1) DESCRIPTION
We can divide this cartoon in two different parts. First, on the left, we can observe a cameraman from "TV News" next to a reporter talking through a microphone of the same TV channel. This reporter is wearing an elegant black suit and according to his facial expression, he looks very glad to talk to the "300 millionth American". His goal is to interview the man on the right. We can clearly notice the strong contrast between the American reporter and the man in rags. According to what's written in the speech bubble, we can deduce that he's not an American citizen, but a Mexican man. He only has a few belongings and because of the piece of barbed wire attached to his feet, we could say that he just crossed the border between the United States and Mexico. He looks completely lost and he doesn't understand what the reporter is asking him.
2) INTERPRETATION
First of all, it looks quite obvious to me that this cartoon aims to show that the majority of emigrants to the United States are Mexican people. But it is a well known fact that the American factories are located in the border area between the United States and Mexico. In fact, it's a strategic choice for the United States because the workforce is cheaper in Mexico. These factories are called "Maquiladoras", and the products coming out of them are exported to the United States. But this creates a paradox because the only things that can circulate are these products, not people. Even though, Mexican people manage to emigrate to the United States illegally. In the cartoon, the man in rags could stand for all of those Mexican people who take risks to cross the border with only a few things to survive. Nate Beeler wants to criticize the miserable conditions of the immigrants when they come to cross borders. It shouldn't be illegal to immigrate to another country when you have to work without social security, in bad working conditons and very low wages.
The words of the American reporter shows how a huge part of American people are immigrants, and how they don't know anything about the English language. This could also mean that immigrants are not well integrated in their new country, and this creates social inequalities between native American people and South American immigrants. This imbalance is shown in the cartoon because of the difference between the TV channel equipment and the few items of the Mexican man.
3) How far does it illustrate the 'Spaces & Exchanges' notion?
This cartoon illustrates the 'Spaces and Exchanges' notion because it shows how moving from one place to another can be arduous and painful. Mexican immigrants have to deal with the space between Mexico and the United States they have to go accross, which is a dangerous thing to do. But then, they arrive in the United States hoping to have a better lifestyle and they're often marginalized. They don't have any type of exchange with American people. In fact, Mexican people represent a huge proportion of American inhabitants so they create a kind of Mexican comunity in the United States. They have the same culture as before, but in the United States. Therefore, they don't comunicate with American people and they don't exchange anything from their culture with them, because they may feel rejected by bornedAmerican people. To conclude, we could say that changing our spaces don't always allow us to exchange with new people.
