After launching “Drop the I-Word” as an apolitical demonstration on Davidson’s campus, senior Natalia Corredor Castro faced overwhelmingly polar reactions from the student body. To recap, “Drop the I-Word” is a nationwide campaign to eliminate the use of the word “illegal” to refer to undocumented immigrants; the movement’s tagline reads, “No human being is ‘illegal’.”
Corredor, who worked on this campaign as a member of the Organization of Latino-American students, explains, “Everybody has their right to an opinion on the political side of things,” she explains. “This is more like the ‘Drop the R-Word’ campaign; really it’s just changing the way you refer to something—or rather to someone.”
She emphasizes the campaign’s apolitical nature: it isn’t trying to challenge immigration laws, only how we refer to people, and therefore how we confer meaning to them. So where did all the backlash come from? Students across the campus voiced their disagreement with the message, some backed by anti-immigration sentiments. Much of the dissent appeared on the social media app Yik Yak, where trademark anonymity put further stress on racial relations on campus. “Since it’s anonymous,” Corredor points out, “it makes you skeptical of everyone. You don’t know who on campus does not respect such a prominent part of your identity.”
This sentiment of hostility hits home for Corredor, who was undocumented for eight years after her family fled Colombia to escape domestic violence. She compares being undocumented to coming out as homosexual in the fear of social implications—how will this part of your identity change how people view you? With tensions around the issue already so high, the hate that emerged in the wake of the campaign was particularly disheartening, according to Corredor. “Hate is not a stance. It’s not a political position. Yes, you can say illegal immigration is illegal; that’s fine. But saying, ‘deport my finals’ (a comment someone made on Yik Yak as a joke) is demoralizing to people who are actually living with this fear.”
That’s not to say that no good came from the campaign. OLAS saw support from a number of student organizations, including Q&A and the BSC, an encouraging show of solidarity especially in light of the harsh backlash. It was encouraging to see such support from others who may not have encountered the same situation, but who empathize nonetheless and are willing to learn more about issues relating to immigration and documentation.
While she was disheartened by the negative reactions to the “Drop the I-word” campaign, Corredor is actually glad that it elicited such a strong response. “It’s easy to dismiss this as an issue that doesn’t happen here,” she explains, “but seeing this kind of reaction shows that it is a problem, even at Davidson.”
So what is the goal of the “Drop the I-word” campaign? First of all, it is to change the terminology from “illegals” to “undocumented” or “unauthorized” immigrants (or workers, or students). But on a deeper level, OLAS and its supporters hope to create a safe space for students of all backgrounds, and to encourage everyone to investigate the issue, including white allies.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for OLAS hosting an immigration panel incorporating stories of other racial and ethnic discrimination. Corredor emphasizes one final time, “If you don’t think this discussion implies to you, then you especially should go.”