This morning I woke up sad. The world is very very broken. Innocent people, of diverse skin color - though predominantly and so very disproportionately black - lie dead at the hands of policemen. Other policemen lie dead in Dallas. Both groups I conclude are dead due to fear, ignorance and intolerance. Intolerance of diversity. Fear of ambiguity and change. And ignorance of faith, culture and the economy.
Across the world, in response, there is hate-inciting political movement. Here in the United States we have the living, breathing contradiction that is Donald Trump. Mr. Trump’s potential policies for the treatment of Mexicans, Chinese and Muslim people are well documented. Here is his running mate’s counter opinion. In Australia, Pauline Hanson. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders. In the United Kingdom, Nigel Farage. The Brexit debate and fall-out of that referendum highlights the power of xenophobic rhetoric and the danger it represents. 17 million people woke up, effectively, in a new world where they quite viscerally and intellectually did not want to be. Even more tellingly, many of their counterparts, those that voted to leave the European Union, too felt duped, I suspect stupid, and wishing they had thought beyond immigration and their fear of different people.
When I moved to California I struggled with my identity. In so many ways that’s laughable. It is scarcely comparable to race relations in the US or Brexit; but it’s true. People would ask “Where are you from?”. I wouldn’t know how to answer them and I would stutter out an explanation of my dual citizenship, my origin in Ireland and my subsequent adopted home in Australia. What should have been a simple answer to a simple question turned into a prolonged and embarrassing moment of self reflection.
I’m a white guy; born, raised and educated in Ireland. My parents are Irish. My grandparents were Irish. My wife is Irish. But having lived in Australia for nine years and being a citizen of two countries, was I no longer, simply, Irish? Had I lost my Irish-ness? The basis of national identity, identifying myself based on my nation was now a flawed construct - it didn’t work for me. This morning, 20 months later, it’s no longer a problem for me. I feel plenty Irish. And I feel a great and strong connection to Australia. My child will be born in the United States. I pray that they will have an identity that is their own and not a nation’s. And I pray that they will feel safe, welcome and a sense of belonging wherever they choose or find themself living.
For sure, my child will have it easier than my black colleague’s child. When his son turns 16 and gets his driving license my friend will sit him down and have ‘the talk’. He’ll lay out how is son is to behave when he is inevitably pulled over by the police. Don’t move too quickly. Broadcast your intentions in advance before reaching for your license, reaching for the registration. Be ridiculed, be made felt of lesser value, be abused. But be alive.
Political spin of protectionism as thoughtful economic policy is a nonsense and a deceit. For “Make America Great Again” read make America white again. When she demands that Australia be for Australians does Pauline Hanson include me? It’s a cover up for their fears, clinging to the broken construct of national identity, needing it and inciting others to kill for it.
It is not going to be OK. Not unless we steadfastly persist to educate and inform ourselves and each other. And turn intolerance on itself.