Comedians Should Rethink Using The Term 'Illegal Immigrants'

Please Stop Jimmy Fallon
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 29: Actress Lucy Liu and host Jimmy Fallon visit 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' at Rockefeller Center on January 29, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 29: Actress Lucy Liu and host Jimmy Fallon visit 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' at Rockefeller Center on January 29, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Comedians can be as offensive as they want, because they're comedians. Unlike news organizations or politicians, comedians don't have an obligation to serve a public or a citizenry. Their primary function is to entertain -- and sometimes that means turning a few people off.

Still, that doesn't mean that their words don't shape the way we think. That's why I want to take a moment to talk about how often the phrase "illegal immigrant" has been used in recent comedic bits, despite the fact that about half of American Latinos find the term offensive.

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