“Do I need a visa?” my friend asked the moment he realized his dreams of studying abroad would come to fruition this coming spring. I responded back with all the necessary info detailing general information on traveling as an American citizen overseas. The last message I had sent my friend concerning the topic casually detailed the strengths and the privileges of beholding an American passport as a world traveler. And in writing this blog post, I truly realized how fortune I am to have been born an American.
Growing up, I often spent summers between either Senegal or England visiting family members. Not once did I have to deal with the prospect of obtaining a visa for visit or residential purposes, unlike my immigrant parents at the time. Even in planning to study abroad in Denmark, I never truly worried that I would have issues entering or residing in the country because once again—I am American and that in itself holds a privilege. There are people in the world who constantly have to worry about the process for obtaining visas, and the process becomes exponentially harder if you are coming from a perceived Third World country.
Though not a headlined topic in U.S. media currently, the Syrian refugee crisis has been inciting much discussion in the world, specifically within Europe. Discussions on the amount of refugees and immigrants European countries can feasibly accept and care for have sparked varying ideas and disagreements. This fall I am taking a course that discusses a bit of this issue as it pertains to Scandinavia, specifically within Denmark and Sweden. It has been quite interesting to discuss with Danes and Swedes on their opinions regarding this matter.
For my core, Cultural Diversity and Social Capital, one of my assignments was to interview Danes and Swedes POPVOX style on immigration and integration within both countries. From talking with a few Danes and Swedes, something I picked up on was that most of them used the terms immigrant and refugee interchangeably. The problem with this is that both terms have two very different definitions. An immigrant is a person who moves from one country to another voluntarily for reasons such as bettering one’s life. A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Whenever our interviewees would reference immigrants they would describe them as being Muslim, from a Third World country, unable to speak Danish, and/or a person who would have trouble integrating into Danish society. If you compare the definition of immigrant to these descriptions, it is obvious that the interviewees’ views are skewed. Their observations painted immigrants as people who are solely of African or Middle Eastern origin. To be African or Middle Eastern means that you are unable to easily integrate within Danish society because of immense cultural differences.
This had me thinking about how I, as an American, fit into the grand scheme of immigration within Denmark. As an American immigrant studying in this country for a semester, I have the privilege of not being viewed as the “other.” I also have the opportunity to find myself within the country, which other people here do not. I know that if I want to move to Denmark in the future, I will not face the issues that other immigrants do. This is one of the privileges of being an American, and in recognizing this, I am reminded about the opportunities I am lucky enough to experience.
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