January 2014


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


No Longer Illegal -- Good Morning America Drops ‘i-Word’


The Hampton Roads Messenger


Homes of Escaped Slaves in Hampton Explored in Hampton History Museum Lecture


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BY VIJI SUNDARAM The ABC news show Good


Morning America has dropped use of the term “illegal” when describing immigrants in the country who have no documents to establish their legal residency. Earlier this week, anchors for the popular morning program opted instead for “undocumented Americans.”


Immigrant rights groups across the country are hailing the decision.


“It reflects the trend of news


outlets to treat every human being as an actual human being and not label us,” said Rinku Sen, president and executive director of the racial justice organization, Race Forward, and publisher of the award-winning news site, ColorLines.com.


Race Forward (formerly known


as Applied Research Center) has been orchestrating a “Drop-the-I- Word” campaign since 2010 through advocacy and through coverage on Colorlines.com. By last September, such media outlets as the Associated Press, USA Today, LA Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications, dropped the i-word.


But by using the term, “Undocumented Americans,” GMA went a step farther.


It gives a sense of “inclusiveness,”


noted Richard Figueora, director of health and human services at The California Endowment, the state’s largest private health foundation.


Ethnic media in the United States


have differing views on what term to use to describe undocumented residents, New America Media reported two years ago. Korean media, for example, often refer to them as “illegal overstayers,” reflecting Korean migration patterns to the United States.


Vietnamese language Radio


Saigon Houston uses “di dan bat hop phap” (illegal immigrant) purely for convenience.


“Translating ‘undocumented


immigrants’ would be too long to understand,” its former CEO Thuy Vu said at the time. Vu is now with Bay Area-based public broadcaster KQED.


Adela de la Torre, communications


manager of the National Immigration Law Center, lauded GMA.


“Good Morning America, like


so many other news organizations, has recognized appropriately that its viewers do not need to hear derogatory phrases while getting their morning news. We hope that the Today Show and others will follow in their footsteps and drop the ‘I’ word."


Earlier in the week, the New York


Times used the term “undocumented immigrants” in reporting about a New Jersey bill called The Dream Act, now being debated in the legislature, that will allow students who crossed the border illegally with their parents to access state financial aid programs.


It’s hard to say with any degree


of certainty whether the media trend to describe immigrants without papers in gentle terms will influence federal lawmakers as they resume debating the contentious immigration reform bills next year.


Roberto Lovato, Bay Area writer


and cofounder of Presente.org, which played a role in the Drop-The-I-Word campaign, thinks it will. He said GMA’s use of the term, Undocumented Americans, is sure to have a ripple effect that could lead to major changes in the way people perceive immigrants.


As any expert in linguistics


knows, Lovato observed, dropping the “n” word, the “f” word and the “c” word from common parlance has “brought a colossal shift in the public consciousness.”


Now, “you have to put those


words in quotes when using them,” Lovato pointed out.


De la Torre echoed that sentiment,


noting that in the immigration debate, “words matter.”


The US Senate passed an


immigration bill earlier this year that would give amnesty to the currently 11 million undocumented Americans, and eventually a path to citizenship. The House Judiciary Committee has approved several immigration bills, but none that would offer legal status to those 11 million people. Leaders from both parties said they would take up the issue early next year.


Sen observed that the continued


use of the i-word prevents truthful, respectful debate on immigration. No human being, she said is illegal; only certain acts can be.


Hampton, VA- The cabins of


enslaved people who escaped to the area during the Civil War is explored in “Our Slab House Mansions:’ The Vernacular Architecture of the Contraband Settlements at Hampton and Fort Monroe,” presented by Hampton University architecture professor Dr. Carmina Sanchez-Del Valle for the Hampton History Museum’s Port Hampton Lecture Series on Monday, January 6, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.


During the Civil War thousands of


enslaved people known as Contraband, escaped to freedom from their plantation life and fled toward Fort Monroe where they established several settlements. One of them was at first outside and eventually inside the ruins of burned-out Hampton, while another was on Joseph Segar’s farm near the fort (now Phoebus). They erected makeshift cabins situated in an orderly way. Just west of Hampton their cabins were built along streets they named Union, Lincoln, Grant, and Liberty (now renamed Armistead).


Dr. Sanchez-Del Valle, from


the perspective of an architectural historian, will explore the method, the design, and the materials the Contraband used in fabricating their new homes.


Each family had the freedom to Worthy Causes FROM PAGE 1


celebrating the art and history of African Americans for Roanoke Valley citizens and visitors.


On Nov. 14, Norfolk Southern


sold an untitled 1959 Mark Rothko painting through an auction in New York City. The company announced at that time that it would direct $1.5 million of the proceeds to the Virginia Museum of Transportation's campaign to restore the Class J 611 steam


build its cabin the way it desired. The design of the contraband cabins was new and unique, marking the rise of an original form of architecture. In a milestone heralding the end of slavery, the Contraband were able to express their freedom of choice with a saw, a hammer, and their own imagination.


This presentation is held in


conjunction with the ground-breaking exhibition “Toward Freedom: Hampton and the Contraband,” continuing through January 30, 2014. The exhibit features a recreated contraband cabin, images of several structures, objects that one would find in the cabin, along with artifacts related to slavery, the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction and the legacy of the Contraband in Hampton.


The program is free for Hampton


History Museum Members and $3.00 for non-members. Admission includes entry to the “Toward Freedom: Hampton and the Contraband” and the Hampton History Galleries. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.


The Hampton History Museum


is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane. There is plenty of free parking in the garage across from the museum. For more information, call 757-727-1610, visit www.hamptonhistorymuseum. org, or like the Hampton History Museum on Facebook.


locomotive to service. Norfolk Southern Corporation


is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway Company subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal, automotive, and industrial products.


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Small Business advertising specials for African American History Month (02/2014) Call 757-575-1863 or email info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com for more information


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