Not all brown people are illegal immigrants

The BBQ Pit
1

I got mod-slapped in This thread, told to take it to the pit.

In short the OP in the thread above used Hispanic as a stand-in for illegal immigrant. Going on to explain that this was intended as a shorthand explanation for why a woman would need to assume the OP’s identity for employment reasons.

I might be a little sensitive to this because I am considering moving to Arizona and the stupidity that is Jan Brewer’s administration and Joe Arpaio’s Maricopa fiefdom, epitomized by the 1070 law, is a strong argument against such a move. On the other hand, New Mexico’s current Governor, Susanna Martinez, is making it more of a wash. I’m feeling the stupid closing in on me.

I also live and work with a number of Hispanic people who’s families have been living in the area (New Mexico, part of the US) for about twice as long as there has been a United States of America to immigrate to, legally or otherwise, having migrated in the company of Coronado in the early 1540s, which is also roughly 80 years before the Mayflower sailed. These folks are just a little bit sensitive to the Faux News rhetoric that Hispanics are taking over “our” country, and perhaps I have absorbed some of that due to proximity.

Anyway, in case there is any confusion, most of the following stereotypes will be considered offensive by myself and quite a few others:

Using Hispanic of Chicano as a stand in illegal immigrant.

Using Black or African American as a stand-in for criminal and/or welfare recipient and/or drug abuser.

Using Jew as a stand-in for chiseling and/or untrustworthy.

Using Irish as a stand-in for drunk and/or low moral character.

Using Muslim as a stand-in for terrorist.

Misusing the adjective illegal as a noun.

You can perpetuate such usage if you want, and am actually for it. Your kind will know exactly what your point is, and the rest of us will have a good idea of the sort of person we are dealing with. Sarah Palin, I’m looking at you.

Oddly (as it applies to me personally) I don’t find the use of Scots or Scotch as meaning cheapskate to be offensive, perhaps because such a stereotype is unlikely to limit my employment and social prospects, ability to obtain credit, or result in unwarranted harassment and/or detention by law enforcement officers.

2

Don’t be racist and offensive. check Got it.

3

Surely I don’t have a reputation here as a member of the offenderati, or as someone who is overly politically correct.

With that context laid, I have to say that the OP here, Kevbo, has a point. The OP of the original thread said:

I can’t see any value whatsoever in identifying her as Hispanic. Obviously the inference desired is that she was not a citizen, and was not authorized to legally work, a situation that might apply to any immigrant, even some here legally – say, a pasty white British citizen on a tourist visa. The explanation that calling her Hispanic provides the backstory with a minimum of work is just as offensive. Why not simply:

A few years ago my ex-husband’s then-girlfriend, who I assume couldn’t work legally in this country, used my ID and my name to get a job at a Red Lobster in Provo, Utah.

4

No no, the OP said she was his then-Hispanic girlfriend. Meaning she was Hispanic at the time, but she’s not anymore.

5

Because she’s a citizen now?:confused:

6

I didn’t read the other thread, but the title and mouse-over were sufficient to make me go :dubious:. I completely agree with you. “Hispanic” is in no way a synonym of “illegal immigrant”, especially when the US has so many citizens who can be described as “Hispanic”.

7

Of which I am one. :slight_smile:

8

Unless he had a number of girlfriends, in which case “Hispanic” might be a valid distinguishing feature. Verdad?

9

Which is why I let it slide with a mere raise of my eyebrow in the case of hausermh, OP of the referenced thread. ** Astro** then made it perfectly clear what he* understood, and went on to indicate it should be considered no big deal.

*Astro Jetson was a male dog, right?

10

Por supuesto.

But only when used to an audience familiar with the girlfriends in question or one that needed to know which of the girlfriends was at issue. Here, there’s no need to distinguish the non-citizen ex-girlfriend from any others, since no others are part of the story.

11

It’s not necessary, but it helps. Now I can picture her appearance accurately, like so.

12

I never knew they had monkey butlers to help them sneak across the border. You learn something new everyday. And is that Argent Towers/Agent Foxtrot in the background?

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Well, if you’re saying she’s a monkey just because she’s an illegal Hispanic, that’s just offensive.

14

WTF? Since when did this bullshit rule get made up. Man I thought we lived in the greatest society ever* but now I have my doubts.

I agree with the OP that not all brown people are illegal mexicans. Some of them are perfectly legal Native Americans and some other ones are just really really tan.

*What kind of society.... - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board

15

Kevbo, thanks. That shit rubbed me the wrong way, too. And while we’re at it, a lot of people of Hispanic origin find Hispanic to be an offensive term. I’m not sure why, but Latino is generally the safer bet.

Of course, the real issue (for me) is treating undocumented people like criminals instead of the victims of exploitation that they actually are. To me, ‘‘Not all brown people are illegal immigrants’’ sounds a lot like, ‘‘Obama’s not a Muslim! He’s a good person!’’ I don’t give a shit whether someone’s undocumented or not - people are people. But (pro-amnesty) immigration reform is my life’s work so I may be a bit more sensitive than the average person.

16

I had a college Poli Sci class in college where whatever book we were reading touched on this. Apparently, some say Hispanic is offensive as a generalization because it refers to the people of what Columbus called Hispanola. So. . .Domincan people, I guess? If I remember correctly, the book said that it’s a fine catch-all term for Latin/Hispanic/whatever folks of the Caribbean (Cubans, Puerto Ricans, etc), but extending it to other places (native Mexicans/ various South American cultures/ Spanish) is offensive. The book likened it to referring to all Asian people as Chinese or something. IDK how true that is, but there you go.

FWIW, everything else I’ve read says it just basically refers to anybody of Spain, which would still be offensive to the native peoples in North, South, and Central America. So, maybe the first thing was total bullshit.

17

Actually, the Hispanic/Latino(a) thing is really geographical: in the Southwest you never hear Latino. I’ve never heard a Hispanic person from here refer to themselves as anything but Hispanic, or more specifically by their country of origin. Apparently in other parts of the country it’s different: my impression is that in California, Hispanic is not quite offensive, but a little too quaint, like Negro.

18

It does appear to be regional. In Michigan, it was no big deal, but we were taught that in California chicano was the preferred term. On the East Coast, it seems to be offensive. I was at a training on the New Jersey in-state tuition bill the other day (sponsored by the largely Latino organization NJ DREAM Act Coalition) and the speaker kept saying ‘‘Hispanic.’’ The girl behind me repeatedly and loudly corrected her until she started using ‘‘Latino.’’ I tend to use Latino universally because I don’t really understand the regional rules an AFAIK it ‘‘Latino’’ is universally not offensive.

19

Doesn’t “Chicano” mean Mexican? I could see why a Puerto Rican, Cuban or Dominican wouldn’t want to be called that.

20

Chicano means a person with Mexican heritage, usually native (ie: non Spanish). If I were Puerto Rican and you called me Chicano- yeah, that would be offensive. Again, that’d be sort of like calling a Japanese person Chinese (or some slang that means person from China).