Reconsideration of the Term Illegal

This image challenges the notion of illegal immigration and suggests a double standard in some modern perceptions of what an illegal immigrant is.  We often consider white European settlers as just immigrants while today Latino immigrants are associated with being illegal.  But when European immigrants came to North America, there was no legal legislation that allowed them into the country.  They established their own set of rules and eventually those rules became standard.  Illegal immigration has now developed into creating a sentiment of fear against not all immigrants but mainly Latino immigrants with the overarching stereotype that they are here without official paper work. But what does it mean to be consider "illegal"?  How does your identity become narrowly defined as an "illegal" person by the constraints of a society you have no voice in?  As modern American thought concludes, Latinos are illegal but this definition can extend further to cover races who are underrepresented.

Consider the Mammy figure and the social undermining of black personhood, which in terms, contributed to the upward battle blacks fought for freedom and civil rights.  Although African Americans are not often associated with being "illegal", can a person be "legal" if their rights are taken away and they have no ability to participate in the legal system?  If the legal system is systematically working in opposition to a race's success and prosperity, can the person of that race be considered fully legal?  The legality of a person is focused heavily on the issue of immigration but legality is your full status as a citizen.  It is not just a matter of residency but a matter of rights and being a respected member of society whose voice is able to be heard and whose opinion is taken into account.  Images of the Zoon Coon, mammy, minstrel performances, etc., dehumanize African Americans, taking illegality to a new extreme of not having the right to participate in decisions and events that effect our legal system.