BajaNomad

Food for thought: Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?

Whale-ista - 7-6-2015 at 07:52 PM

From: www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network...

(do Americans/Canadians in Baja consider themselves immigrants? Retirees? Ex-pats? Or something else?)

In the lexicon of human migration there are still hierarchical words, created with the purpose of putting white people above everyone else. One of those remnants is the word “expat”.

What is an expat? And who is an expat? According to Wikipedia, “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”.

Defined that way, you should expect that any person going to work outside of his or her country for a period of time would be an expat, regardless of his skin colour or country. But that is not the case in reality; expat is a term reserved exclusively for western white people going to work abroad.

Africans are immigrants. Arabs are immigrants. Asians are immigrants. However, Europeans are expats because they can’t be at the same level as other ethnicities. They are superior. Immigrants is a term set aside for ‘inferior races’.

Don’t take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal, the leading financial information magazine in the world, has a blog dedicated to the life of expats and recently they featured a story ‘Who is an expat, anyway?’. Here are the main conclusions: “Some arrivals are described as expats; others as immigrants; and some simply as migrants. It depends on social class, country of origin and economic status. It’s strange to hear some people in Hong Kong described as expats, but not others. Anyone with roots in a western country is considered an expat … Filipino domestic helpers are just guests, even if they’ve been here for decades. Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese are rarely regarded as expats … It’s a double standard woven into official policy.”

The reality is the same in Africa and Europe. Top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. Period. “I work for multinational organisations both in the private and public sectors. And being black or coloured doesn’t gain me the term “expat”. I’m a highly qualified immigrant, as they call me, to be politically correct,” says an African migrant worker.

Most white people deny that they enjoy the privileges of a racist system. And why not? But our responsibility is to point out and to deny them these privileges, directly related to an outdated supremacist ideology. If you see those “expats” in Africa, call them immigrants like everyone else. If that hurts their white superiority, they can jump in the air and stay there. The political deconstruction of this outdated worldview must continue.
Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is the editor of SiliconAfrica.com, where this blog was first published. Follow @siliconafrica on Twitter.

El Sauz - 7-6-2015 at 09:54 PM

Hmm, I would say the blogger is 50% correct. White people have no problem calling their own ancestors immigrants if they came from another country. Immigrant is the term used by the host country so it is not racist for Europeans to call people who arrive from Africa immigrants.

On the other hand, we as Americans will call white people from England living in Thailand expats. At the same time we refer to people from Thailand living in England as immigrants.

Still not sure if that is caused by inherent racism though. One big mistake the blogger makes is to say only white people do this. Actually all English speakers tend to. People of African descent in America will also refer to people from England living in Thailand as expats. The problem is both expat and immigrant are English terms so it is a bit confusing. I suspect it is more of a linguistic issue. Overall I think the bloggers post might be a little over simplistic.

It is fine for Americans who reside in Mexico to refer to themselves as expats, but what do Mexicans call them?

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

Udo - 7-7-2015 at 09:35 AM

I would be interested in that information.
Quote: Originally posted by El Sauz  

It is fine for Americans who reside in Mexico to refer to themselves as expats, but what do Mexicans call them?

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

bajaguy - 7-7-2015 at 09:36 AM

ATM's..........
Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
I would be interested in that information.


Quote: Originally posted by El Sauz  

It is fine for Americans who reside in Mexico to refer to themselves as expats, but what do Mexicans call them?

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

Whale-ista - 7-7-2015 at 10:00 AM

Ha!

Just as it's said "Eskimos have X number of words for snow," I suspect our Baja friends have X number of words to describe all the various "visitors" to their fair peninsula...
Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy  
ATM's..........


Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
I would be interested in that information.


Quote: Originally posted by El Sauz  

It is fine for Americans who reside in Mexico to refer to themselves as expats, but what do Mexicans call them?

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

Udo - 7-7-2015 at 01:41 PM

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy  
ATM's..........


Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
I would be interested in that information.


Quote: Originally posted by El Sauz  

It is fine for Americans who reside in Mexico to refer to themselves as expats, but what do Mexicans call them?

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

bajabuddha - 7-7-2015 at 02:46 PM

Another immigrant term that has 'evolved' (counter-evolved actually) is the term: WOP. Now is a derogatory bite at Italian Americans. Truth is, back in the heyday of Ellis Island the teeming masses of the poor 'baggage-hold' immigrants who came with no documentation or legal papers were sent to a section where a large table was stacked high with thousands of orange cards, about 4"x10" (I'm guessing), triangle-top end with a hole, and a 2-foot string loop.... the card said- W O P ... that read sideways, top-to-bottom, and stood for "With Out Passport". Once tagged, they were sent on for further processing to eventually become U.S. citizens.

Didn't matter what nationality they were; Polish, Slavs, Spanish, just that they were poor and paper-less. My maternal Grandfather was a WOP, a young boy of 13 from Greece sent from a small goat-herding mountain town to America and a better life. Of course, that was when America was built on diversity. He would be proud of the family he started here, that all began a little over 100 years ago, and I'm proud to be part WOP.

HOPA !! :cool:

motoged - 7-7-2015 at 02:50 PM

All humans are from someplace else....some just stay in one place longer and call it home.

woody with a view - 7-7-2015 at 02:53 PM

I'm a temporary resident of the third stone from the sun.

pacocacho - 7-8-2015 at 02:31 AM



I think the blogger is mixing a concept of a supremacist ideology with working conditions.
I’m a Latino living in Europe and I’m not an immigrant, I am an expat. And the difference is not the color of my skin but the conditions of my working relationship.

I’m in a 3 year project; hence I am an expat who will eventually be going back to my country. I have friends in the same organization who are not in a project with a returning option to their country. They have local conditions, hence they are immigrants. (regardless of their nationality or skin color)

The guy from Human Recourses has it very clear: If you have a “pat” (Patria: home country) to go back to, then you are an expat and have expat conditions… If you don’t have a secured position to go back to in your home country, then you don’t have a “patria”, then you are not an expat but an immigrant with local conditions…

So all my gringo friends retiring in Baja (and other places in Mexico) are not expats. They are more immigrants (or visitors if they plan to go back to die to their homeland).

Cheers

(I´ve also seen the same use of the term throughout Latin America. Of course, it is restricted to people working for large multinational organizations. Any entrepreneur going to another country to open up an operation will be an investor if he is not staying, or an immigrant if he plans to stay...)

chuckie - 7-8-2015 at 04:14 AM

You CAN'T say "White people" NO NO The PC police will get you!

rhintransit - 7-8-2015 at 07:24 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pacocacho  


I think the blogger is mixing a concept of a supremacist ideology with working conditions.
I’m a Latino living in Europe and I’m not an immigrant, I am an expat. And the difference is not the color of my skin but the conditions of my working relationship.

I’m in a 3 year project; hence I am an expat who will eventually be going back to my country. I have friends in the same organization who are not in a project with a returning option to their country. They have local conditions, hence they are immigrants. (regardless of their nationality or skin color)

The guy from Human Recourses has it very clear: If you have a “pat” (Patria: home country) to go back to, then you are an expat and have expat conditions… If you don’t have a secured position to go back to in your home country, then you don’t have a “patria”, then you are not an expat but an immigrant with local conditions…

So all my gringo friends retiring in Baja (and other places in Mexico) are not expats. They are more immigrants (or visitors if they plan to go back to die to their homeland).

Cheers

(I´ve also seen the same use of the term throughout Latin America. Of course, it is restricted to people working for large multinational organizations. Any entrepreneur going to another country to open up an operation will be an investor if he is not staying, or an immigrant if he plans to stay...)


the above explanation makes the most sense. I don't see anything racist about any of the terms...but people playing the poor discriminated against me game/rabble rousing will. I had immigrant ancestors, expat parents (working at assignments with definite start/stop dates in various countries) who never considered any place but the US home, and I'm now a home owning retiree living in Mexico. though I currently have no US residence, I consider it my home country and will return some day. I have zip interest in immigrating to Mexico.
whatever the Mexican government chooses to call be, currently it's Permanent Resident, is fine. whatever other Mexicans call me, is up to them, and not my issue. my ethnic background is irrelevant.

monoloco - 7-8-2015 at 07:27 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
I would be interested in that information.


Quote: Originally posted by El Sauz  

It is fine for Americans who reside in Mexico to refer to themselves as expats, but what do Mexicans call them?

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]

[Edited on 7-7-2015 by El Sauz]
I think the term they use for many of them is "pendejo".

Ateo - 7-8-2015 at 07:36 AM

We are all from Africa.

SFandH - 7-8-2015 at 07:37 AM

Two Mexican middle-aged guys walked by my campsite on Bahia Concepcion and checked it out.

I heard one say to the other: "P-nche gabacho viejo tiene todo".



[Edited on 7-8-2015 by SFandH]

chuckie - 7-8-2015 at 04:10 PM

Es Verdad!

Udo - 7-8-2015 at 04:24 PM

During one of my Baja camping trips one Mexican told another:

P-nche gabacho tiene todos los juguetes..."

Therefore I conclude that "GABACHO" is one of the terms used by locals for us "tourists."