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The Real Benefit of Being an Immigrant That Many People Miss
Start by not calling yourself an expat.
There was a Facebook post by a Finnish influencer/blogger a couple of years ago that made my skin itch. She had moved to Australia and posted about how shocked she was to discover that nobody was racist toward her, as an immigrant.
She considered it to be because she had showed all the Australians she’d met that she was hard-working! Because people won’t be racist if you’re just willing to show you work hard.
This influencer did not consider, for a second, that those Australians who weren’t racist toward her might, in fact, be racist toward other hard-working immigrants. She didn’t understand racism has nothing to do with what you do, but with the color of your skin.
She truly didn’t look at herself in the mirror for one second and realize that as an immigrant she still carried tremendous privilege as a blond, blue-eyed Nordic immigrant.
She would never have a negative experience of mistreatment because of racism. She would always only benefit from it.
The Expat Experience
There’s a specific type of internet commentary I detest.
