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Ricky Mosqueda

Professor Valerie Fong


February 21, 2016
English 1S

Borders and Borderlands


When it comes to the topic of borders and borderlands, most us of will agree that they can
be either physical or they can be mental. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the
question of what creates these barriers? Whereas some are convinced that these barriers are
physical objects such as a fence, others maintain the idea that they are created mentally by
people. Ultimately, what is important to consider when discussing this topic is that even though
we have become very diverse as human beings we still have borders and borderlands that
separate us from each other.
In Our Wall by Charles Bowden he talks about the separation that is caused by borders
and borderlands with a physical barrier. Bowden demonstrates shows his audience that A border
wall seems to violate a deep sense of identity most Americans cherish (227). In this you can see
that he feels that borders not only separate people but it also robs them of who they are because,
in a way they have to be different from the other side. Bowden also expresses throughout the
article that people create these obstacles to feel dominant over others. He also states that some
people feel the need to feel powerful because We create walls and love the idea of them. These
borders create a sense of fear and the desire for control.. This is true because even when
walking around your neighborhood you may encounter signs private property or restricted area
which means you better keep away if you are not allowed access. Bowden feels that these

physical obstacles are the reason to being separated between people yet, Rebecca Solin might
disagree because she expresses that you can be exiled mentally.
In Who Am I Where? by Rebecca Solnit she also feels that barrier but it more of a mental
thing for her. She feels like this specifically when she says I can see that. For me, in the sunset, I
am almost irish enough but not San Franciscan enough. She feels that she doesn't really fit in
because she doesn't make the cut in the view of others eyes. Brooks feels that even if your
economic status is enough to live in an area you may be blocked out by peoples beliefs of who
can live there. He gives a perfect example of this when In Manhattan the owner of a $3 million
SoHo loft would feel out of place moving into a $3 million Fifth Avenue apartment. You can see
even though both areas cost the same you only live where you feel you belong and can live
comfortably. Rebecca Solin and David Brooks have the same opinion on about borders and
borderlands because they both show how people change in different areas.
In People Like Us by David Brooks he shows how some people choose to create borders.
A perfect example of how people divide themselves is when he says If you asked a Democratic
lawyer to move from her $750,000 house in Bethesda, Maryland, to a $750,000 house in Great
Falls, Virginia, she'd look at you as if you had just asked her to buy a pickup truck with a gun
rack and to shove chewing tobacco in her kid's mouth. This is a great exreample of how people
will divide of into communities where they have common status quo.
Border and borderlands separate us either in a physical way like the Mexican and United
States border or more like a mental way as in the same people live in the same neighborhood.
Although we see more diversity now in day there is still a lot of separation between humanity
because of all the barriers that we have created such as economy and even comfortability. One

concern about this could be us living like people did in the United States during the segregation
era just more incognito.

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