CNN has been running this for the last three or four days.

[VoiceofReason]

CNN has been running this for the last three or four days! "civil rights disaster"?????

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/14/georgi ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[VoiceofReason]

Can anyone pull this article up? Sometimes I can pull it up now and sometimes I get page not found.

[davidtx]

It came up fine for me.

[OldCannon]

It works for me. Amazing article. Explains why I don't visit CNN anymore.

[gigag04]

The article doesn't even come right out and say that she is in the country illegally.

[Quahog]

The article doesn't even come right out and say that she is in the country illegally.

yeah, it's more PC to say "undocumented"

[randomoutburst]

The article doesn't even come right out and say that she is in the country illegally.

yeah, it's more PC to say "undocumented"

"Undocumented" my....er...BACKSIDE! Illegal is illegal no matter how you slice it. Just like being black is being black. None of this "African-American" stuff...they're Black Americans, or just plain Black or plain American if you like! I HATE PC TERMS!

[pbwalker]

The article doesn't even come right out and say that she is in the country illegally.

yeah, it's more PC to say "undocumented"

By CNN's definition, we can call drug dealers "Unlicensed Pharmaceutical Distributors"...

[tallmike]

"Undocumented" my....er...BACKSIDE! Illegal is illegal no matter how you slice it. Just like being black is being black. None of this "African-American" stuff...they're Black Americans, or just plain Black or plain American if you like! I HATE PC TERMS!

You do not do your side of this argument any favors when you post nonsense like this. The English language evolves over time, the way we speak now is not the way we spoke 100 years ago. The terms mean the same thing, they are just different words.

[Quahog]

The article doesn't even come right out and say that she is in the country illegally.

yeah, it's more PC to say "undocumented"

By CNN's definition, we can call drug dealers "Unlicensed Pharmaceutical Distributors"...

...or acts of terrorism in the skies to be "man-made disasters". Sorry folks, I ain't buyin' what they're sellin'.

[randomoutburst]

"Undocumented" my....er...BACKSIDE! Illegal is illegal no matter how you slice it. Just like being black is being black. None of this "African-American" stuff...they're Black Americans, or just plain Black or plain American if you like! I HATE PC TERMS!

You do not do your side of this argument any favors when you post nonsense like this. The English language evolves over time, the way we speak now is not the way we spoke 100 years ago. The terms mean the same thing, they are just different words.

My problem is not with the words themselves; my problem is that the "new" words serve to emphasize or understate something important.
"Undocumented immigrants" makes it sound like they aren't committing a felony. It makes it sound like they have rights under our Constitution, which they don't. They have basic human rights, but not OUR rights. If they want American rights they need to be legally in the country.

"African-American" makes it sound like they are from Africa. Maybe way back in the family tree, sure; however, most people we call "African-Americans" were born HERE in the United States, and so were their parents, and grandparents, and so on. They are as American as you or me. I don't call myself a German-American just because I had relatives several generations back who immigrated from Germany.
The important point is that they are American. They are also black. They can be called either and it gets a different point across depending on what the topic is. Either way, most of those people would NOT identify with being "African" more than "black" or "American". I worked with an actual African immigrant and she said it upset her that American blacks are called "African-Americans"...because they aren't!

PC terms are used in an attempt to not offend anybody. So what if someone is occasionally offended by a typically NON-OFFENSIVE term? They will learn to take it in stride. White people can be called so many derogatory terms but the emphasis is anywhere but there. I don't whine about it because I don't take it personally. Any black person upset about being called "black"...well, what would be the correct term? The people who complain about being discriminated against and wanted to be treated differently are the same ones who complain when they ARE treated as a separate group!

I don't mean to say that all people of a category act this way - I am just saying that it does happen. Illegal immigrants are illegal, not undocumented. They should be required to come here by legal means or they can get out. Our country has immigration quotas for a reason: we take what we can support. Illegals are stressing our economy because we can't handle the load. Undocumented...it makes me angry that they try to downplay the serious nature of the issue.

[Fangs]

As an African immigrant, I've always thought the PC stuff was silly. I'm pasty white but more African than 90% of the "African Americans" who weren't born in Africa or even stepped foot on the continent.

As for the story, what are the chances that this poor "innocent victim" had insurance on the car she was driving without a license? What happens when she causes a wreck, and who pays?

[bci21984]

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith, becomes an American, and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

I agree with outburst, there should be no such term as african american, asian american, or any other "something else" american. we are AMERICANS. I also agree 100% with teddy's quote above, i cant fault anyone for coming here to make a better life for themselves and family, but coming here and working tax free just to send the money back home, while taking many liberties and hand outs is absolutely absurd.

I dont understand why people have a problem with enforcing ILLEGAL immigration, they dont have a problem when "the law" enforces illegal murder or illegal bank robbing or any other illegal action.

[3dfxMM]

"Undocumented immigrants" makes it sound like they aren't committing a felony.

They aren't committing a felony. Entering the country illegally is a misdemeanor. Being here illegally is a civil violation for which the punishment is typically deportation. Apparently, to charge someone with the misdemeanor they have to be able to prove that they crossed illegally. Since that takes time and money, they usually just deport them. Also, not everyone who is here illegally got here illegally. Many enter with a valid visa and then just stay when it expires. I don't think this applies to very many who get here via our southern border.