About two weeks ago, during a class discussion in my Cultural Anthropology class, we were told that for the purposes of that class we were no longer allowed to use the term "illegal immigrant" and must use "person without papers". I have been stewing on this for weeks, trying to comprehend where my professor was coming from and why such a requirement has been issued. I have failed to see the logic...
The definition of illegal is:
prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules
The definition of immigrant is:
a person who comes to a country where they were not born in order to settle there
The term illegal immigrant is not only valid, it is also factual. It appears my professor has not only lost her objectivity, she also ceases to have a firm grasp of the English language.
Have our schools gone so nuts that we cannot even use the accurate terms to identify individuals? Has political correctness finally gone too far? Should professors be expected to remain neutral and freely give information from both sides, thus allowing their students to make up their own minds? Yes, Yes, and Yes!
1 comment:
Political Correctness run amok... it's a hard to call on whether to use that term in class or not... if there is a participation credit then using "illegal immigrant" rather then "persons with out papers" how about using something that is a little bit more descriptive for people who cross the borders of our country not just from the south but via sea and air and from the north....
"Persons who paid way to much to walk into the country"
"Persons seeking improvement in family standing through less then documented means"
"Opportunistic outdoors person"
I personally would keep calling them "Illegal immigrants" because that is a more apt gender neutral description of that person is, but I'm not the one who needs to pass the class :)
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