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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDrop the I-Word. No human being is illegal.
Drop the I-Word. Don't Feed the Hate Machine.
Uploaded on Sep 27, 2010
Calling people "illegals" feeds a hate machine, by exploiting racial fears and economic anxiety. The i-word, along with other words tainted by hate, provides an easy scapegoat for complex issues and OKs violence against those labeled with it. Don't feed the hate machine. Drop the i-word. Sign the pledge at http://droptheiword.com .
Skittles
(152,965 posts)but that is the intent of the people using the word
stone space
(6,498 posts)GuestCheck
(13 posts)stone space
(6,498 posts)Apparently, somebody thought that it had room for improvement.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)They're gonna head off to their safe space on 4chan and start whining with their alt-right racist shithead buddies.
stone space
(6,498 posts)Didn't take long, either.
Shandris
(3,447 posts)You'd think the author would have the reasoning ability to understand the difference. I'm willing to bet if I showed up illegally inside their house, they'd be MORE than happy to see me called 'illegal', neh?
Also, it doesn't 'exploit economic anxiety'. The anxiety exists because they are here with no compunction whatsoever about breaking our laws, demonstrated by the fact they are here. That there is economic anxiety is a function of their presence. It isn't something that is 'created' or 'stirred up' by someone using accurate wording, nor does changing that accurate wording diminish the presence of the anxiety. Instead, it seeks only to silence those who have the anxiety in the first place. Now, I realize that's the actual intent of this entire movement, but at least TRY not to be so damn transparent about it.
Igel
(35,197 posts)It's an outgrowth of ill-will mixed with a bit of Sapir-Whorf manipulation.
They don't stop and think about all the parallel constructions they use in which they undermine their own reasoning. They're just poor thinkers. (Which I suppose must mean they're poor people who think--surely one interpretation, but not the only interpretation. Construction Grammar handles this rather nicely, thanks Ed Keenan and RIP.)
stone space
(6,498 posts)Last edited Mon Jun 6, 2016, 07:07 AM - Edit history (1)
I have heard it used for undocumented immigrants who are living in their own houses, however.
This turn the tables bullshit is nonsense.
No undocumented immigrant has ever called you an "illegal".
That sounds like a right wing myth.
Skittles
(152,965 posts)even the most atrocious serial killer is not called an ILLEGAL, and to say that the poor anxieties of the people who use that dehumanizing noun are BEING SILENCED when being told they are rightwing hacks is absolutely RIDICULOUS
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Nothing dehumanizing about it... Just an accurate description...
stone space
(6,498 posts)Nothing dehumanizing about it... Just an accurate description...
When breathing is outlawed, only outlaws will breathe.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Out of all the ways you could have responded, that's the one you chose?
Decided to pretend to not know the subject of conversation...
stone space
(6,498 posts)But you already knew that.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Why is it the "I-word" in your first sentence but then "illegals" in the second?
Do the quotes make it more palatable for you?
This post actually jogged my memory from a previous discussion. Your 'debate technique' is to pretend to not understand what the topic of conversation is even after being told outright....
Several times...
Igel
(35,197 posts)I suppose that means he's a Holocaust person who survived.
I don't think any human being can be Holocaust. Fat or skinny, right or wrong, but Holocaust? How can a human being be Holocaust?
I suppose that means he's a Holocaust person who survived.
I don't think any human being can be Holocaust. Fat or skinny, right or wrong, but Holocaust? How can a human being be Holocaust?
Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)No human being is illegal, but some actions, such as entering a country in defiance of its laws, are.
I agree that just "illegals" should be avoided, because it implies that someone's entire existence is illegal, rather than just the act of their entering a country, but "illegal immigrants" is legitimate, whereas the increasingly common "undocumented immigrants" is a deliberate attempt to obfuscate what, as the OP says, are complicated issues.
It's entirely possible to make a case for rights for illegal immigrants honestly; resorting to deliberate obfuscation is not a good approach, especially when it's not terribly effective obfuscation.
ripcord
(5,084 posts)Illegal alien
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)"Illegal alien" describes a person who is an alien to the country they are in who is not legally there.
Now I can see the point if you argue against shortening it to just "illegals" but "illegal alien" itself is a fully legal and proper term.
This campaign will not change any minds and will just make people pushing it look like they are in denial or reality.