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Saenz: A Summary and Response In today’s society, racial profiling is not unheard of; actually it is quite common. It is still at debate whether the act of racial profiling in moral or not. In Saenz’s essay, Exile. El Paso, Texas, he describes his personal experience of discrimination due to his ethnic background. Saenz is a Mexican-American and because he lives in El Paso, which is a border town, he is often mistaken for an illegal immigrant. Saenz is stopped on the streets of his neighborhood and questioned by border patrol. On one such occasion, Saenz becomes annoyed and says to himself, “…pretty soon I’ll have to carry a passport in my own neighborhood.” Saenz describes his anger and despair brought by the discrimination he experiences in El Paso. Saenz attempts to show the reader what it is like to be the subject of racial profiling and show the impact of racial profiling on the individual. Saenz effectively does this through his color symbolism, and tonal shifts in dialogue. Saenz comes up with an interesting and clever way to present the effects of racial profiling. He uses color to effectively portray his feelings. Towards the beginning of the essay, Saenz sees the colors that represent El Paso as good. Saenz says, “…I looked out my window and stared at the Juarez Mountains. Mexican purples – burning.” Here we see that Saenz is enjoying his desk view. He goes further in describing how he feels, “All this color, all this color, all this color beneath the shadow of the Juarez Mountains. Sunset Heights: a perfect place with a perfect name, and a perfect view of the river.” These colors, especially the purple, represent the beauty of El Paso for him. At this point in the essay, it is easy for Saenz to find the beauty of El Paso.
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