‘You Lie’: Why Talk About Immigration Derails

<p>Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) issued his now infamous outburst–“You lie!”–during a very specific part of President Obama’s health care speech: the dismissal of claims that a new health care plan would cover “illegal” immigrants.</p>
<p>”In an instant, Wilson was willing to breach protocol, embarrass himself, and undermine his party–because he was so infuriated by the idea that <a href=”http://www.racewire.org/archives/2009/09/illegal_word_is_a_gateway_to_r.html” target=”_blank”>Obama’s plan might provide care to a certain group of people</a>,” Channing Kennedy writes on <i>ColorLines'</i> blog <b>RaceWire</b>.</p>
<p>To illuminate why “our conversation around immigration [is] so often driven to extremes, both of language and of policy,” Kennedy points to a fantastic short video about the loaded term <i>illegal</i> featuring <i>ColorLines</i> publisher (and 2008 <a href=”https://www.utne.com/politics/50-visionaries-changing-your-world-hope-2009.aspx” target=”_blank”>Utne visionary</a>) Rinku Sen.</p>
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<b>Source: <a href=”http://www.racewire.org/” target=”_blank”>RaceWire</a>, <a href=”http://www.colorlines.com/” target=”_blank”>ColorLines</a>
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