Lying About Foreign
Moving Back to Jamaica occasionally means confronting the fact that we Jamaicans living abroad frequently present a false picture of what life is like in foreign.
We come back home, eager to show that we have "made it," doing our best to prove to ourselves and others that we have NOT just taken up ourselves to Toronto, New York or London only to find that life there is now what we expected.
The truth is, that the vast majority of us are struggling to achieve the American dream, that we have saved for months to afford the ticket, that we have maxed out credit cards to buy new clothes and gifts, and that we have taken a third part-time job to have some spending money. We are very proud of the fact that we now live in a better place... or at least this is what we must convince ourselves is true.
The problem with all this boasting and posturing is that it masks the truth of what many experience:
-- racism
-- being "mistaken" for Black Americans
-- not being qualified to do the jobs we used to do
-- having to pay US$10k to marry someone for a green card
-- borrowing a cousin's social security card, driver's license and identity
-- cold (most frequently)
-- ugly surroundings
-- the unhappy realization that we are never moving back home
-- having to moderate our accent to be understood
-- bringing up children that ARE Black American
This is not to say that many Jamaicans who migrate do not find a better life. But I have met few Jamaicans who wanted to leave, and did not feel that they were at their wits end and HAD to leave.
The sad thing is that we Jamaicans at home want to believe that a better place exists ,and that there is some light at the end of the tunnel, even if the tunnel means begging for a visa in Liguanea's US Embassy. We listen carefully, and if it sounds as good as it looks on television, we are sold.
Often, I hear parents in my own parents' generation talk about where their children are, and what they are doing. They talk about their children being abroad as a badge of honour... "Michael is in New York with his wife and 3 kids!" It is said as if his being in New York is some kind of unique accomplishment.
When I share that I have returned home to live from the U.S. I usually get two reactions from these parents.
The first reaction is, "you must be mad!"
The second comes after some reflection, and is usually wistful... how they wish that Michael were here with them living at home, instead of taking the subway to work each morning... "How happy your parents must be!"
I don't know where to point the finger here -- we all seemed to have created this situation, breaking up our families for what we think are the right reasons, believing that migration is the answer and convincing ourselves and others that it is easier to make it in New York than it is in Barbican.
Andrea Levy's book, which I recently finished, brilliantly describes one young woman's heartache when she arrives in England and is shocked by what she finds. This piece of truth-telling was revealing -- we need a lot more of it.
posted by fwade @ 1/23/2007
4 Comments:
you make a valid point fwade. one thing that always amazes me is the job and 'careers' that people will take in foreign, but will refuse to do in their own country 'cause they too big for that!
the grass is not always greener on the other side, especially in those paradises of new york and london. many times it is just better we keep our tails home and work on developing what we have there.
The previous post is total bull****. It is important to look on the other side and realise that the grass is always going to be greener on the otherside. It is human perception of the world, we always want what we cant have and once we have it we look at what there is for us next to conquer.
If you feel you have conquered america/foreign then you will look for the next thing there is. For most Jamaicans once we have made it in a foreign country we get this great sence of accomplishment then look for our next ambitious task. For most, the aquiring of great things in 'Foreign' is alot harder than they were originally told and thus will spend the rest of their lives unhappily trying to do so. For the lucky few who have taken what they could look towards Jamaica to do whatever there is to do there.
if that is a crime then so let it be.
Dude, you are incredibly anger. Foremost, I must say you make rather grand and sweeping generalizations- many Jamaicans in the U.S, the U.K and Canada are in fact doing well. Additionally, I do not suppose every Jamaican living abroad derides their country. My family moved to the U.S in the 70s. Both of my parents are attorneys. I am a second year student at Columbia Law school and have spent the last 3 summers volunteering in Jamaica.Oh well, put that in your pipe and smoke on it
we get a visa to go abroad and work as slaves it was never over, never finished, it got upgraded, because we get some foriegn currency. that is the trick, the money exchange and the toys our forefathers talked about it is all an illusion. be wise am coming home to farm, at the end of the day i can feed myself.
Post a Comment
<< Home