The “Ban the ‘I-word'” campaign has made itself heard by the Library of Congress.
Recently, the Library of Congress has decided that the term “illegal immigrant” is, as Orwell might put it, doubleplusungood. Upon the urging of some students at Dartmouth College, the Library announced that it would replace “illegal immigration” with “unauthorized immigration” and “alien” with “non-citizen.” This choice has been rightly criticized by many conservative outlets, who point out that neither “illegal” nor “alien” are racist; and that no one is, as the L.O.C. asserted, confused by the fact that “alien” means both a non-national and an extra-terrestrial. While it is disheartening to see such a prestigious organization succumb to the obfuscating demands of political correctness, it is particularly so to learn that the impetus came from my alma mater.
The purge of the “I-word” comes from the long coattails of student activism at the College. In March 2014, a group named “CoFIRED” (“Coalition for Immigration Reform, Equality, and DREAMers”) agitated for the administration under President Philip Hanlon to stop using the term, holding a panel to decry the use of “illegal” as dehumanizing. Another group of students, who occupied President Hanlon’s office for two days in April, made a similar demand in a list they called the “Freedom Budget.” (That, like many other ultimatums in the Budget, had nothing to do with liberty or money; some stipulations were in fact illegal, like their demand that the College adopt racial quotas in admissions.) The document insisted upon the “[banning] of the use of ‘illegal aliens,’ ‘illegal immigrants,’ ‘wetback,’ [sic] and any racially charged term on Dartmouth-sanctioned programming materials and locations.”
To my knowledge, the Administration has not officially announced the implementation of such demands. (Also to my knowledge, no official Dartmouth communique has used the term “wetback.” If there ever were, you can be assured half the studentry would fall over in a case of the vapors.) The campus was – and is – weary of liberal campus protesters. That spring, a campus charity event called “Phiesta” (run by Greek organizations Phi Delt and Alpha Phi Alphawas shut down upon the insistence of one vocal individual who felt the scourge of cultural appropriation. The spring preceding it, a group of rabble-rousers barged into a performance for prospective students and chanted, “Dartmouth has a problem!” Even this year, Black Lives Matter protesters interrupted students studying in Baker-Berry library with shouts and shoves. The campus’s patience with such pleas for attention has worn thin.
It is clear, however, that the Library of Congress does not share this view. And another word vanishes down the memory hole.
Author: Phiesta was a Phi Delt and Alpha Phi Alpha event—it was hosted by Phi Delt and *A Phi.
But “appropriating anything from another culture is a deadly mortal sin. Especially silly hatsand Montezuma’s revenge!
O’Bummer’s policy of mass importation of America-haters is based, if on anything, on the expectation that America will find somethingworth appropriateingin their new undocumented Democrat’s third world culcha!”A country that can adapt to bagpipes and lederhosen can adjust to anything!
This political BS is going to kill us. it has already degraded this country Tremendously.
Just think how UN-P/C the new administration will have to be to muck out the OBammian Stables!
Thanks for helping make Donald Trump more popular. It is crazy PC bull like this that has divided our country.
Its fair, I think, to ask if our aspiring fellow citiawns of Hispanic heritage really want to see their country of their choice reduced to the corrupt and lawless state of the homelands they have fled?Is it complimentary to imagine that they are so hostile to self-government that they would prefer that the laws passed by the people’s representatives should be easily set aside for bribes, political influence or the profit of the drug cartels?
Indeed, I’ve been pointing that out for years. Flee a corrupt bribe-infested gangsta-run 5th world craphole like Mexico, only to turn formerly-fine California into Little Mexico.
I guess that’s the “progress” in “progressive”!
It’s vengeance for the gringos liberating the part of Mexico with all the good roads!
“Progress”means achieving whatever the progressive fetish of the month happens to be!
The puppets of the Left and PC fools are stopping what they think they supporting: FREEDOM. There is no freedom of speech on campuses just PC police who rip down Police support & post BLM crap. Yes crap. I said it. Look to the real black leaders who say the same thing. You ignorant over educated, under experienced, ignorant kids are cutting off your noses and you will look back on this someday and shudder.
At least they’ll have their Hitler Youth daggers and brass knuckles to help remember the good old days!
Yes, these radical terrorists BLM ARE cutting off their noses…because decent people of all stripes are beyond sick of their terrorism in the disguise of civil rights. NO ONE has more civil rights than minorities. The group most disparaged is the white male! The president needs to grow a set and expel any student who disrupts, harasses, intimidates, scares, or threatens white students or any students that don’t follow their Terror Train. BLM is a terrorist movement and these students need to be told their tactics will not be tolerated. Affirmative Action must end. Think of all the smart, hard working students who are good citizens and who are denied a spot at a university because OF THEIR SKIN COLOR! Affirmative Action is unconstitutional. And now, it is no longer necessary. So BLM, by their very reign of terror, will end AFFIRMATIVE ACTION! Bravo!
Keep your hatreds in order; that’s straight, white, christian males!
Orwell knew his lefties. If you can’t win the arguement, change the language so inconvenient thoughts become double plus-ungood!
Preferably un-expressable and therefore double-plus ungood deleted!
The network is likely to be ex-undocumented Democrat!