A community is defined as a body of individuals who live in the same place with common interests or people who share common interests, goals, and attitudes. At least when you google it, this is the definition you will find. However, most of us define a community as a group of people who are there for each other when they need love, support, and encouragement. If you were told to close your eyes and paint a picture in your head of what a community looks like, you would probably picture people who are just welcoming and supportive of each other.
Happy and positive thoughts are probably the only thing that we can imagine. The google definition of a community brings up many questions on whether hate groups, such as the Klu Klux Klan, would be considered a community.
Some people may argue that although these hate groups are counterproductive, they fit the definition of what a community is. However, a community is supposed to be made up of people who bring people together and support each other with a sense of belonging.
Hate groups, such as christian identity groups or anti-immigration groups, should not be considered communities as they do not unite people together and exclude people based on religion, gender, ethnicity, race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Anti-immigration groups are groups that believe that immigration should be banned, as they claim that immigration has led to an increase in crimes. They aim to fight and combat to an end to illegal immigration and secure all of the nation’s borders.
They have leaders and members who wish to reduce both legal and illegal immigration once and for all. These hate groups have close ties to white supremacist groups who focus on the inferiority of nonwhites.
A community should be made up of people who are welcoming to anyone who needs support and help in tough times or with any situation. Anti-immigration hate groups, such as the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR), however do not advocate for unity instead they are devoted to get rid of all immigrants in the nation. These groups aim getting rid of people because of their ethnicity/national origin. Their intentions do not unite the nation or the people of America, but instead lead to the increased separation of families all around the world. These groups aim at excluding immigrants and taking their rights as humans in this world. Instead of helping families who are struggling and who have immigrated to the United States, these groups are trying to get rid of them. An example of a community would be including everyone, regardless of their social group, and helping/ supporting them through anything.
A sense of belonging is an important value any community should have. Hate groups such as these anti-immigration groups do not carry this important value. Instead, we see these people all around the world harassing foreign-born people and their supporters. The California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR), an anti-immigration advocate group for example in the past has emphasised the exclusion of immigrants through their protests and propaganda. In December 8 2001, the California Coalition for Immigration Reform held the “In defense of America” rally, in which anti-immigrant groups clashed with latino right protests in the streets. This shows how these hate groups have not showed any sense of belonging to any of these immigrants or pro-immigrant groups. Barbara Coe, the founder of this group (CCIR), promoted propaganda which harassed foreign-born people. Barbara Coe had written that she supported all of the efforts of getting illegal immigrants deported to their country of origin where they could commit their “satanic acts at will”. Strong hatred words like these have been used to describe immigrants as savages and to confront these individual immigrants.
Some people may argue that these groups do fit in with the “definition” of what an actual community is. Some people may identify a community as close as possible of what google defines a community to be. Some people’s definition of a community could be, “a body of individuals who live in the same place with common interests or people who share common interests, goals, and attitudes”. However, these groups only fit the google definition of what a community is. But truly a community is a group of people who are there for each other when they need love, support, and encouragement. Groups such as the anti-immigration groups do not have any of these qualities. Instead they promote hatred, malice, violence, and hostility. They promote malice against people belonging to a race or ethnicity/ national origin. These groups have not done what a community truly does, and that is support everyone regardless of their ethnicity, gender, race, religion.
Community As a Group of People. (2021, Dec 23). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/community-as-a-group-of-people/