This Costume is Offensive to Aliens (The Space Kind)
I have freely admitted in the past that I am the product of illegal immigrants. I don’t mean that in the “I am white, liberal and guilty because I'm not Native American” sort of way. I mean that in the past 100 or so years, one (or more?) of the people from whose loins I sprang jumped off a boat and swam for New Jersey without proper papers.
This is why I usually keep my mouth shut while others scream about immigration. I just don't feel that I have the right to say anything most of the time. That said, I do have a very strong opinion on immigration policy. I believe that the laws we have already in place should be enforced. I also believe that the methods and parameters for entering this country should be much easier (and cheaper) to navigate for those who wish to enter America legally. I also believe we are extremely hypocritical about immigration in this country.
As a nation, we don’t want to look too hard at who is picking the strawberries or cleaning the pool. It’s easier to say that it’s offensive to ask if the lawn care folks have papers. Many would argue that it's bigoted to connect lawn care with illegal immigration. That makes not asking easy, doesn't it? I may be so liberal that I think buying the world a Coke should be part of our national foreign policy, but I also think that stereotypes don't just spring up in a vacuum.
This brings me to a special bit of ridiculousness I read this morning in my emailed news reports.
Several retailers, including Walmart and Target, recently removed this Halloween costume from their stores and online outlets:
In case you don’t get the joke, it’s an “Illegal Alien” – a prison jumpsuit, an alien mask and a giant green card. CHIRLA (The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles) said they started receiving emails from concerned LEGAL immigrants about the costume. (Their distinction, not mine.) It’s evidently offensive to them, especially one photo I saw which included a large "Mexican Moustache" on the mask.
I think we’re forgetting something here. Illegal immigrants are breaking the law. They have the right to be treated humanely. They have the right to be unharmed. But, they do not have the right to go through life without being offended any more than I do. (The Fat Suit is not amusing, by the way. ::cough::)
As a society, why aren’t we worried about offending prisoners with inmate costumes? Hippies with tie-dye costumes? “Pimps” with velvet suits and big feathered hats? "Serial Killers" wearing a t-shirt with boxes of cereal stapled to the front? (See? It's funny because it's a homophone! Huh, huh, huh... she said "homophone"...) Doctors with giant stethoscopes? I ask you, who is lobbying to stamp out the hobo costume?
If our holy-of-holies, the fireman, can be disparaged by giant hairy dudes wearing nothing but a pair of red Speedos, a fire hat and a pair of red plastic suspenders, then what part of the U.S. Constitution provides for the right of illegal immigrants not being offended by a Halloween costume?
Probably most pointedly, how many millions of people saw this story and have the third grade skills available to put together a prisoner costume and an alien mask now that they see it gets so much attention?
I think the time and energy spent on this ridiculous “fight” could be better spent lobbying for immigration reform that provides for a fair, efficient, humane and actually attainable legal citizenship program. The truth is that illegal immigrants are breaking the law and people wearing that costume suffer from an extreme lack of tact and imagination. We can’t save people from being offended or choosing crappy costumes by legislating alien masks.
Virtually every costume is a gross generalization of a group of people. Millions of women seize upon Halloween to act out their inner Naughty Nurse. I only think that's disgusting because the only person who wants to see me in garters is my husband. Who am I to judge?
I'm no expert on immigration, but I AM an expert on Halloween. It is a license to have bad taste. For one night only, a dude can show up at your house in a priest costume with a Cabbage Patch Kid glued to his crotch and drink your beer while doing The Time Warp. (Hi, Tom!)
Offensive? Absolutely. Hilarious? That's up to you. Did that costume aim to marginalize or injure victims of molestation? Come ON... no way. Would I find it so funny if I (or my child) had been molested by a priest? Probably not.
It's easy to fight a Halloween costume and shame people into having no sense of humor. It's hard to be specific about how to help people enter this country legally and then treat them properly once they get here. It's even harder to figure out what to do with all the folks that are already here.
This isn't about awareness or sensitivity. I believe that liberals (myself included) should stop searching for things to be offended about and start looking at how to actually improve the situation. There should be less fussing over trying to get people to accept and respect the commission of a crime and more time trying to figure out how to help the actual people who would come to America the right way if they had the means.
Perhaps the best idea would be to use that wasted call or email to Walmart about a costume to demand proper worker documentation from produce suppliers?
Oh, and if you're looking for a safe, non-offensive costume - slap on some BillyBob teeth and go as a redneck. It's always safe to ridicule southerners.
::Disclaimer: No 1920’s cartoon hobos were actually offended in the production of this blog. I was, however, cut by a tin can full of dried beans when I didn’t have a “real” costume in 1982. The hobo was the “go-to” costume for mothers everywhere for over 100 years. It’s a proud tradition that should be halted immediately. That is all.::
Images:
Costume - CNN.com
BillyBob - props-n-frocks.co.uk
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Comments
As for me, I usually just put a potato down my pants for Halloween and go as a dictator...
The things we focus our attention on are bizarre to me. You are so right. Save that energy of the phone calls and emails for your government as opposed to Wal-Mart or whoever else. Did it get pulled? Probably. Is the "butt of the joke" still an issue? Yes. We're all immigrants. It's not the people who are here illegally that bother me because let's face it, who's job are they really taking? I certainly don't like to wash dishes. And when someone goes on a rant about them, that's exactly what I say. The problem is the method of entering the country within legal terms. But, that starts with our policies. It's not the immigrant's fault they want to be here and can't find a way to do it legally. But, it's also not my job to pay for health care for them, when I am unable to afford it for myself.
Now, anyone know where I can get that slutty nun costume? I think it'll be a hit here!
Procopius - BWAHAHHAHAHA!
Janelle - This is exactly my point. We're insulating ourselves from the real issue by being "activists" about entirely the wrong things. Who will stand up and say that the stereotypical sombrero and moustache Mexican costume is more offensive? That's sold in every retail store in this country.
Julie - I'm going as a slutty parent. No costume required.
Brian & OES - I totally agree. Real help comes in the form of immigration reform, not false activism which only serves to make us feel better about the problem. It's like putting a band-aid on our mind while someone else bleeds to death.
(Okay, booooooo...)
Nor should we try to. My take has always been that people have every right to be offended by whatever they choose - but that doesn't mean that whatever it is offends everyone else too.
Time to grow up, people. There are lots of things I find offensive that aren't illegal, so I choose not to listen/watch/read/partake of whatever they are. That's what grown-ups do. Spending money on stupid lawsuits is killing us all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ORwO5xDUE
Rated, thumbed, and my head hurts from nodding in agreement.
I don't care much to delve into my family's history on this continent (or any other one, for that matter -- what I already know is bad enough), but I have good reason to believe that some members' arrival at and departure from Grosse Ile was done without benefit of ... um ... the requisite paperwork.
You've bought into the myth is that this is a liberals-only problem; I doubt that liberals have anywhere near cornered the market on taking offense over the superficial trappings of serious issues. And I suspect that your call to action is completely unnecessary for most people of a liberal bent. I doubt I've spent one minute of my life "searching for things to be offended about" and I highly doubt I'm unusual in that regard. On the other hand, I do spend time improving many situations; that's what makes life worthwhile. I don't think I'm unusual in this respect, either.
It's easy for you and me to think "no big deal" about this costume, but you've called it to my attention, and my guess is that people who have reasou to be sensitive (I live in Arizona, where the animosity toward Spanish speakers is palpable, and Hispanics, whether legal or illegal, are scapegoated and harassed) would find this kind of humor a bit hard to take unresentfully.
Rated for being provoking. I mean, thought-provoking! (Tempted to put smiley face here. Must resist urge, especially after reading John Blumenthal today.)
As for liberal vs. other assignment for blame, I can't speak for anyone else. I'm a liberal and I'm speaking to my own here. I try to do tangible things in my life to improve the lives of people who don't have a voice. Too much time is taken up in liberal organizations searching for ways to express outrage rather than actually doing things that fix problems.
I don't know what goes on in the back rooms of conservative organizations. (::shudder::) But maybe someone else could speak to that issue because I am ignorant enough about my own issues. I'm not postulating that this is a liberals-only issue. I'm speaking from my point of liberalism (even my undies are pinko!) to a primarily liberal audience.
And may I be the first to say here... Cindy Ross.
The last thing I want to do is sound like I'm insensitive to the plight of people trying to enter this country. The Man's family sponsored numerous teenagers entering this country by the international exchange and fostering system from all over Europe, Asia and South America. My husband refers to these foster siblings as his brothers and sisters. That's one of the reasons I love him.
His family also sponsored two families of Polish immigrants in the 1980's. WHOLE families that lived with them in their home as my in-laws worked with them to help them navigate the citizenship system.
I think that's why I'm especially disturbed by the difficulty and expense that people face when trying to come here. If I was trying to survive in a poor country and all that stood between me and a decent job that could feed my family was a border, would I hop the fence, swim the river or jump in that truck? You bet your ass I would.
These people are starving and we're expecting them to come up with thousands of dollars, lawyers and sponsors. We are *setting them up* to break the law. We MUST make the system easier and less monetarily restrictive. Amnesty is not the answer. (Reagan tried it, how'd that work out?)
We make it so hard to get into the US the right way, how can we be surprised that people come in the easy way? Then we turn a blind eye because we want our goods and services to come cheap. They are abused and marginalized.
If we see some jerk wearing an offensive costume (there is no shortage) that's a personal thing. Millions of people being exploited for monetary gain by ALL of us who live without the benefits of rights or governmental services is what we need to take up with the powers that be.
It's not a defense of the costume. It's an attack on our need to bitch about little things to drown out the voice of our own consciences.
But yeah the whole calling/emailing Wal-Mart over a costume is truly emphasizing the wrong syllable.
Every time I see people of any stripe getting all bent out of shape about "lawbreaking illegal aliens" it boggles my mind that no one gets bent about "lawbreaking illegal employers." All we have to do is follow the money. Those illegal aliens are not here on vacation taking polaroids. They are here because someone is paying them. When have we ever seen the masses protest in the streets, demanding the full weight of the IRS and the FBI to crack down on illegal employers? But that would mean (gasp) enforcing the law on English-speaking white people. Oh. Nevermind.
You're right... the system is set up to lure people here--they're starving, we're paying them. Who the hell in their shoes wouldn't come? I would.
Also, what Silkstone said about dressing as a gypsy. I did that numerous times.
The U-6 Unemployment rate for U.S.-born high school graduates without college is 19%.
These are the Americans who predominate in the construction, service and manufacturing jobs that are most sought by immigrant workers. Our current level of immigration is keeping millions of people out of jobs.
But denominational leaders are lobbying Congress for immigration policies that will throw even more out of work -- -- and prolong how long they will stay jobless even when the recession is over.
The people in this high school graduate category who are hurt most by church leaders' lobbying are (with unemployment rate in parentheses):
U.S.-born Hispanics (23%)
Black Americans (26%)
CHURCH LEADERS PREFER FOREIGN WORKERS OVER YOUNG LESS-EDUCATED AMERICANS
The effect of church leaders' high-immigration advocacy is even worse for young adults trying to enter the labor market. These are the people most likely to be starting families. Hurting them means especially being just plain mean to young struggling families.
The U-6 Unemployment Rate for U.S.-born high school graduates who are between 18 and 29 is an incredible 30%.
Almost one of every three young adults with a high school degree who wants to work CAN"T FIND A FULL-TIME JOB! But the church bishops and presidents and executive directors want millions more permanent work permits for citizens of other countries -- including illegal aliens.
The inability to get a job, to hold a job or to earn a decent wage and benefits contributes heavily to low marriage rates, high rates of children without fathers in the home, to the joining of gangs and to other criminal and dependency pathologies during these formative years.
But our national church leaders ignore the mounting hardship of our young, non-college adults, lobbying for more foreign workers to compete in their occupations. The people in this high school graduate category who are hurt most by church leaders' lobbying are:
U.S.-born Hispanics (33%)
Black Americans (37%)
AUTHOR TAGS:
Rated.
I have no problem with legal immigrants and I honestly don't blame anyone for hopping the boarders if hopes of a better life. In fact I would probably do the same. My issues are with the smugglers who charge illegals outrageous fees and then leave twenty of them in the back of a van to die.
I also have a huge problem with those who hire and exploit illegals for their own personal gain. I see that ALL the time. Especially in the construction industry which has turned about 70% illegal in our humble little RED state.
But most of all, I have issue with authorities that turn their backs on the problem and refuse to enforce the laws that are already on the books.
Reform and inforcement could be tackled if we weren't left such a mess by a certain administration. It will take another decade before anyone can address that problem again.
heh heh I could go as a Republican for Halloween. I'll just get a t-shirt that says "Jesus Loves The Free Market" and ...
no no just kidding. Really. Juuust kidding. Pretty much.
I'm also with you on the "Halloween is a licence to have bad taste" sentiment, also. It's one night a year, and it's meant to be FUN, for crissakes.... What's next, the Vampire lobby up in arms about how they're portrayed every October 31st?
Rated
Most americans aren't descendants of people from here (the american indians), or of the early colonizers. Many waves of immigration helped to build the country: the black slaves, the irish, the germans, the jewish polish, etc. The immigration laws were much more flexible then. Right now the laws preventing people from staying are much more harder, and even to change your visa if you had one, it's not easy.
The problem with immigration now, is that it's mainly Mexican immigrants, most of them poorly educated, that crossed the border without papers looking for work and ended up all over the country. You can find them all the way to the north. Would this resistance to immigration reform happen, if they were white? I doubt. Would the actual citizens be so contrary of legalization if the immigrants didn't have come in such big numbers, changing the demographics in some areas? Certainly not.
The Mexicans wouldn't have come in such big numbers if US had not invaded their markets with cheap corn and industrialized products, breaking their farming system, after the formation of North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA.
I came here with a tourist visa and was planning to go back in six months. I met someone and decided to change my visa and stay. The lawyer advised me to go back, because even though my visa was still valid, my entry had expired the month before. If I had gone back to my country, they would have banned me from entry the US for 10 years. It would have been really bad for our relationship, to be 12 hours of airplane flight away from each other, and having to spend maybe thousands and thousands of dollars -- that we didn't have -- in travel a year.
Everything could be easily resolved if we had the same rights that heterosexual people have of sponsoring their foreign spouses. I know a woman here in Texas that met a Portuguese guy on-line and they applied for a fiancee visa. He came to US, they married in a few months and now he is a legal resident. All that in less than a year. I've been here for more than seven years, living a "married life" without the papers and benefits of it.
There are many reasons people are pushed to over-stay their visas, or to cross the border without documents to come to US. No one would stay "irregular" here, if there was another way.
The SEXY illegal alien costume, complete with sexy short orange jumpsuit (hotpants, perhaps?) and alien mask. Because, you're not really a girl unless you're wearing something sexy. Even on Halloween.
You obviously don't know your history. Let me enlighten you:
EVERY ethnic group, white Europeans included, have had to go through a period of living in ghettos and being treated like crap. My grandfather told me stories of the "dirty Irish" not being trusted and signs like "No Polacks wanted" when he was working here in the 30's and 40's.
Even in New York, that melting pot, started out as a series of ethnic ghettos - the Italians didn't much like the Irish, who didn't much like the Germans, who didn't much like anyone else not just like them... etc.
I couldn't agree more (myself included too). :)
This isn't a passing topic, this is a major national issue affecting a large sector of our population, illegal or otherwise. As we are all in this human deal together, any costume which takes a laugh at someone's suffering really punches below the belt. This one was aimed at doing that (as was the priest one you mentioned).
You have to disagree with me about WHAT? That "the people wearing this costume suffer from an extreme lack of tact and imagination"?
That "the immigration process should be attainable for real people"?
That immigrants shouldn't have to choose between humane treatment and eating?
I think what's really being disagreed with here is the radical notion that bitching about this costume does NOTHING.
Sponsoring immigrants to this country is part of my family's morality. My husband's foster brothers are part of my family. I know first hand how difficult it is to get here and stay here.
We need to stop putting so much energy into making ourselves feel good and righteous and more into helping people. Making sure that people don't get their feelings hurt doesn't feed them, clothe them, house them or protect them from employer abuse.
This "fight" is NOISE.
Sometimes, you just have to shut up and act.
I couldn't agree more with you (as a liberal myself). And your writing is bright and bold as new brass.
The stupid costume is a symbol or a seed in my eyes to a way to make light of horrific human suffering and breed racism - I just simply disagree. I am glad both items are being addressed by CHIRLA, as you already mentioned by the pulling of the costume, and by the legislation they are affiliated with which you can check out here:
http://www.chirla.org/capolicy
I am thankful your family does do so much, as does my family in another arena of human suffering. We all have to do what we can where we can be the most effective. In terms of costumes like these, they only have one intent in my eyes, to make behavior like this acceptable. Like the Dalai Lama said, if you go to the roots, you eliminate the problem.
Unfortunately, the cover lead-in to this piece is about me "defending" this costume. (Not to bite the hand that feeds me.) I have no problem defending my own words or actions. But, there are people who have been influenced by that lead-in and are obviously misled about what this piece means.
I really don't care. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. Careful reading of this piece will show it to be a call to action. Everything else is, as I said, noise.
This too shall pass.
::wink::
Once again, freedom is the touchstone. If you're offended by the costume, don't buy it or don't permit your child to hang with another who is wearing it.
But going beyond that, and trying to deprive customers of choice by pressuring retailers is a sign of the true totalitarian.
It should be a great source of satisfaction to compare your post and its comments with Stella's post on the same subject, which takes the totalitarian approach.
-Nikki-
Don't count much for nothing
Be glad if you can use what you borrow
So I pawn my crown
For a ride uptown
And buy it back tomorrow"
-Donald Fagen/Steely Dan "Throw Back the Little Ones"
She's absolutely right - that costume IS bigoted, racist and hateful. People wearing it have no tact and no compassion, as I said over and over and over in this piece. Unfortuately, that message has been eclipsed by the title the editors chose to attach to this piece.
I forgive whatever bad feelings there may be because I understand with love that Stellaa is passionate about the issue and that may cloud the fact that I am calling for a personal involvement by each person who cares in the lives of immigrants to this country.
I'm absolutely convinced that people coming to this country need the hearts and hands of the people who already live here to help them on their way to citizenship. The system is broken and abusive.
The treatment of illegal aliens for our own gain is immoral, unethical and horrific. It sets people up to be criminals when we should be working to find a way for people to come here safely and legally.
This piece isn't about agreeing or disagreeing with anyone's personal feelings about a stupid costume. It's about a call to action for people trying to raise up out of death, starvation and fear and into a better life with the help of caring and compassionate people.
I often take controversial stands on issues that I am passionate about. It's disappointing to me to see my message lost on some dumbass in an alien mask holding a cardboard green card, but I will not say that someone else's opinion is invalid.
Just don't ask me about witch costumes. That REALLY gets me riled up.
With all due respect (an intro which usually means, "duck"!) Stellaa is going well beyond the expression of her personal opinion that the costume is offensive. She's advocating removing the article from commerce. That's a serious restriction on freedom, which is not a commodity high on Stellaa's priority list. And that's the essence of her "liberal" hypocrisy.
Rated.
Is there a coalition of angry space aliens we're offending? No one is making them mexican except those who perceive it that way. And yes, they broke the law. And yes, it's funny. And it's okay to laugh. No one is lauding the death of mexicans by wearing that costume, just like people who wear an Army uniform aren't slandering the military.
Greg - Pissed off alien sailors reminds me, the Facebook thing was a whole DIFFERENT can of worms I opened. I live on the EDGE, baby!
Luckily, Stellaa is not the boss of me.
I'll let you draw your own conclusion as to what that is supposed to be.
They'll pry my broom out of my cold, dead hands.
i've been very active demonstrating for health care reform in my area. we recently went to a meeting of the board of supervisors because they were discussing it. they also discussed this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=8252636&page=1&page=1
now, if you are offended by psycho donuts, i do apologize for making you confront that story. however, i hope you are more offended by the fact that psycho donuts made a big donation to mental health services here in the bay area (yes, in an effort to make nice)... and mhs REFUSED IT.
i am fighting for better infrastructure and more egalitarian services for all people who need care... whether physical therapy, meds or counseling... whatever. and i am deeply offended by the fact that the gatekeepers of those underfunded services here TURNED MONEY AWAY from these people, just because they wanted to make a statement about the name of the shop. i find that much more disgusting than inviting people to pose for pictures in a straight jacket.
Our good intentions often get in the way of actually doing good.
It's also probably very wrong that I would pose in a straight-jacket for a doughnut, especially if it were for charity. Charity calories don't count. It's God's Law.
(See? I'm throwing that crap around all over the place after that lion joke! I have no shame!)
Yes, it is safe to say that we are all inbred idiots in the south. I am never supposed to be offended by this, even if gross incest jokes are told by supposedly sensitive people.
I am really very conflicted about immigration policy. I have many family members who work in industries negatively affected by an influx of cheaper labor (don't forget about construction). I have friends who work in lawn care here, whereas if they lived in states with more immigrants, they wouldn't have that job. Yet, I cringe to even think of people dying in the desert to come here, even as I worry about the (rare but not rare enough) American or Mexican (violent) criminal who can escape across the borders all-too-easily. Anyway, I am less worried about a suit than actual policy. You made many good points.
And tell that guy to unglue the Cabbage Patch kid from the priest get-up, or I'm coming after him.
Rated!
The real issue with the costume is that it sanitizes hate, pretends to make it humorous. No firemen in Speedos or naughty nurses are going to get stomped because because some retail giant decides to ridicule them. As a Latina, I'm frightened by how much whites hate my people.
Unfortunately, we can't legislate intelligence or taste. The costume IS absolutely offensive, as I've said over and over. I'm just pointing out that changing U.S. policies toward Latinos at home and abroad is the answer.
Violence begets violence. Hate begets hate. Blame begets blame. Hurt begets hurt.
I'm calling for something new because this whole thing doesn't seem to be working out very well.
One of The Man's sisters married a man from Colombia while she taught English as a Second Language at the University of Illinois. (She still holds that position and has taught around the world.)
Also, my first husband's sister married an illegal immigrant from Mexico while he worked at a chicken processing plant in Arkansas. Her daughter is my niece and a dear member of our family, as is she. Unfortunately, they divorced but we fully accepted him and welcomed him into our family.
I'm not some clueless bleeding heart spouting peace, love and understanding without a personal stake in the issues. I'm saying that the way things are being done is not working and we need to take a good hard look at why.
peace (and carrotz)