70,000 people urge New York Times to stop using the dehumanizing and inaccurate term, “illegal”, from news coverage

On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 The Applied Research Center (APC) and The Drop the I-Word Campaign joined with activists, including Fernando Chavez, attorney and eldest son of Cesar Chavez, and Jose Antonio Vargas, award-winning journalist and founder of Define American, to deliver petitions signed by 70,000 people to the New York Times urging them to stop using the term, “illegal” from their news stories when referring to individuals.   Mr. Chavez, Jose Antonio Vargas, the ARC and a coalition of supporters and activists delivered the petitions to Jill Abramson’s office, the executive editor of the NY Times.  The petition was started by Helen Chavez, Fernando Chavez’ mother and widow of Cesar Chavez.

The petitions were delivered only a few weeks after the Associated Press announced their decision to drop the dehumanizing and inaccurate term from describing individuals and would instead only use the word “to refer to an action.”

We feel the term is provocative, dehumanizing, and racially charged.  It is also imprecise and inaccurate.  The term does not take into account the variety of reasons a person is undocumented; many came here legally and have overstayed visas, were brought here as children, or overstayed fleeing persecution.  It creates the stereotyping of a group of individuals, mostly people of color, and centers the immigration debate around border control, when borders are not the issue.  In an interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, Rinku Sen, the ARC’s Executive Director and President, said it best.  It is an “imprecise term that is applied in a blanket way,” and we feel it needs to change.

A few hours after the petitions were delivered, Philip B. Corbett, the associate managing editor for standards, who oversees The Times’ style manual, made an announcement that the Times updated its policies.  Unfortunately, it would continue to use the word “illegal” to describe “someone who enters, lives in or works in the United States without proper legal authorization.” It encourages reporters and editors to “consider alternatives when appropriate to explain the specific circumstances of the person in question, or to focus on actions.”

The AP announcement earlier this month was a victory, and we can only hope that more major news sources, like the New York Times and the LA Times “get with the times” and drop the i-word.

For more information, please visit colorlines.com/droptheiword

A Conversation on Immigration

A Conversation on Immigration with Jose Antonio Vargas, Cristina Jimenez, Karen Kaminsky, Rinku Sen, & a performance by Iyaba Ibo Mandingo.

This is “an exciting conversation on immigration policy, activism and art in the context of the upcoming election with Define American founder Jose Antonio Vargas, recently featured on the cover of TIME (along with the story of nearly 12 million undocumented Americans), Karen Kaminsky (New York Immigration Coalition Deputy Executive Director), Iyaba Ibo Mandingo (poet/painter/performer), Cristina Jimenez (United We Dream Managing Director), and Rinku Sen (President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center).” – cultureproject.org/impact-we-people/

A Family’s Story of Migration

Uprooted is about shifting the terms of the immigration debate by encouraging and enabling migrants and their allies to share their stories.  Our video trainings are an integral component of this project, because they allow those without  video production capabilities the opportunity to produce a piece for inclusion in the project.

Check out this piece from one of our interns who learned basic video production while working with us. The piece illustrates the complexity of the double life undocumented migrants often must lead. Descriptions of the difficulties of living in the US without proper documentation– from the labor abuses, to becoming estranged from their country of origin and having limited opportunities here– are juxtaposed with footage of the undocumented doing quotidian activities, like preparing a meal, playing video games and doing homework.

Corporate news media often filter migrant justice issues through a nativist lens, reducing the millions of undocumented people in the United States to cultural bogeymen, if not criminals.  As Uprooted develops into a 10-part video series, we will be contextualizing the idea of “opportunity” that is interwoven throughout this piece– why are there more opportunities here than in global south? What social and economic policies have created the opportunities of the developed world and subsequently forced people of the global south to uproot themselves?

Want to produce media addressing migration issues? We can help!

Already have media on migration issues you’d like to see shared with an international audience: submit it to Uprooted for potential inclusion in our 10-part tv/dvd series!