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Alice Cooper, Ace Frehley @ Nokia Theater 10/28/09
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LAist is an avid consumer of news media, the kind that comes in papers, on the internets, TV and, this LAist-er especially, ye olde NPR. We like that NPR ain't no Fox News: no diatribes, no right-wing harangues. So we were taken aback by the rampant use of "illegals" in NPR's coverage of yesterday's immigration rallies and marches.
NAHJ is particularly troubled with the growing trend of the news media to use the word “illegals” as a noun, shorthand for "illegal aliens." Using the word in this way is grammatically incorrect and crosses the line by criminalizing the person, not the action they are purported to have committed. NAHJ calls on the media to never use “illegals” in headlines.
People aren't illegal, acts are. Imagine if everyone who did something illegal became an illegal — that guy who smoked marijuana, anyone who had a little too much to drink and got behind the wheel, the guys who got rich while cheating thousands of stockholders — we're a nation of people who break the law. Some of us have residency papers, others don't. That's where "undocumented" comes in.
"Undocumented" is, in fact, the standard at the LA Times and New York Times; the papers use the word "undocumented" to describe people who are residents without legal standing. And LAist does, too.
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as the law stands, unlike a pot smoker or a drunk, "undocumented" immigrants are doing something illegal every instant that they are in our country. despite my support of their cause, i can't support demanding they not be called "illegals."
this is taking political correctness a step too far.
calling someone an "illegal" isn't like calling them a beaner or a wetback. the name is based in fact, not culture/previous action.
Leave it to Kellogg to harp on semantics when she can't find anything else to support people who have no qualms or even the slightest bit of guilt about breaking the law.
I prefer the use of "undocumented" vs. "illegal" because the tenor of the discussion of current immigration issues changes when people are referred to as "illegals."
It is used as a cudgel by many to invalidate the statements & positions of those undocumented people.
Lou Dobbs does it every time he talks about immigration and it simply doesn't feel right.
It's dismissive and disrespectful of 11 million people in this country (at least) and if we're serious about finding solutions, civility and respect for those people is important.
To not do so bugs.
No wonder this is the shittiest of ist sites. If Queen C*** Carolyn stop imposing her maniacal political-correctness, maybe more creative people can liven this place up. READ: NO ONE GIVES A F*** ABOUT YOUR EXTREME LUNATIC LEFTISM! There are a million places online to find that, and do it BETTER.
**obscenities edited by LAist
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This argument always brings out the best in people, by which of course I mean the worst in people.
Of course you're correct Carolyn. It's about the tenor, not the meaning of the words since both "illegal" and "undocumented" are both correct. After all, I never hear about "illegal employers". I mean, most of these folks are working for someone, and they are just as "illegal" as the immigrants. Maybe more so.
The insistence on using the word "illegal" is obviously just a way to demean them foreigners.
NPR's Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin has written a bit about this issue.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5347494
It's an excellent point: this seemingly meaningless choice of words actually does make a difference, especially when the issue at stake is whether to criminalize immigrants or not. Somehow, starting off by calling them "illegal" is sure to skew opinions in one particular way. Overstaying your visa seems to me like just a lapse in filling out bureaucratic forms, kinda like not filing your tax returns, which is also a Federal crime. Imagine calling all the companies that cheat on their taxes "illegal", now that would be more appropriate!
Yeah, El Chavo. It's just a "lapse". They are never reminded of their illegal status in their everyday activities, eh? Like when they buy all the forged documents like licenses and such?
Idiot.
So, in other words, if I'm speeding on the freeway, and I don't get caught, I'm an undocumented speeder ('cuz I haven't been given a ticket,right???)
Hmmm, undocumented speeders, undocumented DUIs, etc.etc.etc.etc.