DigitalCommons@Linfield

Communication and the Rhetoric of Fear: An Analysis of Protest Rhetoric of Signs and Slogans of the Arizona Immigration Law Debate

Jereld R. Nicholson Library

This critical essay focuses on the ideological critique of the communication of rhetoric of fear as conveyed in the protest signs and slogans regarding the Arizona immigration law debate. Thus, the principle research question is what ideologies do the slogans and signs used in protest rhetoric pertaining to the Arizona immigration law promote about immigrants in the United States? The ideologies presented in the particular artifacts, carried by those who support Arizona’s SB 1070, include ideas about multiculturalism, nationalism, patriotism, conservatism, anti-terrorism, and anti-Communism. These ideas contribute to the greater concept of the ideology of fear of the “other.”