Donald Trump's Wall is not a Racist Symbol

My argument is that President Trump's proposed border wall (the "Wall") is a racist symbol. In order to convince the audience of this I will work to establish that the Wall is a Symbol, that it is a Symbol to Racists, and that it is a Symbol of Racist policies to Racists and is therefore a racist symbol. Note also that the burden of proof is favorable to my argument; I must merely cite that ANY people find it to be a symbol of racism, and not that it is a symbol of racism to all. Symbols mean whatever they are interpreted to mean, and if some people interpret this symbol to be racist, then it is therefore unarguably a symbol of racism TO THAT AUDIENCE and therefore the argument must carry. The executive order in question:https://www.whitehouse.gov...In this context, I will be using the following as the definition of a Symbol:"a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract."My argument will be constructed in these steps:A. Establishing that the idea of the Wall is a Symbol.B. Establishing that the Wall will always remain a Symbol.C. Identifying crossover between Racism and evaluation of the Wall.D. Determining that the Wall is a Symbol of Racism.Disclaimer: This argument does not require that I prove that the Wall is a racist policy. This argument is solely regarding the issue of whether the Wall is a symbol of racist policies (i.e. that it is a symbol of racism). Please do not expect or require that I prove anything other than the symbolism of the "actual" Wall.A. Establishing that the idea of the Wall is a SymbolFirst, it must be noted that the wall is only an idea, and not an actual wall. It will/may become an actual physical structure, but at the time of this debate it is merely a proposal documented in an executive order signed by President Trump. This nonexistance is immaterial.On the campaign trail three chants were heard at most Donald Trump rallies:1. Lock Her Up! (generally regarded as non-literal; indicating that Hillary Clinton is a crook and unfit for the White House)2. Drain the Swamp! (definitely non-literal; regarding removing corruption from Washington DC)3. Build the Wall! (a literal dictate; regarding the proposed ~2000 mile wall on the US-Mexican border)While "Build the Wall" is a literal chant, the very nature of chants is inherently symbolic. The chant (Build the Wall) represents the policy idea that Mexicans should not have free access to cross the border into America. Even opponents of the Wall understand the concept of and need for defending borders (although many don't agree with this policy plan in particular). Mr. Trump spent hundreds of hours in rallies extolling the virtues and necessity for this Wall, but a list of virtues won't get you as far as a pithy chant. The chant is symbolic of the Wall, and the Wall is itself symbolic of the plan.When Trump spoke on immigration he discussed a multi-pronged immigration strategy, including travel bans, the border wall, funding increases, and other measures. Rather than reciting this litany of ideas, it was convenient for all (supporters and opponents alike) to refer to Donald J. Trump's immigration policies (especially with respect to Mexico) by mentioning the Wall. While the travel ban and Wall are covered by different executive orders they are still both part of Trump's immigration plan. In effect, the Wall is the de facto symbol of Trump's immigration policies.B. Establishing that the Wall will always remain a SymbolThe Wall can be build (once its specifications are defined; i.e. the 2000 mile length is disputed, as is the height, building materials, etc.) and so it can literally become a thing and transcend symbol hood. I contend that it will not and can not do this because it is an ineffective tool for accomplishing its stated task (i.e. keeping out illegal immigrants and drugs from Mexico). Already on the Mexican-American border there are tunnels, catapults, ladders, and UAVs (AKA drones) that can transport people and/or drugs across the border - and there isn't even a wall to contend with. When there is a Wall, there will still be tunnels underneath it, catapults that launch over it, ladders that scale it, and UAVs that can soar over it. For reference, recall that every maximum security prison in the USA is surrounded by walls (undoubtedly more daunting than what will be erected across thousands of miles of Texan land) and people are known to escape and drugs are notoriously easily able to get in. If a prison wall can't stop them, whilst manned by armed guards and dogs and topped with razor wire, then how could an unmanned wall fare any better, especially when it has millions of times more area to protect and thousands more people attacking it?In total, the stated effect of the wall (i.e. keeping out illegal immigrants and drugs from Mexico) is already a lost cause. It cannot accomplish its duties and will, upon the first documented case of its failure to do so, it will become a Symbol all over again. It would become a symbol of Trump's failure, rather than his untested policy. It would then become a rallying cry of Trump's opponents rather than his supporters.If, on the other hand, it accomplishes its goals, it would remain a symbol of Trump's SUCCESSFUL immigration policies. The Wall would become a byword for Trump's success, and therefore remain a symbol.Given that the Wall is a Symbol before it exists, its nature as a Symbol will remain, and although what it symbolizes (either success and/or failure) may change it will always remain a symbol.C. Identifying crossover between Racism and evaluation of the Wall.To determine if the Wall has been effective (once it has been built) we will use two tools to determine its success: statistical correlations and anecdotal observations. I will show that the former is invalid and the latter is unavoidably, inherently racist.Over the last decade (2007-2017) the illegal immigration population in the US has stabilized, dropping from a peak of (estimated) 12.2million in 2009 to its current (estimated) value of 11.1 million. (And while these features may be low, with estimates reaching up to 20 million, at these these year on year stats are consistent, although they could all be increased by up to 10 million across the board)http://www.pewresearch.org...The issue here is that, given no year-over-year change in the illegal immigrant population in a pre-Wall United States, the statistical significance of the shift in illegal immigration will be invalid. There simply won't be enough Mexicans moving to or from the US in the coming years to make any sound deductions from the data. Since statistics can tell us nothing, we will have to look for anecdotal evidence, and this leads us to a prickly problem. Drugs smuggled from Mexico look just like drugs from other countries. Crimes committed by illegal Mexicans (that go unsolved) look just like crimes by non-illegal-Mexicans. Since we cannot examine the evidence of the crimes to determine if the wall is effective, we must therefore look for the only other trace evidence of illegal immigration: the illegally immigrated Mexicans themselves.In short, the only plausible way to determine if the Wall has been effective is to look for people who look like illegal Mexicans. This can only be accomplished by authorities casting suspicion on anyone of a race that could be confused for an ethnic Mexican. This is commonly known as Racial Profiling, a practice that has been decried as racist and declared illegal. https://www.aclu.org...It becomes unavoidable to recognize that the actuality of the Wall will spur actual, active racism.D. Determining that the Wall is a Symbol of Racism.So far I have shown that the Wall is and will always be a Symbol, and that the actual Wall (not the Symbol of the Wall) can only be evaluated through racist practices. The Wall symbolizes policies that will inevitably incite actual racism, vis a vis the racial profiling and potential harassment of anyone appearing to be Mexican. Since the Wall must be evaluated, and its evaluation will include racism, the Wall will be linked to racism in discussions for years to follow. Again, discussion and hearsay are not indicative of actual racism in its initial intent, but its existence will foment racism all the same. Meanwhile, the Wall will have been and will remain a symbol of immigration policies that will definitely and indefinitely be linked to racism. As such, it is clear that this Symbol will come to, if it does not already, represent racism in America. President Trump's Wall is a Symbol of Racism, both already present and still to come.