On Jan. 20, 2017, America sworn-in yet another racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic president. Yes, I said “yet again”, because this is not the first time our country has had a president that is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and islamophobic. That being said, it is the first time that our country has had a leader that is openly disrespectful to minority groups. The first time our “President” has openly bragged about sexual assault and included himself in rape culture. But he was still voted in (by our terrible electoral college). A week after being sworn-in, “President” Trump and his sidekick Mike Pence have signed executive order after executive order, trying to undo everything President Obama has done. In the midst of it all they have stopped government funding to NGO’s that provide abortion services, banned refugees from entering the U.S. from Muslim majority countries, and raised the cost of mortgage for millions of home buyers.
As an immigrant that identifies as a Black woman, I have been outraged by the man many Americans are now forced to call “President Trump”. As I continue to resist against his policies and his supporters, I am constantly asking myself, “Where do I fit in Trump’s America?” Fifteen years ago, my family moved from Ethiopia to America in hopes of a better life under a government ran by the people, for the people. It would be an understatement to say that America gave my family and I opportunities that we would not get in our “home country”; however, we have given a lot to America as well. The relationship between an immigrant and the country they migrate to is a give-and-take relationship. This is something many xenophobic Americans tend to forget when they tell us to go back to our countries. I am not sorry for coming to America, I am sorry others feel that, although immigrants contribute to the American society, we do not belong here. But if you tell us to leave, we will take every bit of scientific discovery, food, spice, technology, and culture that we brought with us. Do not forget that without immigrants, America wouldn’t have YAHOO, Twitter, Google, Home Depot, and even Apple.
It is also important to note that America did not belong to the people who hold it today. “America” was not the white man’s land, but the land of Native Americans. California, Texas, and other states belonged to Mexico before Americans decided they wanted it. The same lands Trump and his supporters want to “protect” never belonged to them in the first place. So the next time you tell an immigrant to “go back to their country”, recognize that the land you stand on today, was their country at some point. As this past election has opened the eyes of many Americans, it has closed doors for many immigrants that may never get the chance my family got 15 years ago. Without immigrants there would be no U.S.A.
