Quote:
Originally Posted by hornbug
Sam Jackson and others seem to think that the definition of immigrant is limited to only voluntary immigrants.
Not true, if it were true then the phrase "we are a nation of immigrants" would be a racist phrase and we would be using instead the phrase "we are a nation of immigrants and slaves"
Another phony issue. Carson spoke correctly, the liberals got it wrong. More phony SPIN.
Seems like we've got to explain basic denotation and connotation. The denotation of immigrant is someone who moves from one point to another. The connotation is that it's voluntary. The longer more technical phrase should be voluntary economic migrant, but very few people use that in normal speech. They use the implication of involuntary movement in other words like human trafficking, kidnapping, and slavery. Carson does come from a Conservative historical perspective that wants to minimize the negative aspects of American history so they collapse slavery into immigrant in order to paper over the difference on a voluntary immigrant and an involuntary immigrant. Of course when pressed the Conservative strand of historical revisionism will admit that the slaves were involuntary, but notice we've already had to go through 2 or 3 question and answers just to get to a fundamental point about the history of how people got to be where they are. That is, that some were forcibly removed from their homes and pressed into work and the American nation had a whole legal and coersive regime to enforce it. "We didn't land on we didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us" and all that.