[Ads-l] newly "offensive" term

[Jonathan Lighter]

The issue is not whether the use of "chain migration" instead of "family
reunification" is politically tendentious.  One could argue that both
phrases are politically tendentious.

The point of interest is that the sequence of sounds "chain migration" is
being described as "obscene" on the basis of arbitrary association.


JL

On Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 4:10 PM, Chris Waigl <chris at lascribe.net> wrote:

> I don't have much patience for "offensive" as an absolute category. (To the
> racist, the expectation to treat people of color equally is offensive,
> therefore the term is not a good marker of a moral status.) However, "chain
> migration" instantly stood out to me as falling into the category of words
> from a totalitarian ideology, as would also be obvious to anyone in your
> typical German 10th grade (or thereabouts) unit on the language of
> totalitarianism. (Such a unit is, of course, not meant to teach linguistics
> but rhetoric - the ability to recognize, classify and evaluate metaphors,
> figurative language, connotations and the use of language to manipulate).
>
> A neutral description of the phenomenon in neutral terms would refer to
> family reunification. An analysis would include the dimension of human
> rights (the protection of family life) and/or pragmatic terms (selection of
> immigrants that have already support structures in place). A statistician
> or quantitative anthropologist might talk about tree structures and
> migration patterns. "Chain migration", on the surface, selects categories
> that activate fears ("being forced to be overrun by immigrants" and the
> like).
>
> The added layer of connotation in a country where a substantial part of the
> non-white population indeed descends from people who were forcefully
> "migrated" in literal chains adds another layer of meaning (you might call
> it something between clumsy and detestable, depending how much you are
> inclined to excuse the speaker's infelicities) that necessarily must
> resonate with some more than with others. For me, it's secondary to my
> immediate objection to the expression.
>
> Chris
>
> On Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 9:52 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/01/12/sen_
> > durbin_chain_migration_is_offensive_to_those_whose_
> > ancestors_came_to_us_in_chains.html
> >
> > [Sen.] Durbin continued: "When it came to the issue of, quote, 'chain
> > migration,' I said to the president, do you realize how painful that term
> > is to so many people? African-Americans believe they migrated to America
> in
> > chains and when you talk about chain migration, it hurts them personally.
> > He said, 'Oh, that’s a good line.'
> >
> > On CNN, Sen. Menendez has just forcefully called the phrase "obscene,"
> for
> > much the same reason.
> >
> > Since I now realize that "chain store" must really mean "a slave-dealing
> > establishment," I am dropping it from my idiolect.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Chris Waigl . chris.waigl at gmail.com . chris at lascribe.net
> http://eggcorns.lascribe.net . http://chryss.eu
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org