Rights of native-born shouldn’t trump those of immigrants

GWYNETH EDWARDS

In the Donald Trump era’s all-tootransparent debates around religion, ethnicity, birthplace and rights, the narratives often focus on “us” versus “them.” “Us” is defined as those who were born in country and “them” equates to immigrants.

Throughout Canada and United States, arguments are founded upon the rights of those who were born here. There is an assumption that those who were born in the country in which they live are automatically afforded certain rights and, conversely, those who choose to immigrate are not.

The rhetoric suggests the following: If you are an immigrant, be grateful, and do as you’re told; if you were not born here, then it’s up to you to adapt to the local customs and, if you are not prepared to do that, leave.

It seems ludicrous to think that just because someone is born in a particular place that they have more rights than someone born elsewhere.

None of us had any influence over where we were born. Zero.

So how is it that some native-born Canadians and Americans believe that they have a right to dictate to anyone how they should or should not behave?

Do those who dictate that immigrants must change their ways truly know why, or is the behaviour simply based on the fear of the unknown?

Customs and traditions are all aspects of life that provide human beings with comfort and security. If the perception is that they might disappear or be replaced by the unfamiliar, it can create anxiety.

But looking more deeply at this phenomenon, the fear appears to be emanating from a basic human emotion: the fear of change.

The notion that those who were born here should have the right to dictate how others should live their lives seems like a total aberration of the birthright concept.

We (as in the human race) are all important and are all, fundamentally, very much the same. If we were each to live our life over again, but found ourselves born and raised in a distant country under very different circumstances, oh, how much we would learn about the similarities of people.

U.S. President Donald Trump has exposed the deep wounds not of a specific society or group of people, but of the human race in general. We are fragile in our overestimation of the impact of differences and their potential threat to the sanctity of our lives. Fundamentally, we are all very similar and our differences are simply a reflection of context. If we were to focus more on what is common between us, I think we would find a much longer list than our (contextual) differences. — Gwyneth Edwards is an assistant professor of strategic management in the department of international business at HEC Montréal.