Hope for Your Home Country When You're Far Away
“In airports all over the world, TSA has signs that say "see something? Say something!" They mean packages. Unattended luggage. Suspicious behavior (not clothing, skin color, or cultural or religious accouterments). Passport privilege is real, and innocent people with papers from certain countries face prejudice that I can never understand. Perhaps I am too frequently quiet.”
As I’ve watched the events following the death of George Floyd unfold in the United States, I’ve been tempted to despair. Despair systemic racism and the ignored cries of people of color. Despair for George Floyd and his cries for his mother. Despair for Americans whose ancestors were enslaved by people honored by statues and that wretched flag that stands for the defense of slavery. Despair that although black Americans are no longer enslaved, slavery is alive and well throughout the world. Despair that the consequences of the slave trade, segregation and racism still seem to prevail, and that Civil Rights are still trickling in less that 70 years later.
I have despaired. It’s easy to think that my passport country is broken beyond repair.
My European friends here believe the United States is experiencing the “growing pains” of being such a young country. They are divided (and not altogether clear) on our politics, our party system, and our president, but what they do know is that Spain has been around a lot longer.
I’m not sure that’s it. But when I study the history of Spain, with its divisions and wars over royalty and religion and more, I think the United States can do better than hundreds of years of “growing pains.”
I’d like to share several ways expats can hope for change and participate in enacting it, even from afar. While I’m a U.S. citizen, and will speak from that perspective, I still think this post will apply to all expats and their respective home countries.
1. Cling to the hope that enabled you to leave your passport country
Expats living in countries that face excessive poverty, political volatility, corruption or high levels of government control can recognize, amidst the joys and opportunities of living abroad, the value of democracy for people around the world.
The needs are great in your host country, perhaps overwhelmingly so. Maybe the needs are so great that you were discouraged by others to come. Perhaps you must be careful about the words and titles you use, or you cannot say exactly where you are in order to continue your work. Your freedom is hindered, but you came anyway. There is hope! Cling to the hope that has brought you to or through the issues facing your host country, and remember it for the ongoing racial tensions faced in America and around the world.
2. Vote from abroad, even in local elections.
There is hope that springs from a high level analysis of history as well; hope that is embedded in the democratic process, even as systematic racism is strong. No government system is perfect, but there is international and bipartisan agreement that democracy benefits everyone, especially minorities. International relations experts have found that established democracies never go to war with one another. Another agreed upon reason to promote democracy is that the system "affords all groups equal access to justice—and equal opportunity to shine as assets in a country’s economy. Democracy’s support for pluralism prevents human assets, including religious and ethnic minorities, women, and migrants, from being squandered." (source) In short, democracy has changed the world for the better, promoting freedom, unity, and accountability where there had been arbitrary authority and oppression. The system allows for equal access to justice (which some minorities in America clearly do not have) and economic opportunity, and is supposed to see humans as assets.
These are already values put down on paper for the US government, which is by the people, for the people. Thankfully, we don’t have to rewrite the script. We can do our part and hold leaders accountable to do theirs.
Opinions vary, but the United States has been called the oldest democracy in the world because it has been governed by the people, for the people, for over 200 years. The young nation's Declaration of Independence grants all citizens life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and acknowledges that "governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" in order to protect these rights. Big concepts like all men are created equal, government by people and not an all-powerful king, property rights, and freedom of religion have been established since the beginning. Throughout its history, these big concepts have have been interpreted badly because of cultural norms and sinful hearts, but when reinterpretation was rightly demanded by the people, the United States has abolished slavery, granted voting rights to women, and eliminated racist segregation laws.
So, keeping the value of our system in mind, in spite of its failures and weaknesses, I encourage you to use your political voice to vote. Increased voting in your city and county elections, even from abroad, will make a big difference, because the lawmakers who will hold police forces accountable are at these local levels of government (Barack Obama had a fantastic Instagram post about this).
3. Pray and Expect Great things with Expat-Eyes Wide Open
History is on our side: there is hope that the United States can rise above the consequences it faces from harmful segregation laws, racism and cultural prejudices. We've seen it happen before, and around the world people are fighting for freedom from racism, classism, religious oppression, division because of war, differences in the interpretation of religious scriptures… the list goes on.
As expats with world views widened, we can pray with expectation that there is no problem too great for God to solve, and that He will use men and women from all backgrounds, citizenship, and government preferences, to achieve His good will. Indeed, that is what He has done through Jesus Christ.
Weekly, I am asked where I'm from because I speak Spanish with an accent, or because I lack some physical quality that makes it obvious I'm not Spanish (it's not usually skin color, in my case, but maybe it's blue eyes or the way I walk or my super blonde children). Upon hearing that I'm from the U.S., many people want to talk about my president or past presidents. When I face this conversation, which can sometimes be offensive, I try to frame my response with gratitude and shared values.
I live in a Western country with a democratic constitution younger than America's Civil Rights movement. After years under the oppressive dictatorship of Franco, Spain adopted its Constitution in 1978. Although my host country is an ancient powerhouse of religious oppression and colonialism — having violently conquered the Aztecs in Mexico during the "age of exploration," killed Christians, Jews and Muslims during the Inquisition, and committed atrocious human rights violations during the Fascist reign of Franco — it is now a baby democracy with an elected government that promotes, at least in policy, freedom of the people. So, while I am bagging my groceries and squirming under the scrutiny of my Spanish neighbor who is shocked by my president, I try to find our common ground. I say something like, "I don't agree with everything a president says, but I trust the system that allows him to be elected. The United States and Spain are blessed to be a democracy, governed by the people. Next time, perhaps we can choose better."
4. Speak up in your own way
In airports all over the world, TSA has signs that say "see something? Say something!" They mean packages. Unattended luggage. Suspicious behavior (not clothing, skin color, or cultural or religious accouterments). Passport privilege is real, and innocent people with papers from certain countries face prejudice that I can never understand. Perhaps I am too frequently quiet.
However, I don’t tolerate racist or stereotypical jokes. Even in my host country, I’m prepared to say, “that’s not why” when someone blames race or ethnicity on behavior. “Let’s not speak about people that way,” “that’s not helpful,” and “that’s an unkind way to talk about someone” are phrases that I am working on saying in my heart and host languages. Saying these words takes practice, but it’s important. Progress, not perfection.
Latasha Morrison says we must not defend racism, deflect racism, or deny racism. I'm using these as measuring sticks for myself in personal conversations. If by saying silent, I’m denying, defending or deflecting racism, I find some words of belonging. This is the hospitable attitude I am trying to adopt with my family, my neighbor, and those who are strangers to me.
