Saying "Illegal Alien" in the classroom may get you suspended

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To be clear, I was responding specifically to RT saying this:

the Republican Party has turned the term into a slur the same as calling Democrats communists and socialists when they are neither. All of these terms are used by that political party in bad faith to rile up a bunch of people who don’t know any better. So for that reason we should avoid saying it

He alleges that the Republican party is the entity that has turned a once innocuous phrase into a racial slur, and that the party is using the phrase in bad faith to rile people up. I read that as suggesting that Republican politicians are responsible for this. Of course there are racists in the world who will use just about any phrase you can think of in a racist way. That's not what I'm talking about here. If Republican politicians are using that phrase in bad faith to rile people up, then surely there is video or audio evidence of it somewhere on the internet. Otherwise, RT's claim is unsubstantiated.

I was mostly referring to the right wing media. They don’t scream and foam at the mouth. They just repeat how criminal illegals are coming to get you over and over and over.

[bmw]

This conversation has strayed from the original question of, should a child be suspended for using the phrase "illegal alien" in a classroom? Yes, the "right wing media" as you call it does focus a lot of their attention on the issue of illegal immigration. You and I can differ in opinion on how big of a problem illegal immigration (very specifically, people who don't come here through the proper channels) is in this country, and you can argue that the right wing media is making a mountain out of a molehill. That is a legitimate topic of debate. But that's not what is at issue here. What is at issue is whether or not mere utterance of the phrase "illegal alien" in a public school classroom is worthy of suspension." Your contention seems to be that the Republican party (or now right-wing media, apparently you view the two as one-in-the-same) regularly uses that phrase in a derogatory context, and what I'm telling you is that I haven't seen evidence of that. Arguing that people who come here illegally are a problem for this country is not being derogatory of those people, IMO. "Alien" exists in federal legal statutes. We can split hairs all you want over whether attaching the word "illegal" to the word "alien" is meant to be derogatory or not, but....

Well, let me ask you this. What about simply using the word "alien"? Would that be acceptable to you?

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This conversation has strayed from the original question of, should a child be suspended for using the phrase "illegal alien" in a classroom? Yes, the "right wing media" as you call it does focus a lot of their attention on the issue of illegal immigration. You and I can differ in opinion on how big of a problem illegal immigration (very specifically, people who don't come here through the proper channels) is in this country, and you can argue that the right wing media is making a mountain out of a molehill. That is a legitimate topic of debate. But that's not what is at issue here. What is at issue is whether or not mere utterance of the phrase "illegal alien" in a public school classroom is worthy of suspension." Your contention seems to be that the Republican party (or now right-wing media, apparently you view the two as one-in-the-same) regularly uses that phrase in a derogatory context, and what I'm telling you is that I haven't seen evidence of that. Arguing that people who come here illegally are a problem for this country is not being derogatory of those people, IMO. "Alien" exists in federal legal statutes. We can split hairs all you want over whether attaching the word "illegal" to the word "alien" is meant to be derogatory or not, but....

Well, let me ask you this. What about simply using the word "alien"? Would that be acceptable to you?

No not really… it’s a dumb way to describe a person. The English language has millions of words. There’s got to be a better one than alien to describe an outsider.

[TC Talks]

This conversation has strayed from the original question of, should a child be suspended for using the phrase "illegal alien" in a classroom? Yes, the "right wing media" as you call it does focus a lot of their attention on the issue of illegal immigration. You and I can differ in opinion on how big of a problem illegal immigration (very specifically, people who don't come here through the proper channels) is in this country, and you can argue that the right wing media is making a mountain out of a molehill. That is a legitimate topic of debate. But that's not what is at issue here. What is at issue is whether or not mere utterance of the phrase "illegal alien" in a public school classroom is worthy of suspension." Your contention seems to be that the Republican party (or now right-wing media, apparently you view the two as one-in-the-same) regularly uses that phrase in a derogatory context, and what I'm telling you is that I haven't seen evidence of that. Arguing that people who come here illegally are a problem for this country is not being derogatory of those people, IMO. "Alien" exists in federal legal statutes. We can split hairs all you want over whether attaching the word "illegal" to the word "alien" is meant to be derogatory or not, but....

Well, let me ask you this. What about simply using the word "alien"? Would that be acceptable to you?

I stand by my premise that there is more going on than what was reported.

[Matt]

BMW continues to double down on being willfully ignorant.

That said, this should not have been a suspension.