Is the term "illegal", as a noun, racist?

[LoZoccolo]

Poll question: Is the term "illegal", as a noun, racist?

[BlueJazz]

1. No..Not any more than the term "A Criminal" is Racist. n/t

[MindPilot]

2. Is "bitch", as a verb, sexist?

You ask a question that cannot be answered without context.

[DemKR]

3. I voted yes out of sentiment, but

I consider it more intolerance than racist. NO human being is "illegal" or an "alien."

[glowing]

4. but actions are... so as a noun perhaps not so good.

Using as an adjective much better.

[durrrty libby]

5. Can a person be a bastard? I don't get the point of this poll

[MindPilot]

12. Funny you should mention that

My dad used to go ballistic when someone used the term "illegitimate" to describe a child conceived out of wedlock.

[tridim]

6. Yes, since it's also being used as a synonym for "Mexican Immigrant"

It's a racial slur.

I call people on it all the time, "Do you consider your ancestors 'illegals' too?". Works almost every time.

[BlackHawk706867]

8. I don't get why you assign this to "Mexicans" at all? Anyone in the US

without passing through customs is classified as illegal and alien.. period...

ww

[tridim]

9. I don't use the term, what are you talking about?

[unlawflcombatnt]

23. Because you stated "illegal" was being used as a synonym for "Mexican"

You said the term "illegal" was being used as a synonym for "Mexican Immigrant."

Here's your exact quote:
"Yes, since it's also being used as a synonym for "Mexican Immigrant""
You were referring to 'illegal' with the word 'it.'

[MindPilot]

10. Because that is the current connotation of the word--it's race-coded

We all know that when someone refers to "illegals" they mean "Mexicans". It is not used to describe immigrants in general.

[BlackHawk706867]

13. That's because they are not immigrants, they are illegals if they have not entered thru

customs just like anyone else. I am a Canadian and would be an illegal allien if I snuck across the border....

ww

[MindPilot]

14. Yes, but you would most likely not be called "an illegal".

This is not about the dictionary definition of the term; it's the connotation of how the term is currently used and the racial context in which it is used.

Saying "illegal" simply describes someone in the country illegally is like saying black-face is just makeup.

[baldguy]

7. Of course it is.

The idea that the existence a human being at a particular place at a particular time can be "illegal", and the term invariably is used to refer to to all people originally from south of the border, no matter what the status of their documentation - as a threat and as a means to enforce dominance.

[Kali]

11. the term? no. The way most people use it? yeah, probably.

Same with "Mexican" - term is not racist but tone of voice and context sure can be.

[noamnety]

15. I'll use the broader term bigoted

Because in a larger philosophical sense, when a group with privilege decides for a group without privilege what is or isn't offensive to them, that is ignorant and bigoted.

If you see a bunch of immigrants carrying signs saying "No one is illegal" - and you continue to use that term claiming it isn't offensive, you're expressing a fundamental viewpoint of supremacist thought - that you, as the dominant class, have a right to control language and thus perceptions about an oppressed group of people.

[ulysses]

16. not necessarily racist, per se,

but the use of the term as a noun makes their immigration status integral to who they are (think "cripple"), and as such is at least ignorant and probably bigoted.

[ncteechur]

17. Many if not most racists wouldn't say "illegal," they would say any

number of other slurs whether the person in question was illegally here or not.

[JohnLocke]

18. Slightly distasteful, at least.

[Pyrzqxgl]

19. Is it just me or are these polls getting sillier day by day?

[oldhippie]

20. Nope, it's not just you .............

I really have to wonder at the mindset of some posters. A lot of them can't seem to accept common dictionary definitions of words without putting their own narrow-minded "spin" on them.

[bunkerbuster1]

27. Language is more than dictionary definitions.

Mine isn't a "narrow minded spin," it's acknowledging that the right wing is dominating the immigration discussion and defining the terms. We're being really stupid by using those same terms, the same way they do.

Perhaps the term "racist" is what's got so many answering in the negative in this poll -- and that's a very harsh term; I know now that "xenophobic" or "bigoted" would be a little better.

But hey, at least I got some people thinking about it, who hadn't before.

[Telly Savalas]

21. No. Potsmokers come from all ethnic groups.

That is who we're talking about, right?

[TankLV]

22. NO. Of course not - usually...

It depends on the sentiments and feeling of the one using it.

That's not to say it CAN'T be - one could list countless examples where it is used in a racist manner...

But just using the term in and of itself does not make is racist...

[Bridget Burke]

24. Yes.

Although I agree that "xenophobic" or "bigoted" might be more suitable descriptors than "racist."

It's also an offense to the English language. Like using "impact" as a verb.

[hedgehog]

25. At the very least it's a code phrase.

I think Aasif Mandvi has the best take on this with his Amnesty Unintentional.

"What can brown do for you?"

[bunkerbuster1]

26. S'pose I should weigh in here

...since I brought up the issue a few days ago.

I think the term is racist inasmuch as it serves to dehumanize those it's being applied to, but I don't believe that everyone who uses the term is being consciously racist. If I had a do-over in that original thread, I would've made that clearer.

My biggest problem with its usage as a noun is a practical one. I truly believe that when our side refers to people as "Illegals," we're being as boneheaded as when we adopt right-wing language and use phrases like "War on Terror," or refer to what we're doing in Iraq as a "war" when it's really an "occupation."

And there are other obvious examples, like the "Social Security Crisis", or "Funding the Troops."

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

28. Depends on the context.

The context that it's commonly used in, yes.