WARNING: Lib-Idiot

8/27/07
An 'illegal' offense
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/m ... 8092.shtml

When the U.S. leaders label people as "illegals," they appeal to the public's underlying racist sentiment. In turn, leaders gain support from the racist community they have helped form.

By Colin Pace
PrintEmail DoubleClick Any Word Page 1 of 1 The word "illegals," often used to refer to undocumented people in the United States, is both offensive and dehumanizing. Even traditional phrases such as "illegal alien" and "illegal immigrant" reflect a deep-seated feeling of unease about immigration issues and need examination.

History contains many examples of communities upholding the status quo by clinging to traditional values, beliefs and appearances. Using terms like "illegals" is an effective way to marginalize and exploit a certain section of society by creating an "us versus them" mentality.

When applying this framework to the current debate on immigration, questions as to who is considered "us" and who is considered "them" are raised. Who benefits from the division and who suffers?

When people imagine a community, they picture a homogeneous group of people working toward the same ends. However, as described in the theory of British historian Eric Hobsbawm, such communities do not exist. This is because race, class and gender play a large part in determining social relations. It is the leaders of the dominant group who call the shots and determine how the imagined community should be formed. Leaders frequently implement programs that benefit themselves more than the entire community.

The United States was founded in part on these very principles, and racism is one of the most corrosive forces in the development of American communities. Racial slurs such as "illegals" reflect the temperament of American society throughout time.

The Chinese Exclusion Act, passed in 1882, banned Chinese immigration for more than 60 years. The act was created in response to large numbers of Chinese immigrants coming to the United States in order to work on railroads and participate in the gold rush. As gold became more difficult to find, hostility toward foreigners, especially the Chinese, ran rampant and the United States citizenry and government banded together in order to outcast the Chinese, who they perceived to be a threat. The incredibly offensive word "chink" came about a few years prior to the act, and was used by politicians as evidence of negative public sentiment to help pass the legislation, according to the Asian American Institute. Sadly, the word was used freely then, just as many use the word "illegals" in the United States today.

Scapegoating Mexicans and those who look like Mexicans is an enduringly prevalent trend in American history. In the early 1930s, President Herbert Hoover's Mexican Repatriation forced around 500,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans to "voluntarily relocate" to Mexico in response to growing tensions from the Great Depression. According to Robert R. McKay of the Texas State Historical Association, more than half of those forced to migrate were children born in the United States.

In 1954 the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service launched "Operation Wetback," which was aimed at removing illegal Mexican immigrants - "wetbacks" - from the Southwest. President Eisenhower, motivated by his belief that illegal immigration caused lax working standards and corruption among big business, condoned the program's policy of stopping "Mexican looking" people for identity checks. Civil liberties fell at the wayside and racial discrimination became the norm.

When the U.S. leaders label people as "illegals," they appeal to the public's underlying racist sentiment. In turn, leaders gain support from the racist community they have helped form.

The Bush Administration's immigration program attempts to develop a cheap labor pool of immigrant workers, which benefits big business while creating a group of second-class citizens. Politicians who campaign on immigration issues and use phrases such as "illegals" feed off the public's fear of unfamiliar people moving into their neighborhoods.

Changing, or removing the word "illegals" from discussion about immigration would not address the real problem. More attention should be given to changing the racist undertones that motivate people to use such words, and identifying the word "illegals" as racist is a good first step in doing so.

Pace is an anthropology junior. (Young & Dumb)