"Illegal immigrant" = slur?

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Comments

  • mikepegg44
    mikepegg44 Posts: 3,353
    illegal immigrant can never be a slur. The intent of degradation of a particular race comes from the person saying it who may be inherently racist. So a racist can mean illegal immigrant as a negative when referring to which ever brown person pissed him/her off but that doesn't make the term a racial slur.
    As with anything else, the word has a specific meaning, if you want to apply that meaning to a specific race and change it to fit what you want then that is on you, not the words themselves...(but no one ever changes definitions around here here :lol: ) it is all in the heart of the person saying it that gives the words the extra meaning. So it isn't a slur, it isn't anything, it is a name of a particular criminal...we put it into our own context. When I say it, the person hearing it takes it to mean something, and that could be completely different from how it was meant to be. But if I say illegal immigrant and the first thing I think of is the Kmart parking lot on the corner of Lake and Nicollet where the "independent" contractors are hired, am I racist?
    that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
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  • StillHere
    StillHere Posts: 7,795
    brianlux wrote:
    It's usually easy to tell when someone is racist, especially talking to someone in person. As far as the term itself goes, "unauthorized migrant" seems more accurate. But words are only 7% of communication. Talking to someone in person, you can usually tell if they are racist.

    absolutely, its the body language
    and the tone of voice
    will give you away every single time
    peace,
    jo

    http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
    "How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
    "Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
  • Hugh Freaking Dillon
    Hugh Freaking Dillon Posts: 14,010
    who knows. up here in the great white north we still have a national government agency called Indian Affairs, when last I checked, it has nothing to do with Indians, but First Nations. It blows my mind that everyone makes such a big deal about calling them Indians (myself included-I correct people constantly), but our own government won't take the bloody time to change the name of the agency to make it accurate to the times.

    I agree with Cosmo. if they didn't get into the country LEGALLY, then it stands to reason they are there ILLEGALLY, making them ILLEGAL immigrants. I'm fairly racially sensitive, and even I have no issue with that term. it's a factual term, not an offensive one.
    Gimli 1993
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  • Hugh Freaking Dillon
    Hugh Freaking Dillon Posts: 14,010
    StillHere wrote:
    brianlux wrote:
    It's usually easy to tell when someone is racist, especially talking to someone in person. As far as the term itself goes, "unauthorized migrant" seems more accurate. But words are only 7% of communication. Talking to someone in person, you can usually tell if they are racist.

    absolutely, its the body language
    and the tone of voice
    will give you away every single time

    especially if their sentence begins with "I'm not racist, but....". :fp:
    Gimli 1993
    Fargo 2003
    Winnipeg 2005
    Winnipeg 2011
    St. Paul 2014
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    1. People are not illegal. Actions are illegal. So, no, I don't think it's grammatically or politically correct to call a person illegal.

    2. I think it's particularly wrong when people remove the noun from the phrase "illegal immigrant" and just call someone "an illegal" (or "a illegal" - that's even worse). That reduces a person's entire identity to one act, which is a way of marginalizing and belittling someone.
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,880
    _ wrote:
    1. People are not illegal. Actions are illegal. So, no, I don't think it's grammatically or politically correct to call a person illegal.

    2. I think it's particularly wrong when people remove the noun from the phrase "illegal immigrant" and just call someone "an illegal" (or "a illegal" - that's even worse). That reduces a person's entire identity to one act, which is a way of marginalizing and belittling someone.

    1) What if they very existence of a person in a particular place is against the law? Shall we just call them what others that commit crimes are? Trespasser? Criminal? What works for you?

    2) I can agree with this. I don't do it myself but I've heard it said before I think.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    cincybearcat wrote:
    _ wrote:
    1. People are not illegal. Actions are illegal. So, no, I don't think it's grammatically or politically correct to call a person illegal.

    2. I think it's particularly wrong when people remove the noun from the phrase "illegal immigrant" and just call someone "an illegal" (or "a illegal" - that's even worse). That reduces a person's entire identity to one act, which is a way of marginalizing and belittling someone.

    1) What if they very existence of a person in a particular place is against the law? Shall we just call them what others that commit crimes are? Trespasser? Criminal? What works for you?

    2) I can agree with this. I don't do it myself but I've heard it said before I think.

    1. I think undocumented is better. It's more precise. Or, if you have to use the word illegal, say someone immigrated here illegally - that way it refers to a verb. But I think that implies a violation of the criminal code and, as Mikeyrat has already pointed out, that's inaccurate. I think the widespread use of the word "illegal" is the main reason most people are confused about that.
  • Godfather.
    Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    a slur ? no it's not it's a fact,I don't understand how this could even be debated. :fp:


    Godfather.
  • satansbed
    satansbed Posts: 2,139
    Godfather. wrote:
    a slur ? no it's not it's a fact,I don't understand how this could even be debated. :fp:


    Godfather.

    But its not a fact if the person called an ilegal immigrant is actually here legally, it's a slur with racial connotations if used indiscriminately towards someone who is here legally

    now the use of it doesn't make some one inherently racist either
  • Jason P
    Jason P Posts: 19,327
    It's slander (if spoken) or libel (if written or broadcast) if someone is referred to as an illegal immigrant if they are in a location by legal means.
    Be Excellent To Each Other
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  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,880
    satansbed wrote:

    now the use of it doesn't make some one inherently racist either


    I would certainly say not.
    hippiemom = goodness
  • StillHere
    StillHere Posts: 7,795
    OMG enough already. Why do we always have to worry about every syllable that we utter lest it offend?
    It is really getting out of hand.
    I'm not trying to be insensitive and those of you who know me know that I try my best but it seems these dsys that just about everything that comes out of our mouths is offensive to one person or another. Its got to stop somewhere .... why not here and now with me and you.

    Don't sweat the small stuff. Live life and enjoy!
    peace,
    jo

    http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
    "How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
    "Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,880
    StillHere wrote:
    OMG enough already. Why do we always have to worry about every syllable that we utter lest it offend?
    It is really getting out of hand.
    I'm not trying to be insensitive and those of you who know me know that I try my best but it seems these dsys that just about everything that comes out of our mouths is offensive to one person or another. Its got to stop somewhere .... why not here and now with me and you.

    Don't sweat the small stuff. Live life and enjoy!

    Bingo!!!!!
    hippiemom = goodness
  • Godfather.
    Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    satansbed wrote:
    Godfather. wrote:
    a slur ? no it's not it's a fact,I don't understand how this could even be debated. :fp:


    Godfather.

    But its not a fact if the person called an ilegal immigrant is actually here legally, it's a slur with racial connotations if used indiscriminately towards someone who is here legally

    now the use of it doesn't make some one inherently racist either

    when used properly the word describes an immigrant in any country illegaly,


    Godfather.
  • Godfather.
    Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    StillHere wrote:
    OMG enough already. Why do we always have to worry about every syllable that we utter lest it offend?
    It is really getting out of hand.
    I'm not trying to be insensitive and those of you who know me know that I try my best but it seems these dsys that just about everything that comes out of our mouths is offensive to one person or another. Its got to stop somewhere .... why not here and now with me and you.

    Don't sweat the small stuff. Live life and enjoy!


    you rock jo ! :clap::clap::clap:


    Godfather.
  • hedonist
    hedonist Posts: 24,524
    StillHere wrote:
    OMG enough already. Why do we always have to worry about every syllable that we utter lest it offend?
    It is really getting out of hand.
    I'm not trying to be insensitive and those of you who know me know that I try my best but it seems these dsys that just about everything that comes out of our mouths is offensive to one person or another. Its got to stop somewhere .... why not here and now with me and you.

    Don't sweat the small stuff. Live life and enjoy!
    I think it's part of the new "all must walk on eggshells" mentality that has come to irritate me to no end.

    Anyway, well-said!

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