Some Colorado residents are urging a Mexican burrito chain called Illegal Pete’s to remove the “Illegal” part of its name due to the connotations it carries.
They say that the word “illegal” is used to describe undocumented immigrants, suggesting that the name is offensive.
The Coloradan newspaper reported that approximately 30 people gathered in Fort Collins Wednesday to ask the chain’s owner, Pete Turner, to change the name of the chain.
The move is part of a US-wide campaign to remove the “illegal,” or “I-word,” from “illegal immigrants,” saying the term is dehumanizing.
Turner, however, said that the name of his chain doesn’t have anything to do with immigration.
He said it is in reference to a novel that he read in college. He said he’s committed to “inclusive” business and helped pay for some of his employees to become US citizens.
“This is all very near and dear to me,” he added, according to the paper.
“Social context is hugely important,” Fort Collins immigration attorney and the meeting moderator, Kim Medina, was quoted as saying. “We'll never get to big issues, such as immigration reform, until we can solve these smaller issues of language.”
“Using the word illegal when you are referring to a human being is dehumanizing and it is offensive,” Cheryl Distaso, who is the coordinator of the social justice nonprofit Fort Collins Community Action Network, told CBS Local.
“Messages range from heartfelt personal stories about what it was like growing up in Fort Collins with ‘No Dogs and Mexicans’ signs in the downtown area, in the very same place the restaurant is going to be built,” she added.
Some said that the “illegal” term is similar to the racial slur used against African-Americans or using a Confederate flag in the restaurant’s window.
“If someone uses (a racial slur directed at African Americans), then they are breaking some relatively recent mores that we don’t use that word,” said David Firth, a consultant based in Loveland, Colo., told the paper. “I hadn’t been aware that ‘illegal’ had reached that status,” he added.
