Undocumented immigrants and their allies insist the Grey Lady get with the times
NEW YORK, April 23, 2013 -- Major national organizations in support of the Applied Research Center’s Drop the I-Word public education campaign together delivered more than 70K signatures to The New York Times today calling on the newspaper to stop describing people as "illegal.” The signatures were collected by a collaborative effort through Drop the I-Word, Define American, Presente.org, and through a MoveOn.org petition started by Helen Chavez, the widow of Cesar Chavez. Today is the 20th anniversary of the civil rights icon’s death.
The petitions were delivered by the Chavez family, Jose Antonio Vargas and Abraham Paulos, Executive director of Families for Freedom, a New York based multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing and fighting deportation.
Since the Drop the I-Word campaign launched in September of 2010, undocumented people, their allies and a diverse group of supporters including linguists, and the legal community have called on all media organizations to drop the legally inaccurate and dehumanizing term. And last fall, Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and founder of Define American, publically challenged the Associated Press and The New York Times to drop the term, a year and a half after coming out as undocumented in The Times.
"The use of dehumanizing, inaccurate language to describe immigrants is no longer acceptable, as indicated by style guide updates at the AP, USA Today, ABC, and many other news outlets," said ARC President Rinku Sen. "The New York Times needs to do the same and hold itself up to the journalistic standards for which it is known."
After months of consideration, Public Editor Margaret Sullivan now favors the use of “undocumented” or “unauthorized” as alternatives, but the news organization has yet to announce an official policy. Earlier this month, advocates secured two major victories when the Associated Press dropped the term, followed by USA TODAY. The Huffington Post, Univision News, ABC, CNN, NBC Latino, NBC News, Fox News Latino, The Nation and Colorlines.com are among leading national news outlets that don’t use the term, and instead use “unauthorized” “undocumented” and varying more precise descriptions.
Last year a report commissioned by the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and conducted by Latino Decisions, found that non-Latinos no matter what the media format, think that Latinos and “illegal immigrants” are one and the same. Additionally the study revealed “over 30 percent of respondents believed a majority of Latinos (50 percent or greater) were undocumented.
Core supporters of the Applied Research Center's Drop the I-Word campaign are: Define American, GLAAD, Presente.org, Move-on.org, National Hispanic Media Coalition, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Cuentame.org.
Additional supporters of Drop the I-Word are:
Alliance for a Just Society; American Anthropological Association’s The Committee for Human Rights; Anti-Defamation League; Black Alliance for Just Immigration; California Council of Churches; Campus Progress; CARECEN San Francisco; Center for Community Change; Center for Constitutional Rights; Coalition for Humane Rights of Los Angeles; Drum Major Institute; Equal Justice Society; General Commission on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church;
Hip Hop Congress; Latinos for Community Transformation; National Alliance of Latin American & Caribbean Communities; National Day Laborer Organizing Network; National Immigration Law Center; National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; New York Immigration Coalition; New York State Youth Leadership Council; One America; South Asian American Leaders for Tomorrow; The Association for Community Development, Bangladesh; The Nation Institute; The Sound Strike; Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action; Voto Latino; UNITY comprised of: the Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Native American Journalists Association and most recently, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association; WARBE Development Foundation; Washington Community Action Network; and Women’s Media Center.
About Drop the I-Word
Presented by the Applied Research Center, Drop the I-Word is a public education campaign powered by immigrants and diverse communities across the country that value human dignity and are working to eradicate the dehumanizing slur "illegals" and other forms of the term, from everyday use and public discourse. No human being is "illegal."
Media Contact:
MoveOn.org/Fernando Chavez: Brett Abrams: brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com, 516-841 1105
Applied Research Center/Rinku Sen: media@arc.org, 347-864-0519
Define American/Jose Antonio Vargas: monica@defineamerican.com
National Hispanic Media Council/Alex Nogales: igonzalez@nhmc.org
Presente/ Arturo Carmona: blair@fitzgibbonmedia.com, 202-503-6141
April 3, 2013 (New York, NY) – The Applied Research Center (ARC) applauds the Associated Press decision to eliminate the phrase “illegal immigrant” from its 2013 Stylebook and calls on other institutions to do the same. A watershed moment in ARC’s Drop the I-Word campaign against dehumanizing language, the Stylebook change will have a tremendous impact on newspaper and other media coverage around the country.
"The AP deserves a lot of credit for the thoughtful and thorough process they've gone through, and for listening to readers and journalists alike," said ARC President Rinku Sen. "This decision will have far reaching implications, at a crucial time in the immigration policy debate."
ARC launched its Drop the I-Word campaign to eliminate use of the word “illegal” in September 2010, as anti-immigrant sentiment and hate crimes against communities of color has increased. ARC first put out a call for the AP to remove “illegal immigrant” from its Stylebook in November 2011 as the go-to reference for journalists is expected to be accurate, objective and respectful. Powered by immigrants and diverse communities across the country, Drop the I-Word has worked steadily through advocacy and coverage at Colorlines.com to present the dehumanizing and inaccurate aspects of the i-word, give space for immigrants to tell their stories, and to highlight the history behind the term “illegal” and other dehumanizing language.
The Applied Research Center would like to recognize key partners in this campaign: The National Association of Hispanic Journalists who called for journalists to reevaluate use of the term; progressive media outlets such as Alternet, The Nation, and Free Speech TV, who were among the first to drop the i-word; Roberto Lovato, who provided critical encouragement and was key to the early campaign strategy; The National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities challenged local outlets, including the Boston Globe, to make the change; Presente.org; National Hispanic Media Coalition; and Jose Antonio Vargas drove the project home with his impassioned plea to journalists last fall. Additionally, ARC is appreciative of linguists, journalists, attorneys and public officials who offered support and made it clear that they could not use the word in good conscience, and the tireless work of community organizers and online supporters who rallied behind campaign efforts and held media outlets accountable.
While the AP Stylebook change is a significant and exciting victory, the work has just begun. ARC will continue to work with editors and publishers to update their style guides.
To learn more visit droptheiword.com.
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About ARC
The Applied Research Center (ARC) is a thirty-year-old, national racial justice organization with a mission to build awareness, solutions and leadership for racial justice by generating transformative ideas, information and experiences. We define racial justice as the systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equal opportunities and outcomes for all and we work to advance racial justice through media, research, and leadership development.
About Drop the I-Word
Drop the I-Word is a public education campaign powered by immigrants and diverse communities across the country that value human dignity and are working to eradicate the dehumanizing term "illegals" and related language, from everyday use and public discourse. The i-word opens the door to racial profiling and violence and prevents truthful, respectful debate on immigration. No human being is "illegal."
Topics Include Millennials, Occupy Activism, Presidential Election, Pop Culture; Keynote Speaker Junot Díaz
May 9, 2012 (New York, NY) - A leader in the racial justice movement, the Applied Research Center (ARC) today announced a schedule of upcoming webinars and speaker line-up for its Facing Race national conference, with a new promotional video presented by ARC Executive Director Rinku Sen, including testimonials from Melissa Harris Perry, Maria Teresa Kumar, Van Jones, and Ai-jen Poo. Facing Race will be held in Baltimore, MD, from November 15-17, with Junot Díaz keynoting. Registration and information is available at arc.org/facingrace.
With a mission to popularize racial justice, ARC programs are inclusive and interactive, bringing people together in online community, webinars, and in-person conferences. ARC is thrilled to present webinars covering a wide range of topics throughout the year that will help people to advance racial justice in their own spheres, leading up to Facing Race -- the largest national, multi-racial gathering of leaders, educators, journalists, artists, and activists on racial justice.
ARC is holding two free informational webinars: “Millennials, Activism & Race” (May 24 - registration open at arc.org/webinars) and “Building Healthy Communities: Good Food and Good Jobs” (June 21). ARC will also be offering skill-building webinars over the course of the year, including: "Challenging Racism Systematically" (July 19), "Racial Justice Impact Assessment" (Aug 23), and two sessions in the fall on Voting Rights and Reproductive Rights.
Celebrating 30 years in the racial justice movement, ARC has a multi-racial and multi-generational staff with extensive expertise and experience. As publisher of Colorlines.com, ARC works through the news cycle to investigate and explicitly confront racism, challenging concepts like “colorblindness” and “post-racial,” and working on solutions that move beyond “diversity” and toward equity.
Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and 2012 Facing Race keynote speaker, commented on the so-called “post-race” state of the nation saying that “....events like ARC Facing Race Conference are of paramount importance. Not only for the important activism and theorizing that they engender but because it is in these spaces of deliberations that we come in contact with the promise of a just anti-racist future.”
The Facing Race conference will be co-emceed by comedian W. Kamau Bell and social media maven Deanna Zandt, with plenaries on “Elections, Governance & Policy,” “Race, Gender and the 21st Century,” and “Arts, Media, Culture.” Presenters include Judith Browne Dianis, Jeff Chang, Negin Farsad, Maria Hinojosa, Sally Kohn, Janet Mock, and Michael Omi. Facing Race will be held in Baltimore, MD from Nov 15-17, 2012. Registration available at arc.org/facingrace.
In addition to other programs, the Applied Research Center offers an array of consultation services, including training, curriculum design, public presentations, evaluation, webinars, and strategic coaching.
ABOUT ARC – The Applied Research Center (ARC) is a 30-year-old racial justice think tank that uses media, research and activism to promote solutions. ARC’s mission is to popularize racial justice and prepare people to achieve it. ARC also serves as the publisher of Colorlines.com, a daily news site offering award-winning reporting, analysis, and solutions to today’s racial justice issues. For more information on ARC’s work, please visit www.arc.org.
For press passes or media inquiries, please contact media@arc.org.
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