"The 'Drop the 'I-word Campaign' resolution, sponsored by Lizzy Nameeh, Maryssa Hall, and Jessica Trumble categorizes the term 'illegal immigrant' as 'racially deragotary language'. The council expresses concerns that the 'I-word' ostracizes and condemns certain members of society. While that is all fine and dandy..."
- The Bruin Standard
One does not have to read any further to understand that the last segment of the quote epitomizes the nature of the entire article, as well as the typical American sentiment towards the ostracized and condemned members of heteronormative patriarchal racist capitalist society: You do not matter.
What does matter, according to this article, is that "Illegal is not a race; it's a crime.Oh, and it's also legal terminology". Thus, encouraging the end to the use of the term 'illegal immigrant' when discussing undocumented immigrants creates an Orwellian dialogue where only some things can be said and others cannot. The Bruin Standard is offended by this because (I'm going to place my bets on this assumption) this affects them (or at least the Editor-in-Chief Drew Wegner) as documented, Anglo-Saxon people. They can no longer use the term "illegal" in political debates over immigrants and immigration, a.k.a. people who they are not.
Poor Bruin Standardites, as a person of color, from my heart to yours: welcome to the struggle.
Haha, but no, seriously though: I season my pepinos with the salt from the tears of white-privileged. Can't let those tears go to waste ya' know.
Perhaps they should have mentioned how countless white people have been shamed and hurt by the term 'illegal immigrant' when 500+ years of colonization and imperialism is brought up during day-to-day conversation... Because, after all, "Illegal is not a race, it's a crime" (Wegner, Bruin Standard, p.1) Oh wait. Sorry, that never happens. Can Conservatives spell H-I-S-T-O-R-I-C-A-L A-M-N-E-S-I-A?
What does happen, however, is that whenever the term 'illegal immigrant' is used, it is much more often that not regarding those who have survived the crossing of the U.S.-Mexico Border, and not those filthy Canadians who take hard working Americans jobs. This reminds me of that one time this law in Arizona passed where people suspected of being 'illegal immigrants' were legally allowed to be stopped and frisked by law enforcement, and so the police stopped hundreds of white people and asked them for their papers. Oh wait...
No.
Whatever white society... Who needs ya?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtcc6hFmYCs
Speedy's Blog: This is the collective blog for the Fall 2013 Border Consciousness class @ UCLA. Taught by Professor Alicia Gaspar de Alba.
I would seriously like to apologize to all Canadian-identifying folk. It was not my deliberate intention to offend, only to be satirical. Y'all are beautiful.
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