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31 Berkeley La Raza L.J. 1 (2021)
Why Xenophobia?

handle is hein.journals/berklarlj31 and id is 2 raw text is: WHY XENOPHOBIA? Natsu Taylor Saito* Xenophobia is deeply intertwined with racism but nevertheless maintains a life of its own. Focusing on the structural drivers of xenophobia in the United States, this essay asks what xenophobia accomplishes that racism alone does not. It posits that while xenophobia serves many purposes, one of its most significant functions is to legitimize the very existence of the settler colonial state. Beyond that, xenophobia empowers the state by (1) galvanizing a national response that can counteract the internal divisions promoted by racialization, (2) sanctioning the use of raw power against racialized Others in ways not otherwise considered acceptable, (3) facilitating the militarization of domestic repression, and (4) diverting attention from the real costs and consequences of empire. By reinforcing state structures in these ways, xenophobia may further the interests not only of those who envision the United States as an explicitly racial project but also those who strive for an assimilationist, postracial future. Introduction ..................................................................................................... . . .. 2 I. D efining X enophobia .......................................................................................... 5 II. Colonial roots.........................................................................................................6 III. Structural D rivers .......................................................................................... . . 9 IV. Legitimizing the Settler State .............................................................................11 V. Empowering the Settler State ..............................................................................14 A. Encouraging Internal Unification ..........................................................14 B. Unleashing Raw Political Power ...........................................................16 C. Facilitating Expansive and Pervasive Militarization..............................18 D. Avoiding (Some of) the Costs of Empire...............................................21 Concluding Thoughts ................................................................................................23 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38XP6V44M * Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta. An initial version of this essay was discussed at a March 2019 Workshop on Race, Empire and International Law at UCLA's School of Law, in conjunction with a conference on Critical Perspectives on Race and Human Rights: Transnational Re-Imaginings, and later presented at the 2019 LatCrit Biennial Conference held at Georgia State University's College of Law. I am grateful to the editors of the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal and the organizers of the LatCrit Symposium, and to Georgia State University for its research support. Special thanks to Tendayi Achiume for initially drawing me into discussions of xenophobia in international law.

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