2022.

Provenance

Booklyn Artists Alliance, Brooklyn, New York; sold to present collection, 2013.

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Subjects