The Border Narrative Machine: A Reflection on a Lost Debate at Yale

I lost the debate, I got hissed at, and I got a dose of humility. More importantly, I got a privileged view of how the national discourse works to shut down alternatives to militarizing the border.

When I finished my talk at Yale on Valentine’s Day, hands shot up with questions. One of the first questions came from a student who immediately referred to the “sob story” I had shared. He paused, then added, “a sob story that wasn’t even that good.” I stared at him, so surprised by his insult that I wondered if I had misheard (I hadn’t).

I had been inv…