By Taylor Benjamin

“MADE IN AMERICA (Imported from China)” It critiques American hypocrisy and xenophobia, especially toward immigrants, by highlighting how much of "American life" is built on imported goods and labor. Description: Left Panel: Shows the outside of “A Bar in Somewhere, USA.” Inside, a patron is angrily yelling “Go back home!”—clearly targeting immigrants. Right Panel (Interior of the bar): Vodka: Russia Peanuts: India Nikes: Indonesia Pool table: China The two people being yelled at are presumably immigrants or people of color. The irony: almost everything inside this “American” bar is imported, yet the people are being told to “go back home.”
A hand-drawn political cartoon titled “America: ‘The Melting Pot’” by Taylor Benjamin. It critiques the idea of America as an inclusive society, exposing the exclusion and marginalization experienced by various groups. Breakdown of the Cartoon: Panel 1: A young girl with a bag looks uncertain or skeptical, standing outside the metaphorical "melting pot." Panel 2: A large pot, styled like a soup pot, has a sign reading “ALL ALLOWED EXCEPT:” with people inside enthusiastically saying, “Come on in! The water is great!” Below them, a group is clearly excluded—people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+, and women—who stand outside looking left out and cold. Panel 3: The same girl from panel 1 approaches the pot and reads the exclusion sign up close: ALL ALLOWED EXCEPT: People of color Immigrants LGBTQ+ Women She responds with a sarcastic “Yeah sure,” while those excluded shiver and say “Brrr.”

MADE IN AMERICA (IMPORTED FROM CHINA)

A bar in somewhere, USA

Vodka: Russian
Pool Table: China
Sneakers: Indonesia
Peanuts: India

-“Go Back Home!”

AMERICA: THE MELTING POT

-Come in the water it’s great
+Yeah Sure…

[On the entrance banner]
All Allowed Except for:
People of Color
Immigrants
LGBTQ+
Women

Armita is…

  • 25 years old
  • Female
  • Based on the official government forms, we are Caucasian, but us Middle Eastern are most definitely not white
  • Iranian
  • Straight
  • Upper Middle class
  • Atheist