essay writing about xenophobia

5 Essays About Xenophobia

The word “xenophobia” has ties to the Greek words “xenos,” which means “stranger or “guest,” and “phobos,” which means “fear” or “flight.” It makes sense that today we define “xenophobia” as a fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners. Xenophobia has always existed, but the world has experienced a surge in recent years. The essays described in this article provide examples of xenophobia, its ties to anti-immigration and nationalism, and how diseases like COVID-19 trigger prejudice.

“These charts show migrants aren’t South Africa’s biggest problem”

Abdi Latif Dahir  | Quartz Africa

Between March 29-April 2 in 2019, violence broke out in a South African municipality. Foreign nationals were targeted. Even though people were killed and businesses looted and destroyed, the police didn’t make any arrests. This represents a pattern of violence against foreigners who are mostly migrants from other places in Africa. Reporter Abdi Latif Dahir explains that these recent attacks are based on a belief that migrants cause South Africa’s economic and social problems. In this article from Quartz Africa, he outlines what people are blaming migrants for. As an example, while politicians claim that migrants are burdening the country, the data shows that migrants make up a very small percentage of the country.

Abdi Latif Dahir reports for Quartz Africa and speaks multiple languages. He also holds a master’s of arts degree in political journalism from Columbia University.

“Opinion: A rise in nationalism could hurt minorities”

Raveena Chaudhari | The Red and Black

Nationalism is on the rise in many countries around the world, including the US. The election of Donald Trump signaled a resurgence in nationalism, including white nationalism. In her essay, Raveena Chaudhari explains that far-right politics have been gaining steam in Western Europe since the 1980s. The US is just following the trend. She also uses the terms “patriotism,” which is an important part of the American identity, and “nativism,” which is closely linked to a fear of immigrants and diversity. Xenophobia easily emerges from these ideas. Minorities feel the consequences of a rise in nationalism most keenly. Raveena Chaudhari is a junior accounting major and staff writer for The Red and Black, a nonprofit corporation that circulates the largest college newspaper in Georgia. For 87 years, it operated under the University of Georgia but is now independent of the college.

“The Deep Roots of Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Policies”

Daniel Denvir | Jacobin

In this essay, author Daniel Denvir digs into the background of President Trump’s anti-immigration policies. At the time of this piece’s writing, the Supreme Court had allowed the administration to exclude certain groups from entering the United States. The travel ban has been labeled the “Muslim ban.” Where did these anti-immigrant views come from? They aren’t original to Donald Trump. Denvir outlines the history of racist and xenophobic policies that paint immigrants as a threat to America. Knowing that these views are ingrained in American society is important if we want change.

Daniel Denvir is the host of “The Dig” on Jacobin Radio and the author of All-American Nativism, a critique of nativists and moderate Democrats.

“Nationalism isn’t xenophobia, but it’s just as bad” 

Jeffrey Friedman | Niskanen Center

If you’re unsure what the difference is between nationalism and xenophobia, this essay can help clarify things. Written in 2017, this piece starts by examining surveys and studies measuring how xenophobic Trump supporters are. They also explore the reasons why people oppose illegal/legal immigration. The core of the essay, though, takes a look at nationalism vs. xenophobia. While different, Friedman argues that they are both irrational. The distinction is important as it reveals common ground between Trump supporters and Trump opponents. What does this mean?

Jeffrey Friedman is a visiting scholar in the Charles and Louise Tarver Department of Political Science at the University of California. He’s also an editor and author.

Xenophobia ‘Is A Pre-Existing Condition.’ How Harmful Stereotypes and Racism are Spreading Around the Coronavirus 

Jasmine Aguilera | Time

As COVID-19 spreads throughout the world, there’s been a surge in racism against people of Asian descent. In her essay, Jasmine Aguilera relates examples of this discrimination, as well as responses as people take to social media to combat xenophobia. Reacting with racism to a disease is not a new phenomenon. It’s happened in the past with SARS, Ebola, and H1N1. Society always looks for a scapegoat and minorities usually suffer. This has an impact on a population’s health, livelihood, and safety.

Jasmine Aguilera is a contributor to Time Magazine. She has written several articles about COVID-19 for the publication.

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Xenophobia – The Fear of Foreigners Essay

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Introduction

Illustrations of xenophobia.

Someone somewhere is afraid of wolves while another one is afraid of spiders. There are people who are afraid of water, plants, light, bad smell and even other people. People live in constant fear of diverse things, actions and even emotions. Some of these fears are normal while others are quite abnormal. Why do people develop fears? People develop fears because as they interact with various things in the universe, they tend to develop some psychological detachments that may end up producing a certain kind of antipathy towards some objects (Bourne 9). This kind of fear generates hatred towards the specific object and any encounter with the said object will elicit irrational behaviors from the subject.

Fear is also called phobia and one of the most common phobias is called Xenophobia. Xenophobia is associated with foreigners. It is also associated with guests and even strangers. The feeling of high levels of antipathy or fear towards foreigners is called xenophobia (Wolpe 111). This fear is usually irrational and is associated with some emotional problems though sometimes it can be exhibited by people who are emotionally sound. People with post-traumatic stress disorder are likely to exhibit this irrational fear. In most cases, this fear is connected with past associations with members of the grouping that the foreigner or the stranger comes from.

For example, there was a white woman in the UK who was brutally attacked by two black men. They left her with a deformed wrist. After the incident, whenever she came across any black person, she would develop panic attacks and run away from the people (Kessler 12). This fear is irrational because it tends to associate people of a certain group with a past action. This reaction of the woman is xenophobic because it highlights fear and hatred of people of another race emanating. Xenophobia is not just a fear of persons whom the subject considers foreigners or strangers. It also entails any aversion to the cultures, the norms, values, belief systems and the practices of the strangers or the foreigners in question.

This means that it is a very wide concept that entails things like origin, linguistic conventions, ways of life, habits and even religious dispositions (Latimer 45). Xenophobia is not racism, but racism is a subset of xenophobia. This is because not all people of a different race are foreigners but someone may hate a foreigner just because of his or her racial background. Xenophobia in most cases has to do with nationalities though in some cases, the issue of race creeps in.

There are cases where xenophobia and racism are used to refer to the same thing especially in Eastern Europe where there are very few natives from other races. In this case, every person of another race is considered to be a foreigner and the fear and hate directed to that person is actually based on racial grounds. However, Xenophobia transcends race and culture because this irrational fear can be extended to people on very many other grounds.

Xenophobia is a concept of fear that has two vital components. The first component is a sub-set of a population that is usually not part of a larger society. This subset represents the immigrants. The immigrants may be recent immigrants or past immigrants that have already been integrated into that society. Xenophobia emanating from this component is very dangerous because it can degenerate into violence or even genocide. There have been cases of mass expulsion of immigrants and foreigners due to this fear of foreigners in some parts of the world recently. The best example of xenophobic reactions was witnessed in South Africa, where foreigners were expunged from major cities by the locals.

The reason behind these xenophobic attacks in South Africa was that the immigrants had taken over the jobs that were meant for the natives and these foreigners were also creating competition for business and economic activities.

The success of the immigrant populations in South Africa intimidated the locals and they feared that the foreigners were going to eclipse them economically. The xenophobic tensions lasted for the better part of the year 2000 leading to hundreds of deaths and massive displacements of immigrants from other parts of Africa (Audie 23). The main targets were Zimbabweans who had run away from the economic crisis that had hit their country then. Other targets of the xenophobic attacks included Somalis, Kenyans and Zambians who were excelling economically in South Africa.

The second component of xenophobia entails the fear of cultures and the main target of this form of xenophobia is some behaviors and practices that are considered to be strange. Every culture has some influences from the outside. There are some cultures that are considered impure because they do not conform to the native cultures and the owners of these cultures can be victims of xenophobia. This is one problem that faces Indians.

Their cultures and practices are usually considered strange in many parts of the world and they have increasingly become victims of xenophobia especially in Europe. However, this type of xenophobia is mild and in most cases, it does not elicit aggression.

The fear of foreigners from a racist perspective is another common form in the world. The form of racism that the Anglo Americans suffer in the United States of America is not xenophobic. There is no fear in this racism. However, the form of racism that is extended to the Latinos in the United States of America is xenophobic. The Latinos are feared and loathed by the natives in the US and they are usually regarded as criminals. This xenophobia emanated from the concept of illegal immigration. Most of the Latinos that are in the United States of America are illegal immigrants mostly from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and many other Central and South American countries.

Illegal immigration is considered a crime in the US and anyone who gets to the country without the required immigration paperwork is considered to be a criminal. This means that the Latinos, because of the fact that most of them are illegal immigrants, are viewed as criminals by the natives of the United States of America. This has presented a big problem to the Latino population in the United States of America because the natives have developed an irrational fear of the Latinos and in case of an incident of crime, the Latinos are usually implicated.

This fear of the Latinos has generated hate that has seen a lot of negative stereotypes emerge about the Latinos in the US. Apart from the criminal stereotype, Latinos are also considered to be very unintelligent and this stereotype emanates from the fact that most criminals are people who never made it to school. This means that the people of the United States of America believe that Latinos are not intelligent because they are criminals.

Is xenophobia justified, especially in the 21 st century? This is the time that the world should be celebrating cultural diversity but lurking in the shadow is this black menace called xenophobia. The future of the world lies in the acceptance of diversity that is there in the universe and showing utmost tolerance to other people, their practices and belief systems. The world we are living in is different from the world that was there a century ago. In the past, people used to live under geographical confines and it was hard to come across foreigners or people whose values and practices were not in tandem with those of the locality.

However, the world has changed and in this era of globalization, movement from one point of the world to another is very common. This means that the chances of having an encounter with a foreigner are very high. The world has reached a point where it is inevitable to live without foreigners which means that if there is to be peaceful co-existence in the world, then the tolerance of other foreigners and their entire cultural systems must be practiced. There are some forms of fear of foreigners that are justifiable because of the psychological connections that are there but there are some that can be fought (Crozier 67).

This is because some instances of xenophobia emanate from attitudes that are formed against people of certain origins. This means that if these attitudes are quashed, these forms of xenophobia can be eradicated. For example, the fear of foreigners especially people from specific African countries by South Africans was a result of the formation of attitudes towards those people. Instead of appreciating that these people are working hard to uplift the economy of their country, they develop fears that the increasing numbers of African immigrants in South Africa are threatening economic and business opportunities.

The fear of the Latinos in the United States of America is also based on a false belief that all Latinos are criminals because they entered the country in a manner that is considered criminal. Xenophobia is very harmful to a society or a country. It can easily lead to violent reactions or even genocide. This is because intensive fear generates hate which leads to anti-social practices against the targeted population (Audie 23). The genocidal killings that took place in Europe during the Third Reich were partly because of the irrational fear of the Jews and their geographic expansion which led to a war against them that saw their near extermination by the Nazi regime.

The fear of foreigners is something that is supposed to be unheard of in the 21 st century yet cases of xenophobia are increasingly being reported. In the UK and the US, xenophobia or the fear of foreigners has taken a religious twist and it has become Islamophobia. Their fear of Muslims nationalities has heightened and this has led to the development of a climate that is unconducive for the Muslims in the two countries.

Muslims have become targets of antisocial behaviors including exclusion and even bullying. In the UK, this fear was aggravated by the London bombings in the middle of the last decade while in the United States of America, this xenophobia widened after the catastrophic terrorist bombings of September 11, 2001. In the two countries, a person from an Islamic background is always viewed as a potential terrorist. The fear of the Muslims in the two countries is evidenced by the specialized checks that the Muslims undergo at the airports before they can be allowed into the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

This action by the two countries has elicited the same kind of response towards American citizens living in Islamic countries. Americans living in Islamic countries have been victims of xenophobic attacks. To start with, the Americans are usually considered to be spies sent on a mission to track terrorists meaning that the nationals in the Islamic countries especially in the Middle East live in fear of the Americans who live in their countries. Secondly, the tensions between the Islamic countries and the United States of America have generated hatred towards the Americans living in those countries and this has heightened xenophobia that is directed towards them.

In conclusion, human beings will continue to live in fear of different things depending on the nature of interactions between them and those things but the worst form of fear is the fear of the other human beings. This is because this is the fear that can have the most dangerous consequences.

Apart from the emotional trauma arising from the aftermath of the actions that are triggered by this fear, xenophobia has led to the wiping off of millions of people from the face of the earth during various instances of genocides. In the 21 st century when the world is said to be a global village, the levels of hatred and intolerance that are brought by xenophobia can be very dangerous especially towards the dream of integration of cultures that is expected to unite the people of the world.

Audie, Katherine. “International Relations and Migration in Southern Africa”. Institute for Security Studies: African Security Review Vol 6 no 3, 1997.

Bourne, Edmund. The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook. New Jersey: New Harbinger Publications. 2005.

Kessler, Edward. Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication , 2005, Archive of General Psychiatry, Volume 20.

Crozier, Ray. International Handbook of Social Anxiety: Concepts, Research, and Interventions Relating to the Self and Shyness . New York: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2000.

Latimer, Paul. Phobia and psychology: NY: Sage. 2009.

Wolpe, Joseph. Psychotherapy by reciprocal inhibition. Washington: Stanford University Press.

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IvyPanda . 2021. "Xenophobia - The Fear of Foreigners." December 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/xenophobia-the-fear-of-foreigners/.

1. IvyPanda . "Xenophobia - The Fear of Foreigners." December 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/xenophobia-the-fear-of-foreigners/.

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IvyPanda . "Xenophobia - The Fear of Foreigners." December 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/xenophobia-the-fear-of-foreigners/.

Essay on Xenophobia

Students are often asked to write an essay on Xenophobia in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Xenophobia

Understanding xenophobia.

Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners. It’s a complex issue that can lead to discrimination, violence, and social conflict.

Causes of Xenophobia

Impacts of xenophobia.

Xenophobia can harm individuals and communities, leading to social division and conflict. It can also hinder cultural diversity and mutual understanding.

Addressing Xenophobia

To combat xenophobia, it’s important to promote tolerance, diversity, and understanding. Education and open dialogue can play a key role in this process.

250 Words Essay on Xenophobia

Defining xenophobia.

Xenophobia, derived from the Greek words ‘xenos’ (strange) and ‘phobos’ (fear), is the irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived as different or foreign. It is a social phenomenon that manifests in numerous ways, primarily through attitudes of prejudice and discrimination.

The Roots of Xenophobia

Xenophobia is deeply rooted in human psychology and societal structures. It can be traced back to our evolutionary past, where in-group favouritism and out-group hostility were survival mechanisms. In modern times, xenophobia often arises from economic, political, and social insecurities, creating scapegoats for complex issues.

Xenophobia’s Impact on Society

Xenophobia’s impact is far-reaching and detrimental. It fosters social division, fuels hate crimes, and hinders cultural exchange and mutual understanding. Additionally, it can lead to policies that are discriminatory and violate human rights.

Combating Xenophobia

Addressing xenophobia requires a multi-faceted approach. Education plays a crucial role in challenging stereotypes and fostering understanding. Policies promoting diversity and inclusivity can also help. Moreover, media has a responsibility to portray diverse groups accurately and sensitively.

500 Words Essay on Xenophobia

Introduction.

Xenophobia, derived from the Greek words ‘xenos’ meaning ‘stranger’ or ‘foreigner’ and ‘phobos’ meaning ‘fear’, is an intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries. It manifests in many ways, ranging from bias and prejudice to violence and hate crimes. Xenophobia is a complex and multifaceted issue that has significant socio-cultural and political implications.

Historical Context and Causes

Xenophobia is not a new phenomenon. It has been prevalent throughout history, often exacerbated during times of economic hardship, political instability, or when a society feels its identity is under threat. The causes of xenophobia are multifaceted, often rooted in ignorance, misinformation, and fear. It can stem from a perceived threat to a community’s economic status, cultural identity, or social cohesion.

The impacts of xenophobia are far-reaching and destructive, affecting individuals and communities on multiple levels. At an individual level, victims of xenophobia can experience psychological trauma, social isolation, and economic disadvantage. On a societal level, xenophobia can lead to social division, conflict, and can undermine social cohesion. It can also negatively impact a nation’s reputation and relationships with other countries.

Xenophobia and Globalization

Addressing xenophobia requires a multifaceted approach. Education plays a crucial role in combating ignorance and misinformation that often fuels xenophobia. Schools and universities should promote cultural understanding and tolerance, encouraging students to challenge their biases and stereotypes. Governments have a responsibility to enact and enforce laws that protect individuals from hate crimes and discrimination. The media also plays a critical role in shaping public opinion and should strive to present balanced and accurate depictions of different cultures and communities.

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Xenophobia in American Society

Xenophobia, racism, and gender discrimination are, unfortunately, common tendencies in the world, which hinder people’s equal rights. This inequality in American society is the most noticeable, since many people face discrimination, disrespect, and even violence because of their skin color or religion at the same time with democratic values’ proclamation. This paradox one can notice throughout history, since the country that is practically formed by immigrants rejects them and fears. Consequently, American xenophobia is a habit of the past that people cannot overcome for centuries.

Modern xenophobia is not much different from the processes that took place centuries ago, although it would seem that progressive American society must overcome its bias and prejudice. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the American government created the conditions for foreigners to fill the labor shortage and boost the American economy. Next, they deported foreigners from their country as soon as labor was no longer needed, and the workers became “job thieves.” Today, the government proposes to build a wall, refuse visas to residents of Arab countries, and does its best to protect America from foreigners carrying threats. These tendencies show deep historical and outdated roots of xenophobia, which were born when tribes feuded for lack of food and perceived any outsider as an enemy.

In modern society, xenophobia does not have enough justification for its existence, since most foreigners come to the country and become Americans despite their religion and skin color. Migrants do not come to the United States to destroy a local culture or devastate the economy, but only to benefit themselves and the society in which they live. They create their ethnic communities in which they honor their traditions, but at the same time, they embrace American culture. I can’t entirely agree that equality and acceptance in the United States is an absolute myth because if it did not exist, it would not be discussed in society. However, the constant debate about immigrants and minorities often reinforces xenophobia even further as they focus on people’s differences. “White America,” defined by white Americans Catholic or non-religious Americans, is afraid of foreigners only because the political forces incite this fear in them and pass laws that turn society into the past.

However, it is true that most often, only migrants who have white skin and are Catholics will eventually be able to get rid of the prejudices and discrimination of society towards them because they “merge” with it. At the same time, although equality exists on a legal level, and a migrant has a chance to build a career and achieve significant success, routine discrimination usually does not disappear if a person’s skin color or religion cannot be hidden. This discrimination can be unintentional, but it shows that a person is perceived as a stranger.

Therefore, xenophobia in contemporary American society is a primitive historical fear of outsiders, combined with a bias that, in most cases, lacks rational justification. This fear is fueled by discussions in which people, for personal reasons, find the negative aspects of migrants, as well as the laws that the government passes to protect their territories and citizens from “outsiders.” As long as there is a concept of “us” and “them” in the world and American society, xenophobia will not disappear, since it will be used as an instrument of influence and political interests.

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Xenophobia essay.

Xenophobia has come to be defined as the fear of foreigners. Etymologically, xenophobia can be broken down into the Greek terms xenos (stranger) and phobos (fear). In common usage xenophobia refers to a disdain for individuals or groups of persons that are different from oneself. This dislike can range from simple rude comments to much more dangerous forms of intolerance. Therefore, the term can have varying levels of sever ity in the amount of the fear of the foreign population, as well as in how this fear is manifested in thought and action. Several examples of both state and nonstate manifestations of xenophobia are warranted.

Immigrant groups are often subjected to xenophobic attitudes of existent populations in countries around the world. If a historical view is taken, it can be remembered that during the colonial periods colonists often held xenophobic views of native populations. In each of these cases, individuals and groups frequently associated cultural and ethnic stereotypes with the feared groups. This practice exacerbated cultural misunderstandings and has only served to increase the levels of narrow-mindedness that enter into these groups’ interactions in everyday life, as well as in social and political institutions.

Whole societies have experienced times in which xenophobia was ostensibly state governmental policy. Japan from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries is a prime example of this policy. During this period almost all foreigners and foreign influences were removed or banned from the country. While this policy ended in the mid-nineteenth century, it serves as a stark representation of xenophobia as governmental policy.

However, most xenophobia is not expressed through governmental policy. It is usually articulated on a more direct, personal level. An example of this type of xenophobia can be found in the successive waves of immigrants to New York City in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each new population of immigrants was subject to the xenophobic attitudes of the present inhabitants, many of whom also had immigrated recently and had been subject to xenophobia themselves. This xenophobia expressed itself through epithets, violence, and general discrimination, such as the “Irish need not apply” signs found in many shops.

In more recent times, immigration has continued to be a source of xenophobia. In the United States, for example, many groups have come together to protest illegal immigration, primarily from Latin America. Many observers have noted the xenophobic messages hidden superficially below the surface of the rhetoric in such publications and on such Web sites.

There are also many instances of xenophobia existing within the boundaries of one country, but among different factions, cultural minorities, or regional populations. For example, the Kurds of northern Iraq, as a population, have experienced xenophobic policies from governmental entities as well as a general social climate of xenophobia from other social and religious groups in that country. These exclusionary policies and less formal prejudices, for example, have contributed to the splintering of Iraq.

As countries experience increasing levels of social, political, and economic interdependence, the world is becoming ever more multicultural. This elevated level of interaction among diverse members of different communities may lead to a more tolerant and socially beneficent global population. Many signs indicate that the world is on the march to less xenophobia because of this increased contact and integration. However, many trends point to the unfortunate fact that xenophobia will continue to exist because of increased competition for resources, commerce, and political power.

The relative levels of xenophobia in and among countries are difficult to directly quantify. However, measures that investigate levels of perceived discrimination and the number of hate crimes in a population (although many countries do not yet have adequate tracking systems) can provide transferable evidence of the persistence of xenophobia. For example, a 2008 study by Human Rights First revealed that Finland, Ireland, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States showed moderate to high rises in the overall numbers of hate crimes in 2006 and 2007. Further, evidence of the problem of xenophobia was addressed in conferences sponsored by the United Nations in 2001 and 2009.

The future of xenophobia as a human condition is unlikely to end. This, of course, is a sad report on human relations that people fear what is not directly familiar to themselves and their normal experiences. One can only hope that the future will provide increased opportunities for diverse groups and populations to share their cultural traditions in an atmosphere of genuine interest in the other and mutual respect for them and their ways of life.

Bibliography:

• Human Rights First. 2008 Hate Crime Survey: Racism and Xenophobia, 2008, www.humanrightsfirst.org/discrimination/reports.aspx?q=print&s=racism-and xenophobia&p=racvio.
• Roemer, John E.,Woojin Lee, and Karine Van Straeten. Racism, Xenophobia, and Distribution: Multi-issue Politics in Advanced Democracies. New York: Russell Sage. 2007.
• Saideman, Stephen M., and R.William Ayres. For Kin or Country: Xenophobia, Nationalism, and War. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
• Taras, Ray. Europe Old and New: Transnationalism, Belonging, Xenophobia. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
• Wistrich, Robert S. Demonizing the Other: Antisemitism, Racism, and Xenophobia. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, 1999.

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What Is the Opposite of Xenophobic?

Xenophobia, or fear of strangers, is a broad term that may be applied to any fear of someone different from an individual. Hostility towards outsiders is often a reaction to fear. It typically involves the belief that there is a conflict between an individual's ingroup and an outgroup.

Xenophobia often overlaps with forms of prejudice , including racism and homophobia , but there are important distinctions. Where racism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination are based on specific characteristics, xenophobia is usually rooted in the perception that members of the outgroup are foreign to the ingroup community.

Whether xenophobia qualifies as a legitimate mental disorder is a subject of ongoing debate.

Xenophobia is also associated with large-scale acts of destruction and violence against groups of people.

Signs of Xenophobia

How can you tell if someone is xenophobic? While xenophobia can be expressed in different ways, typical signs include:

• Feeling uncomfortable around people who fall into a different group
• Going to great lengths to avoid particular areas
• Refusing to be friends with people solely due to their skin color, mode of dress, or other external factors
• Difficulty taking a supervisor seriously or connecting with a teammate who does not fall into the same racial, cultural, or religious group

While it may represent a true fear, most xenophobic people do not have a true phobia. Instead, the term is most often used to describe people who discriminate against foreigners and immigrants.

People who express xenophobia typically believe that their culture or nation is superior, want to keep immigrants out of their community, and may even engage in actions that are detrimental to those who are perceived as outsiders.

Is Xenophobia a Mental Disorder?

Xenophobia is not recognized as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). However, some psychologists and psychiatrists have suggested that extreme racism and prejudice should be recognized as a mental health problem.

Some have argued, for example, that extreme forms of prejudice should be considered a subtype of delusional disorder .   It is important to note that those who support this viewpoint also argue that prejudice only becomes pathological when it creates a significant disruption in a person's ability to function in daily life.

Other professionals argue that categorizing xenophobia or racism as a mental illness would be medicalizing a social problem.  

Types of Xenophobia

There are two primary types of xenophobia:

• Cultural xenophobia : This type involves rejecting objects, traditions, or symbols that are associated with another group or nationality. This can include language, clothing, music, and other traditions associated with the culture.
• Immigrant xenophobia : This type involves rejecting people who the xenophobic individual does not believe belongs in the ingroup society. This can involve rejecting people of different religions or nationalities and can lead to persecution, hostility, violence, and even genocide.

The desire to belong to a group is pervasive—and strong identification with a particular group can even be healthy. However, it may also lead to suspicion of those who are perceived to not belong.

It is natural and possibly instinctive to want to protect the interests of the group by eliminating threats to those interests. Unfortunately, this natural protectiveness often causes members of a group to shun or even attack those who are perceived as different, even if they actually pose no legitimate threat at all.

Xenophobia vs. Racism

Xenophobia and racism are similar in that they both involve prejudice and discrimination, but there are important differences to consider. Where xenophobia is the fear of anyone who is considered a foreigner, racism is specifically directed toward people based on their race or ethnicity. People can be both xenophobic and racist.

Examples of Xenophobia

Unfortunately, xenophobia is all too common. It can range from covert acts of discrimination or subtle comments to overt acts of prejudice or even violence . Some examples of xenophobia include:

• Immigration policies : Xenophobia can influence how nations deal with immigration. This may include hostility and outright discrimination against immigrants. Specific groups of people may be the target of bans designed to keep them from moving to certain locations.
• Displacement : In the U.S., the forcible removal of Indigenous people from their land is an example of xenophobia. The use of residential schools in the U.S. and Canada was also rooted in xenophobic attitudes and was designed to force the cultural assimilation of Native American people.
• Violence : For example, attacks on people of Asian descent have increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Causes of Xenophobia

There are a number of different factors believed to contribute to xenophobia: 

• Social and economic insecurity : People often look for someone to blame in times of economic hardship or social upheaval. Immigrants and minorities are often scapegoated as the cause of society's ills.
• Lack of contact : People with little or no contact with people from other cultures or backgrounds are more likely to be fearful or mistrustful of them.
• Media portrayals : The way immigrants and minorities are portrayed in the media can also influence people's attitudes towards them. If they are only shown in a negative light, it can reinforce people's prejudices.
• Fear of strangers : In general, people are more likely to be afraid of unfamiliar things. This can apply to both physical appearance and cultural differences.

Impact of Xenophobia

Xenophobia doesn't just affect people at the individual level. It affects entire societies, including cultural attitudes, economics, politics, and history. Examples of xenophobia in the United States include acts of discrimination and violence against Latinx, Mexican, and Middle Eastern immigrants.

Xenophobia has been linked to:

• Hostility towards people of different backgrounds
• Decreased social and economic opportunity for outgroups
• Implicit bias toward members of outgroups
• Isolationism
• Discrimination
• Hate crimes
• Political positions
• War and genocide
• Controversial domestic and foreign policies

Certainly, not everyone who is xenophobic starts wars or commits hate crimes. But even veiled xenophobia can have insidious effects on both individuals and society. These attitudes can make it more difficult for people in certain groups to live within a society and affect all aspects of life including housing access , employment opportunities, and healthcare access.

The twisting of a positive trait (group harmony and protection from threats) into a negative (imagining threats where none exist) has led to any number of hate crimes, persecutions, wars, and general mistrust.

Xenophobia has a great potential to cause damage to others, rather than affecting only those who hold these attitudes.

How to Combat Xenophobia

If you struggle with feelings of xenophobia, there are things that you can do to overcome these attitudes.

• Broaden your experience. Many people who display xenophobia have lived relatively sheltered lives with little exposure to those who are different from them. Traveling to different parts of the world, or even spending time in a nearby city, might go a long way toward helping you face your fears.
• Fight your fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown is one of the most powerful fears of all. If you have not been exposed to other races, cultures, and religions, gaining more experience may be helpful in conquering your xenophobia.
• Pay attention. Notice when xenophobic thoughts happen. Make a conscious effort to replace these thoughts with more realistic ones.

If your or a loved one's xenophobia is more pervasive, recurring despite exposure to a wide variety of cultures, then professional treatment might be in order. Choose a therapist who is open-minded and interested in working with you for a long period of time.

Xenophobia is often deeply rooted in a combination of upbringing, religious teachings, and previous experiences. Successfully combating xenophobia generally means confronting numerous aspects of the personality and learning new ways of experiencing the world.

While xenophobia describes a fear of strangers, foreigners, or immigrants, xenophilia, or the act of being xenophilic, describes an appreciation and attraction to foreign people or customs.

History of Xenophobia

Xenophobia has played a role in shaping human history for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans used their beliefs that their cultures were superior to justify the enslavement of others. Many nations throughout the world have a history of xenophobic attitudes toward foreigners and immigrants. 

The term xenophobia originates from the Greek word xenos meaning "stranger" and phobos meaning "fear.

Xenophobia has also led to acts of discrimination, violence, and genocide throughout the world, including:

• The World War II Holocaust 
• The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II
• The Rwandan genocide
• The Holodomor genocide in Ukraine
• The Cambodian genocide

Recent examples in the United States include discrimination toward people of Middle Eastern descent (often referred to as "Islamophobia") and xenophobic attitudes towards Mexican and Latinx immigrants. The COVID-19 pandemic also led to reports of xenophobia directed toward people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent in countries throughout the world.

Suleman S, Garber K, Rutkow L. Xenophobia as a determinant of health: An integrative review . J Public Health Policy . 2018;39(4):407-423. doi:10.1057/s41271-018-0140-1

Choane M, Shulika LS, Mthombeni M. An analysis of the causes, effects and ramifications of xenophobia in South Africa . Insight Afr . 2011;3(2):12-142.

Poussaint AF. Is extreme racism a mental illness? Yes: It can be a delusional symptom of psychotic disorders .  West J Med . 2002;176(1):4. doi:10.1136/ewjm.176.1.4

Bell C. Racism: A mental illness? . Psychiatr Serv . 2004;55(12):1343. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.55.12.1343

Baumeister RF, Leary MR. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation . Psychol Bull . 1995;117(3):497-529.

National Cancer Institute. Let's talk about xenophobia and anti-Asian hate crimes .

Klein JR. Xenophobia and crime . In: Miller JM, ed. The Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology . Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; 2014. doi:10.1002/9781118517390.wbetc094

Merriam-Webster. ' Xenophobia' vs. 'racism .'

Romero LA, Zarrugh A. Islamophobia and the making of Latinos/as into terrorist threats . Ethnic Racial Stud . 2018;12:2235-2254. doi:10.1080/01419870.2017.1349919

American Medical Association. AMA warns against racism, xenophobia amid COVID-19 .

By Lisa Fritscher Lisa Fritscher is a freelance writer and editor with a deep interest in phobias and other mental health topics.

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PTE Essay-Xenophobia

Xenophobia has accelerated rapidly in the western countries. according to you what solutions can be proposed by the government and individuals.

Model Answer-

Xenophobia is the mental condition in which a person has a strong aversion from strangers or foreigners and this sometimes results in violence. In many countries, racism and xenophobia are buried in the deep valley, but recently the number of such incidents have risen in western countries in the form of hate crime.In my opinion, both government and individuals should work together to curb Xenophobia.

The ideas of xenophobia have become so deeply ingrained in many people’s minds, making it a challenge to completely eliminate these harmful doctrines, however. Children, who are inclined to imitate whatever the acts of their parents, are likely to internalize or adopt a system of spurious beliefs if their parents’ faiths are erroneous, thus they grow up with racial stereotypes thereafter. Nevertheless, I believe that problems arising from xenophobia and racism can be and will be resolved eventually, as South African president Nelson Mandela had declared: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” If racist and xenophobic attitudes are alterable, then it is our duty to proactively annihilate them by openly addressing and discussing the issues emerged so that further incidents can be prevented, and by spreading the message of love, peace, and universal brotherhood, rather than hatred and hostility.

On the other hand, the government should organize awareness programs and educate its citizens about different cultures, races, and ethnicity.Secondly, government can encourage student-exchange programs where students from one country/race/community would shift to a different environment and for a temporary period would accept the difference.This would make the people sensitive towards the desires of each other and broaden the thinking. The government can also introduce more awards like Nobel Peace Prize that can motivate people to work towards unity and not hatred.

Moreover, people should travel around the world, discovering new cultures and new people from the different country so that they judge the people from their real characteristics, rather than just judge all the people of a country in the same way.Xenophobia now is a tough war to beat but together we all can make a difference and make our world a happy place.

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Another Milestone in Mexico: Its First Jewish President

Claudia Sheinbaum was born to Jewish parents, but she has played down her heritage on the campaign trail.

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By Simon Romero and Natalie Kitroeff

Reporting from Mexico City

Mexico elected its first Jewish president over the weekend, a remarkable step in a country with one of the world’s largest Catholic populations.

Yet if it is a watershed moment for Mexico, it has been overshadowed by another one: President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum will also be the first woman to lead the country.

There is another reason there’s been relatively little discussion of her Judaism.

Ms. Sheinbaum, 61, rarely discusses her heritage. When she does, she tends to convey a more distant relationship to Judaism than many others in Mexico’s Jewish community, which stretches back to the origins of Mexico itself, and today numbers about 59,000 in a country of 130 million people.

“Of course I know where I come from, but my parents were atheists,” Ms. Sheinbaum told The New York Times in a 2020 interview. “I never belonged to the Jewish community. We grew up a little removed from that.”

Ms. Sheinbaum’s parents were both leftists and involved in the sciences, and she was raised in a secular household in Mexico City in the 1960s and 70s, a time of considerable political agitation in Mexico.

“The way she embraces her own Mexican identity, from a very young age, is rooted in science, socialism, political activism,” said Tessy Schlosser, director of the Mexican Jewish Documentation and Research Center.

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Published: Friday 25th of January 2013