These are interesting times to be a non-citizen in the United States. Being the Prime Moose of the Digital Moose Lounge, one of the first things people find out about me is that I’m Canadian. I’ve grown so used to the response being positive (or, real talk, a bored shrug) that I’ve become complacent. Perhaps, despite the swirling unease of the national conversation, you have too.
I’m used to Sharks fans booing and chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” during our anthem. I’m used to strangers grumbling about foreigners stealing jobs and not paying taxes.
I’m not used to being openly and directly told that I’m personally part of the problem and am not welcome here anymore, by people who finally feel empowered to tell me that I need to go back where I came from, as I was today. I’m not used to being shouted out of a room when trying to defend myself. I’m not used to hatred being spewed at me for my nationality.
More real talk: it’s gross.
Many members of the Canadian community are worried. We held a discussion with a panel of immigration experts as part of our Chesterfield Chats speaker series earlier this month. Over 75 nervous Canadians, most TN or H1B status holders, asked questions about what will happen if NAFTA is thrown out, what rights (if any) they have when crossing the border, and whether they should be concerned that, as non-citizens, their communications are being monitored.
It was a sobering discussion.
While no one in the room was a legislator, and no one knew the future, there was cautious optimism that trade deals are complex agreements that take years to iron out, that powerful people are making the case to keep the economy strong, and that cooler heads may yet prevail and preserve the immigration policies that make the Bay Area a magnet for global talent and innovation.
There was also the sense that we might just be okay, that we’re not the target, that the target is lumber exporters, or the Indians and Chinese who abuse the H1B program, or those from the other part of NAFTA that most people associate with avocados before engineers. We’re just Canadians. We’re okay.
For once (!), Canadians were fine with being overlooked. But I find this troubling, because it sounds very much like the fearful, nativist, us-versus-them language we’re hearing so much of around the world these days. Including, lest we get too smug, from some in our home country.
The truly pernicious thing about fear is how easily it spreads. I heard it at our Chesterfield Chat, and see it in (normally opinionated) friends and colleagues who go dark online until their green cards arrive. I feel it too. Yesterday, for the first time since arriving, I hesitated before telling someone that I wasn’t an American, considered taming my “eh”s and “o”s and just trying to fit in. The vast majority of the people I meet in my wonderful adopted city of San Jose are warm and kind and welcoming — but I remember the violent words screamed at me today, and how they made me feel afraid.
I am acutely aware of how fortunate I am that this is the first time I have truly felt unwelcome, just as I am aware of how fortunate Canadians living here are in general, that we have the means and opportunity to pursue economic advancement or be with loved ones in this country. So many of those who are the targets of new rules, and newly-empowered hate-mongers, cannot so easily blend in by looking and sounding “American” — as if that had only one look, or one accent, in the first place. They may not have the luxury of defending themselves — as if there is anything to defend. How awful that must be.
Canadians are known for our friendliness, our tolerance, and our inclusiveness. I hope we can continue to export these greatest of commodities and be ambassadors in the face of intolerance and fear. I hope we can take a cue from our assertive American neighbours, step beyond our own worries, and tell the people spouting half-truths and hatred that it isn’t okay to speak about or treat other humans that way, no matter where they came from. I hope we can stand on guard, from far and wide, for a more diverse and, well, nicer world.
That can’t be too hard, eh?
This piece originally appeared on Medium on April 29, 2017.
