Drop the I-Word. No human being is illegal.

[stone space]

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]

1. "illegals" is dehumanizing

but that is the intent of the people using the word

[stone space]

10. Exactly!

but that is the intent of the people using the word

[GuestCheck]

2. Lovely Elie Wiesel quote. I agree with this post.

[stone space]

13. Paraphrased in post #8.

Apparently, somebody thought that it had room for improvement.

[Cheese Sandwich]

3. HRC: "adamantly against illegal immigrants"

[backscatter712]

4. Careful, you're triggering the drumpfucks.

They're gonna head off to their safe space on 4chan and start whining with their alt-right racist shithead buddies.

[stone space]

14. It appears so.

Careful, you're triggering the drumpfucks.

Didn't take long, either.

[Shandris]

5. And no one is saying a human being is illegal, only their immigration status.

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]

7. People go language-stupid when it suits them.

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]

9. I've never heard it used that way.

Last edited Mon Jun 6, 2016, 07:07 AM - Edit history (1)

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?

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]

18. oh PLEASE

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]

6. Their acts are however...

Nothing dehumanizing about it... Just an accurate description...

[stone space]

12. Which acts? Breathing? Eating? Sleeping? Working?

Their acts are however...

Nothing dehumanizing about it... Just an accurate description...

When breathing is outlawed, only outlaws will breathe.

[TipTok]

15. Really?

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]

16. The subject is the I-Word. Calling folks "illegals" is dehumanizing in the extreme.

But you already knew that.

[TipTok]

17. Side question...

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]

8. Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor.

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?

[stone space]

11. WTF???

Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor.

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]

19. I'm afraid I don't buy this, at least not wholly,

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]

20. The problem is that the legal term is

Illegal alien

[Lee-Lee]

21. Yep. It's an accurate description of residency status

"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.