Go Back Where I Came From, Walk Together Where We Can Move Forward
In Australia, so far, I have never been told off to go back where I came from.
When asked politely where I came from, I often say Epping NSW - and then I get a quiet shock that this cannot be, on the part of the questioner.
There can be this unnerving but not intended to be rude perception that one cannot be from a place outside of stereotyped convention.
While I was back packing through Vietnam, I was approached on several occasions by the locals if I was an overseas returned Vietnamese guy. When I replied that I was from Australia, they winced in half disbelief.
In societies with populations of diverse backgrounds in the 21st century, it is important to recognise the separation between citizenship, residency, ethnicity and nationality - and celebrate the shared humanity in each of us, no matter where we were born.
Malaysians have been told by their own fellow citizens in their own country to go back where they came from, so Trump's remark is not original - and echoes a malaise, paranoia and aggression that some have in not recognising that each of us do have roots from somewhere else, it all depends on how far back one scratches. Usually such blatant attitudes in asking specific groups or individuals to go back and not linger around are based on political agendas and highly lacking in sophistication.
Europeans are a result of the mix of African, Middle Eastern and Central Asian DNA. Indigenous Americans are said to have been arrivals from eastern Asia. Japanese are claimed to be descendents of migratory groups from the Asian mainland. And yes, a long, long time ago.
In all this huha of picking off people to go back to where they came from, an important consideration is missed - where are you and I going forward together?
Comments