[AAACE-NLA] language and labels
Debbie Yoho
dwyoho at earthlink.net
Mon Sep 24 11:45:47 EDT 2007
Kearney's point about the term "anti-immigrant" has me thinking. Perhaps
we can all agree that here the struggle to dialog is rooted in vocabulary,
as he pointed out.
Truly polarization of opinions to safe "corners" is aggravated by simple
language.
I wonder what would happen if somehow everyone strived to avoid "loaded"
words? Would we then discuss immigration issues with less heat and more
light? Or would it only be a veneer that obfuscates true meaning?
Unfortunate, it seems like almost every term or label these days is loaded
to the gills. This morning I have been reveiwing a guide on English usage
that I am editing to include in our tutor training manual. I came across
the following (keep in mind the author's purpose was to encourage precision
in writing):
"CONSERVATIVE Strictly speaking, conservative-- a word taken into general
use from politics--means opposed to change. Hence, a conservative estimate
is not necessarily a low one, but one that will probably not have to be
changed. Conservative should not be used loosely for moderate, safe, low,
etc. Example: A safe (NOT conservative) estimate is $5.00."
I used to think a political conservative was someone in favor of the status
quo, as opposed to reform. Yet certainly that cannot be applied to many
who call themselves conservative today.
Deborah W. Yoho
director, Turning Pages
(formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas
803-765-255S
PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202
yohogclc at earthlink.net
> [Original Message]
> From: Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net>
> To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Date: 9/24/2007 7:42:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] FW: Re: Local Anti-Immigrant Laws
>
> Well, hmmm I guess that was rather a lot to lay on David, sorry, David.
> And Andres, you are definitely not chopped liver.
>
> Discussion around this topic gets heated, and instead of taking others'
> positions into account and figuring out if we can get any consensus--or
> agreement on the dimensions of the problem, for example the dairy farm
> in Vermont, the guy who owns house and pays taxes in Boston--we back
> into our respective corners, mostly, and...get nowhere.
>
> Andrea
>
> On Sep 22, 2007, at 11:36 PM, andresmuro at aol.com wrote:
>
> > What do you think about the rest of us? Unbalanced, Uncompacionate?
> >
> > Andres
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net>
> > To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
> > <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> > Sent: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 7:35 pm
> > Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] FW: Re: Local Anti-Immigrant Laws
> >
> > David,
> >
> >
> >
> > If you were the ones making the rules, what wold they be? I think of
> >
> > you as both balanced and compassionate.
> >
> >
> >
> > Andrea
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sep 22, 2007, at 7:30 AM, David Rosen wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > Andrea and others,
> >
> > >
> >
> > > Immigration status often is not as simple as illegal vs. legal. Take,
> >
> > > for example, Liberians who are in the U.S. legally under Temporary
> >
> > > Protective Status (TPS). As victims of a long, debilitating civil
> >
> > > war, many Liberian refugees were granted temporary legal status in
> >
> > > the U.S. Most have jobs, are settled here, and send money back to
> >
> > > Liberia to help those at home who cannot find jobs. As a result of
> >
> > > the war, the country's infrastructure -- electricity, water,
> >
> > > sanitation, mail, health care, schools -- was destroyed -- and
> >
> > > unemployment still runs about 80%.
> >
> > >
> >
> > > Now that the war is over in Liberia, the Administration wants to end
> >
> > > TPS for Liberians in the U.S.. This would mean returning people who
> >
> > > work and pay taxes here, who often do jobs no one else will do, and
> >
> > > who send money home to help out their families in Liberia, to
> >
> > > unemployment and poverty there. Of course, if they stayed in the
> >
> > > U.S. they would have lost their status and would be "illegal". Each
> >
> > > year Liberians and their families under TPS go through this,
> >
> > > wondering if this is the year they will lose their status. Today they
> >
> > > are legal, hard-working, law-abiding citizens helping their families
> >
> > > here and at home. Tomorrow they may be deported to poverty and
> >
> > > unemployment. In the meantime they live in uncertainty.
> >
> > >
> >
> > > David J. Rosen
> >
> > > DJRosen at theworld.com
> >
> > >
> >
> > >
> >
> > > On Sep 21, 2007, at 11:08 PM, Andrea Wilder wrote:
> >
> > >
> >
> > >> I am so confused about this issue I don't know what to think.
> >
> > >>
> >
> > >> There was a story this week in the boston Globe about a guy
> >
> > >> (illegal) form Colombia who had bought a house in the Boston area,
> >
> > >> raised 2 children ,sent them to school (and to college?) paid his
> >
> > >> taxes, his bills,and may buy another house by selling some property
> >
> > >> back home....
> >
> > >>
> >
> > >> Didn't someone say this was an excellent form ( and cheap) of
> >
> > >> foreign aid?
> >
> > >>
> >
> > >> Andrea
> >
> > >>
> >
> > >> On Sep 21, 2007, at 3:50 PM, Debbie Yoho wrote:
> >
> > >>
> >
> > >>> To: aaace-nla
> >
> > >>>> Sent: 9/20/2007 6:53:45 PM
> >
> > >>>> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Local Anti-Immigrant Laws
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>> I am grateful for Kearney's rebuttal of my chacterization of the
> >
> > >>>> Aiken SC law as "anti-immigrant" because I don't often have the
> >
> > >>>> chance to dialog meaningfully with someone representing the
> >
> > >>>> right. I mean this sincerely, and I offer the following in an
> >
> > >>>> honest effort to gain further understanding of a complex issue.
> >
> > >>>> However, the purpose of this list is not to debate the pros and
> >
> > >>>> cons of the immigration issue, but to encourage and facilitate
> >
> > >>>> advocacy for AELS programs. I will therefore try to frame this
> >
> > >>>> response from that perspective. I shall leave it to our
> >
> > >>>> moderator to judge if we are getting away from the list's
> >
> > >>>> purpose. So here goes:
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>> Kearney, I take your point that one can be a full-scale supporter
> >
> > >>>> of legal immigration and at the same time support a law such as
> >
> > >>>> the Aiken example. I hope you would agree that I can also be
> >
> > >>>> opposed to this law and at the same time support reasonable
> >
> > >>>> efforts to secure our borders. I believe there is much common
> >
> > >>>> ground here where we might meet, and I wish the two "sides" of
> >
> > >>>> this issue would attempt to find that common ground. If you feel
> >
> > >>>> personally insulted to be characterized as "anti-
> >
> > >>>> immigrant" (assuming you support the Aiken law), I apologize, and
> >
> > >>>> I agree that irritating people is counter-productive. I doubt
> >
> > >>>> that you are either "simplistic" or "xenophobic" and would ask
> >
> > >>>> that you not put words in my mouth--I am a member of the left but
> >
> > >>>> I would not "love to paint" you or anyone else this way. So we
> >
> > >>>> are both irritated, I think. I'd call the score even.
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>> As we all know, the real heart of this issue is what to do about
> >
> > >>>> the 12 million illegal immigrants who are among us. Andres Muro
> >
> > >>>> offered testimony here about the suffering that occurs when laws
> >
> > >>>> like the Aiken measure are enforced, and I believe him. Some of
> >
> > >>>> this suffering happens to adult learners I work with. As their
> >
> > >>>> teacher, I am unconcerned about their legal status, but very
> >
> > >>>> concerned when they suffer because this affects their learning.
> >
> > >>>> Perhaps you feel that I shouldn't be teaching them to begin with,
> >
> > >>>> and perhaps this is where we cannot agree. I feel it is morally
> >
> > >>>> wrong for a teacher to reject an opportunity to teach someone, in
> >
> > >>>> the same way that it is immoral for a doctor to refuse to treat a
> >
> > >>>> sick person. This is why I characterize the Aiken law as "anti-
> >
> > >>>> immigrant". Perhaps a better term would be "anti-human." or more
> >
> > >>>> grammatically "inhumane". (The law is certainly not "a rational
> >
> > >>>> reaction" as the enforcement of it raises as many problems as it
> >
> > >>>> attempts to solve.).
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>> As a teacher, I must advocate for the learners I teach,
> >
> > >>>> especially for those who cannot or will not speak for
> >
> > >>>> themselves. And so I have asked Andres for permission to use his
> >
> > >>>> experience in an advocacy letter to my newspaper.
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>> Finally, Andres has also offered a quote from a message he
> >
> > >>>> received as a result of his previous post. I leave it to you to
> >
> > >>>> judge the vocabulary and emotion this message represents. To me
> >
> > >>>> it is clearly "anti-immigrant" because hatred for both Andres
> >
> > >>>> and illegal immigrants obviously comes through.
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>> Deborah W. Yoho
> >
> > >>>> director, Turning Pages
> >
> > >>>> (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
> >
> > >>>> a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas
> >
> > >>>> 803-765-255S
> >
> > >>>> PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202
> >
> > >>>> yohogclc at earthlink.net
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>>
> >
> > >>>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > >>>>> From: Kearney Lykins
> >
> > >>>>> To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
> >
> > >>>>> Sent: 9/20/2007 1:26:33 PM
> >
> > >>>>> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Local Anti-Immigrant Laws
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> The spirit of the Aiken County, South Carolina law that Debbie
> >
> > >>>>> Yoho describes is not, as she asserts, "anti-immigrant." It is,
> >
> > >>>>> however, "anti-illegal immigrant." This misrepresentation is
> >
> > >>>>> another example of rhetorical line-drawing between imaginary
> >
> > >>>>> sides: pro-immigrant and anti-immigrant. However, as much as the
> >
> > >>>>> left would love to frame the argument this way, because it
> >
> > >>>>> paints its opposition as simplistic, xenophobic haters, one of
> >
> > >>>>> these two sides does not in fact exist (to a significant
> >
> > >>>>> degree), and hence there is no such battle.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> As we all know the real debate nationally and locally focuses
> >
> > >>>>> not on immigration, but on a particular type of it - the out of
> >
> > >>>>> control illegal sort. The people of Aiken County are reacting
> >
> > >>>>> to the inability or the reluctance of the federal government to
> >
> > >>>>> enforce existing immigration law. The effects are felt locally.
> >
> > >>>>> And the reactions are rational.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> The truly bad news is that the federal government has thus far
> >
> > >>>>> failed to honor its commitment to control immigration.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> / Kearney Lykins
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> ----- Original Message ----
> >
> > >>>>> From: "aaace-nla-request at lists.literacytent.org" <aaace-nla-
> >
> > >>>>> request at lists.literacytent.org>
> >
> > >>>>> To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
> >
> > >>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 10:48:10 AM
> >
> > >>>>> Subject: AAACE-NLA Digest, Vol 52, Issue 16
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
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> >
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> >
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> >
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> >
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> >
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> >
> > >>>>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more
> > specific
> >
> > >>>>> than "Re: Contents of AAACE-NLA digest..."
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> Message: 2
> >
> > >>>>> Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:37:43 -0400
> >
> > >>>>> From: "Debbie Yoho" <dwyoho at earthlink.net>
> >
> > >>>>> Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Local Anti-Immigrant Laws
> >
> > >>>>> To: "aaace-nla" <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> >
> > >>>>> Message-ID: <3849-220079319193743765 at earthlink.net>
> >
> > >>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> Dear Friends: By way of keeping our list informed, see below.
> >
> > >>>>> Another example of the craziness that is taking hold regarding
> >
> > >>>>> immigration, this time, I am sorry to say, from SC. It will
> >
> > >>>>> interesting to see if this local ordinance is adjudicated.
> >
> > >>>>> Best, Debbie Yoho
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> Deborah W. Yoho
> >
> > >>>>> director, Turning Pages
> >
> > >>>>> (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
> >
> > >>>>> a community service of Volunteers of America Carolinas
> >
> > >>>>> 803-765-255S
> >
> > >>>>> PO Box 1447 Columbia, SC 29202
> >
> > >>>>> yohogclc at earthlink.net
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > >>>>> From: Tammy Besherse
> >
> > >>>>> To: Hispanic Leadership Council;NLPOA;SCLN;Voto Hispano
> >
> > >>>>> Sent: 9/19/2007 8:54:19 AM
> >
> > >>>>> Subject: [HISPANIC_LEADERSHIP] Aiken County Council
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> Hey everyone,
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> I have some bad news. Aiken County passed an anti-immigrant
> >
> > >>>>> ordinance last night. This was despite our efforts, and the
> >
> > >>>>> work of MALDEF, the Farm Bureau, and the Chamber of Commerce, to
> >
> > >>>>> name a few. If you hear of low income people being affected
> >
> > >>>>> by this ordinance, please let me know. We have discussed
> >
> > >>>>> litigation with MALDEF. It might be an avenue we pursue,
> >
> > >>>>> depending on plaintiffs, and how they are being affected. Feel
> >
> > >>>>> free to call me if you have questions. Thanks.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> Summary of Ordinance:
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> 1. Vendors hiring undocumented workers will lose their
> >
> > >>>>> licenses. Note the ordinance does not have due process rights
> >
> > >>>>> for vendors, nor tell them how to determine if someone is
> >
> > >>>>> authorized to work in the country.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> 2. Police will have to check everyone's legal status they
> >
> > >>>>> arrest. Note, again, no information was put in place advising
> >
> > >>>>> the police how to do this. The reality is only the feds can do
> >
> > >>>>> this, unless local police are properly trained.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> 3. English only laws unless for "civil rights" and "emergencies".
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> 4. Anyone trying to receive "benefits" from agencies that get
> >
> > >>>>> "discretionary funding" from Aiken County must determine
> >
> > >>>>> someone's legal status. Again, no rules set in place for how to
> >
> > >>>>> determine the legal status. Also, we can not locate anywhere
> >
> > >>>>> who gets "discretionary funding".
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> We believe this ordinance is going to be enforced too broadly,
> >
> > >>>>> cause racial profiling, and other constitutional law violations.
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> V: (803) 779-1113 x103
> >
> > >>>>> _
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>>
> >
> > >>>>> Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo!
> >
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> >
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> > >
> >
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> >
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