Mods can close all the political threads now.
And when I need to be able to identify what makes this specific person a concern of the law, I’d be fine with “unauthorized immigrant”. Sometimes you DO need to identify.
BTW I suppose you could be an “undocumented worker” while being a bona fide citizen – just never presented a SSN and are working on a cash only basis to stay off the grid for whatever your reason.
Hell, the big issue as I see it is with the shortening of “illegal immigrants/aliens” to plain “illegals” because it carries the implication that illegality is the essential element of their very existence. But the thing is, “illegal”, “undocumented” etc. are adjective modifiers – you are an illegal what?. Some 13 year old operating a car without a license is an illegal driver, not “an illegal”; someone performing dental surgery without a degree is running an illegal practice, he’s not “an illegal”.
Only one of the two will get you a bad grade.
I’m going to ignore the whole “people on the Internet said vile things” thing because, even though I agree those things are vile, people on the internet often say vile things regardless of political affiliation.
But right at the moment the basest of the Trump base - the true deplorables, if you will - do certainly seem to have crawled out from under their usual rocks in order to exult in the ascendance of their worst instincts and revel in the pain and anxiety this causes in others. One can only hope the increased exposure will, in the longer term, decrease their proliferation and potency.
As Voltaire* didn’t say, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death my right to find it highly amusing.”
It is hard for people of a certain age to keep abreast of linguistic changes. Terms which were, for much of their lives, considered polite terms of address are now regarded as offensive.
We’re in a forum here, the pit, in which being offensive is taken for granted. But I would never wish to offense unintentionally.
No.
You need to stop this, right now. This attitude, and it worked on Maher as he is using a different term now, is absolute poison.
First of all, you are never going to stop conservatives that are hostile to illegal immigration to stop using the term. But more than that, it’s the sort of language policing that makes people hate liberals. And I’d really rather not contribute to making us look like fools and brittle little flowers.
Using the term illegal is not a slur in my mind, it may be to conservatives, but leaving the term to them just makes it so that the only time it is ever used, it comes across as a slur. When I use it, it is nothing more than descriptive, it connotes nothing more than an immigrant that came here illegally. Not that I am repulsed by their presence, or want to deport them all.
What you want to do, will effectively leave the word use in such a state that the only people who use it will lace it with far more venom than if it was a more broad term.
This reminds me of hearing that some disabled people were annoyed that others would walk on egg shells so as not to ever use the word “crippled” when they themselves often used the word to describe some of their ailments.
Calm the hell down. That is a terrible attitude and impulse on the left.
Demanding that people of color be treated like human beings is the sort of morality policing that made people hate civil rights activists; what’s your point?
I really don’t care what moral degenerates think of me for behaving like a decent person, and I’m not going to stop behaving like a decent person just so moral degenerates will like me.
Then you’re wrong. Whether or not something is a slur is determined by how the people targeted by it generally feel. It’s not up to you.
So you are an illegal immigrant? I didn’t know that.
Regards,
Shodan
Show me evidence that there’s a majority consensus among illegal aliens that the term “illegal”, used as a noun, actively offends them, and I will consider not using it. Actually, I already don’t use it. But there’s a big difference between “some people say it’s offensive” and “a preponderance of those being so described say it’s offensive”.
(Of course, there are plenty of words that I believe are offensive not because people told me, but because I observe the context and tone with which they’re used… n*er, ct, etc. But I have not observed that being true about the term “illegal”.)
Until 6 years ago I never heard the term “illegal” full stop to refer to unauthorized immigrants. It was either “illegal immigrants” or occasionally “illegal aliens” but that term was falling out of place as I was growing up, probably as being too obviously dehumanizing due to the additional meaning the word “alien” picked up in the last hundred years or so.
He had no legal residency. He was eligible under a policy created by the Obama administration for “deferred action,” which merely means that it was the policy of the administration at the time to not take any action to deport him.
This is not the same as “legal residency.”
This statement is not intended to be “hateful.” It’s a statement of legal fact. I don’t think anyone does any favors by not understanding or correctly conveying the legal issues.
Indeed, of course here I have to say that a very conservative and wealthy Hispanic relative of mine is a Republican, but even he told me that he truly disliked how the Republicans were going after the Dreamers.
Seems that he voted for Trump expecting that he would not be as bad as the Democrats painted him.
He is not bound to do that mistake again.
Anyone else having Barbra Streisand ringing around in his head?
*Conservatives…
Conservatives on immigrationnnn…
Are the vicious-est people…
In the worrrrrlld…*
Regards,
Shodan
Do you have an alternative suggestion? Person of unknown provenance perhaps? That doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.
“unauthorized immigrant”.
Cite?
It’s better, at least in your proposed phrase, you acknowledge that they are a person.
It really doesn’t matter because any “acceptable” term will, over time and through usage, become a slur, or at least be regarded as one.
I’m sorta reminded of that Lenny Bruce routine:
Have to link to it. (Totally SFW)
No, but undocumented immigrants generally do consider it a slur, and they’re the only ones whose opinions matter.
Is using the word “criminal” as a noun forbidden as well?