By Tiffany Ma
On May 1, 2011, students from the Latin American Coalition’s youth group in Charlotte, NC, were able to obtain more than 1,000 signatures from local residents in support of their “Drop the I Word” campaign.
The students set up a tent at the Fanta Festival in McAlpine Creek Park in east Charlotte, where they asked people to drop the words “alien” or “illegal” in favor of the term “undocumented immigrants.”
As 16 year-old Load Tran said, “words like ‘alien’ and ‘illegal’ dehumanize people.” Tran believes that immigration issues should be resolved without biased language and attitudes.
The involvement of youth, it must be said, is a vital facet of any movement seeking to counter the anti-immigrant movement, and positive actions on their part, like the “Drop the I Word” campaign, fully demonstrate the value of their involvement in all struggles for equality.
However, not everyone agrees with them.
According to FoxCharlotte.com, some residents think that the teens supporting the campaign are simply too young to understand sub-issues with the larger immigration debate, like taxation and public welfare.
But, those with such opinions can’t, or won’t, recognize that the undocumented are willing to work in job sectors that many might consider beneath them, that their sweat lends untold contributions to our economy. They clean our houses, construct our skyscrapers, and harvest our crops.
Too often the undocumented are only credited with burdening Americans rather than with contributing heavily to this democracy.
Some opponents went as far as to state the following:
“Calling someone an undocumented alien is like calling a drug dealer an unlicensed pharmacist!” And that, “Illegal is just illegal.”
Drugs have the potential to corrupt individuals and destroy families. Drugs, if you will, don’t travel to this country seeking better work opportunities in pursuit of a better life.
Are the undocumented migrant farmers or meat packing plant workers really equivalent to street-level drug dealers?
Just as insulting, NC Commissioner Bill James has publically promised that he will, in fact, continue using the term “illegal.” As an elected leader, he is not only ignoring these students, who were able to have more than 1,000 supporters sign this pledge, but as one student pointed out, this campaign is designed to raise awareness about the impacts that certain words have on the lives of others.
Such a level of awareness helps all of us to enhance and to elevate notions of mutual respect within our own communities. Perhaps Commissioner James isn’t all that interested in such levels of respect, however, which is truly sad.
In a call for more support, The Latin American Coalition’s youth group is campaigning nationally. For more information visit the “Drop the I-word” campaign.