When you hear the word "aliens," you probably immediately think of terrifying, deadly creatures that come from outer space and should - at all costs - be eliminated. In most cases, this is because the media portrays aliens either as altogether unwanted, or as potential slaves.
From E.T. to the little guys in Toy Story, aliens have suffered to many different degrees in the media. The natural human reaction is to push them away and treat them as if they are a harm to society, when instead all they need is to be understood.
This is also seen in Doctor Who: the species on the left were bred to be subservient to humans, and the species below were assumed to be monsters who wanted to take over the world when really they were just innocent creatures who wanted to go back to their extraterrestrial home. 
In case you're wondering, yes, I fully intended to write this entire blog post on the oppression of outer-space aliens in the media. Because they are indeed oppressed.
But then I realized that there is another very real problem connected to these portrayals of aliens: in this country, residents who are not citizens are still labeled as "aliens". These labels range from "illegal alien" to "resident alien" to "permanent resident alien," and are all completely official, as they are given by the US government.
If we take the generally accepted definition of an alien that is given in the media and apply it to these "aliens" of the United States, these human beings are apparently supposed to be seen as unwanted misfits that truly don't belong and should return to their home country (or planet).Now this is completely unacceptable if we are to be the land of opportunity and equality. Instead of warmly welcoming immigrants with national hospitality, we shove them into a dehumanizing category with an extremely negative connotation in today's society.
There are many problems with the immigration system in this country, and I do not claim to have all the answers nor even know what it's like to come into this country for the first time. But perhaps a good start for change would be to remove the stigmatism of the "alien" label for all incoming residents.
(Oh and don't forget about improving the reputation of extra terrestrial aliens in the media!)
Anna,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you started off the blog post kind of leaving readers to wonder about what you are going to get into and then turn it around in the end. I found it really interesting how the portayal of aliens gives a negative connotation to the unknown and that really does affect our everyday lives. I think this post was interesting all the way through and that it was really insightful because the oppression is sort of an indirect thing.