This evening I read an article about a new Halloween costume that hit stores a few weeks ago and has already caused quite a stir in the media. (To see the full article click here.) The costume consists of an alien mask with an orange jumpsuit that says "Illegal Alien" on it. It also comes with a "Green Card", which actually makes the "alien" legal. The debate: Is this socially acceptable under the freedom of speech right, or politically incorrect and rude beyond words?The costume has been pulled from the shelves of Walgreens and Target, but some groups want the federal government to actually force all of the stores to eliminate the costumes. These groups claim that the costumes will increase anti-immigrant sentiments and possibly even dehumanize them. A speaker for the immigration coalition, Jorge-Mario Cabrera, said that this costume "perpetuates this idea we have about undocumented immigrants as alien foreigners, strangers, scary." And he has a valid point. Seeing someone in a mask already takes away some of their most human qualities and makes us regard them as not-quite-real. To have the mask in the shape of a remarkably inhuman face and to make it represent a certain type of people does seem unfair and racist towards this group.
On the other hand, our Bill of Rights declares that every American has the right to freedom of speech. So shouldn't we be able to create and purchase any type of Halloween costume that we want? Most Hispanics, when interviewed by the Associated Press, even said that it was simply a joke and that it did not offend them.
In my personal opinion, the government should not be able to make stores remove an offensive Halloween costume from their shelves. No one complains about Playboy Bunny costumes, which are at least equally offensive to women as this costume is to immigrants. If the stores themselves feel that the costumes are harmful to their patrons, they can get rid of the costumes themselves without any governmental aid.If the government can regulate Halloween costumes, what else will they begin to censor? Opinions?
Dear Lizzy,
ReplyDeleteGreat foray into our civil liberties unit.
Speaking of costumes, check out this related post from Doc OC.
I don't think that the government will get involved. For better or for worse, we live in a free world where each man has the right tho say what he wants. Luckily, our society is also profit driven and many stores saw the outcries against the costume and removed it from shelves.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with Jorge-Mario Cabrera, illegal aliens are already terribly dehumanized. I think that the best way to take care of illegal immigration would be to use the money on protecting our borders from "illegals" would be to use the money we usually spend on keeping them out on stimulating their economies. Its like the old saying, "give a man a fish and he'll want another tomorrow, but teach a man to fish and he'll be fed for the rest of his life." Obviously we can't do anything about the governments that we aren't on talking terms with (I'm looking at you Cuba) and another Bay of Pigs doesn't seem like a good I deal so we'll have to put up with immigrants from there for now. This would take a large amount of money and I would never argue that it is a good idea to try something like this in the middle of a recession. Overall, though it seems like a win-win situation. We could even give the money on a loan-like basis.
About what else the Government will sensor. I hate to break it to you, but the government already does sensor. I'm not just talking about the FCC (which is rather unconstitutional) but also think of who Obama grants most of his exclusive interviews to and who Bush granted his to.
I think that's hilarious. Of course, I've been an American citizen all my life, but still. The martian head is a little sketch, and I think it would do better as a tee-shirt (i.e. space ship landing, with the words illegal alien underneath). If this is taken as a joke, as it should be, I don't think people would respond the way they have. I agree that illegal aliens are dehumanized, however by poking fun at the issue we at least bring it to the light a little more.
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