This page was last updated on March 30, 2011.
Quick hits; Editorial; Beaver County Times; March 30, 2011.
“WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE” is a regurgitation of “New wave.” Among other previous editorials on this topic are “Stoop labor,” “American dreamers,” “A connection,” “Why the fuss?,” “Return of the nativists,” “Puzzling,” “Have faith,” “Of little faith,” and “Common sense.”
The relevant Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of nativism is “a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants.” For example, those of us born in the U.S. automatically become U.S. citizens but immigrants must go through a process. Once through that process, however, all citizens have the same rights and privileges, whether native-born or legal immigrant. That’s how it should be.
It appears Times editorials started using “nativist” as a pejorative about five years ago. The Times definition of nativist, however, is someone who is anti-immigrant. That’s not the dictionary definition, but OK. The real problem is Times editorials tend not to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants because it allows them to refer to those against illegal immigration as being against immigration. In other words, if you are anti-illegal immigration but support legal immigration, the Times still deems you to be anti-immigrant and thus a “nativist.”
I wonder if the Times editorial board is “nativist” about their personal homes/land and Times property. No, probably not, because that would be hypocritical. <g>
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