The immigrant mind
Taking the immigrant narrative beyond the ban, taco stands, hijabs and endless iterations of DIY garage moonshine
Discussing immigrants has been all the hype lately. For a lot of immigrants, either seasoned (like me) or fresh off the boat, it’s been a bit like listening to a conversation between two people talking about you in third person while you’re present in the room. But it’s ok, because ironically the feeling is not unfamiliar. A similar discussion has already been internalized in the back of the immigrant mind where it resides in all its confusing glory. Sometimes more sometimes less dormant, it’s always there, ever since we first moved out of the land of origin and became permanently mentally torn between it and the promised one.
The way the current political debate is framed is unsurprisingly polarized. The left generally takes a welcoming nondiscriminatory stand citing the appreciation for the richness of diversity with which new cultures infuse ours. The right, on the other hand, is concerned about immigrants altering the existing cultural landscape into something unrecognizable, ugly, dangerous and wrong.
Even though I lean toward one view more than the other, the purpose of this piece is not to get into arguing the merits of either. Instead, I’d like to pivot from the current debate that, while necessary and important, despite its polarizing stances looks at the immigrants from the same overarching perspective — that of the host. Meaning, the narrative is largely about how immigrants change the receiving country, the US. Ranging from the assimilation on the right to the celebration on the left, the focus of the host is ultimately, integration. What’s debated is its flavor, implementation, and return on investment. Now, it is only natural and not ill-intended that the host only has, well, the host perspective. It is a lovely example of our reptilian brain remnants detecting a different species and deciding whether to fight, flight or freeze: how do I fit these newcomers into my world, my ways, my reality?
What I’m interested in exploring however, is the flip side.
What does the migratory experience do to the immigrants? Specifically, to their way of thinking. What mental space have the immigrants over the years carved in their mind about their hostland and homeland? How has being an immigrant changed them?
And how is that change reflected in the adoptive and the land of origin? So far not many outside the immigrant communities have really cared all too much about this angle because deciding between fight, flight or freeze along with a slew of practical considerations is already quite an intense plateful not to be undermined in importance. But of course the immigrants had no choice but to think about it because the layers of their perspective go deep beneath their integrated exterior.
Some immigrants are here because they want to be, others because they don’t have much of a choice. Their move initiates as either an exciting new adventure (career advancement, greener grass, love interest) or a relief from hardship (war, poverty, social injustice). And the new land sure promises and in many ways delivers. But inevitably, almost immediately upon arrival, immigrants (and the hosts) face the good ole culture shock. Even with an abundance of goodwill and open mindedness on both sides, a lot initially doesn’t make sense to immigrants just as a lot about immigrants doesn’t make sense to those that have welcomed them. Mutually weirded out, in the privacy of our boggled minds we all indulge in an eyeroll or two amazed by all the shades of crazies this world carries.
Soon after though, well aware of the deal they signed up for when they decided to move, immigrants quite willingly and almost naturally give way to integration knowing full well that it is not only what makes the host happy but is also key to their survival, acceptance, recognition, comfort, or any kind of success in the new land.
Still, beneath the conquered language barrier, polished social cues and plentiful examples of immigrant professional excellence enriching the receiving country, there is an inner tumult that goes on inside the immigrant mind. Like the organ transplant that shocks the host body, the organ too is figuring out the host, often with grace and gratitude but also accompanying disorientation. Trying to reconcile what they know with an avalanche of new inputs on values, habits and logic of this new place is no easy feat even for the most resilient.
The thinking battles immigrants go through following a dramatic change of being uprooted and transplanted are largely only reserved for the deepest personal rumination away from the public, if occasionally shared with those in the same position. Most immigrants are haunted, to various degrees and with varying frequency, by such questions as Where am I? What is this place about? Who am I anymore? Where do I belong? Am I doing the right thing for me and my kids? What does this all mean? And, the elephant in the room: who the hell do I now root for at the World Cup?
It is a bit of a perpetual thought jumble that doesn’t quite ever seize to simmer. And because the jumble varies in themes and intensity, immigrants deal with it in different ways. Some isolate themselves by creating bubbles, sometimes in form of entire neighborhoods, as miniature versions of where they’d come from, complete with the heritage language being the only one in use and grocery stores that carry only the food from the old country, lest they be influenced by the host culture more then they have to in order to function. Others, after fleeing some kind of smothering oppression of their country of origin, find liberation in embracing fully the ways of the new land and even craft a completely new identity.
Most of us, however are somewhere in between: in the sphere of never-ending dilemmas, the painful absence of closure, floating between homeland and hostland in various ways. And there can’t be closure, because it’s not a matter of choice between one place or another, one way of life or another.
We intimately know both these places, virtues and flaws, and we are a part of both and both of them are a part of us.
Still, there is something therapeutic about mulling things over and creating a space for immigrants to work through these thoughts and feelings, but also share their thinking outside of the immigrant circles without their allegiance being questioned at the first sign of wondering about why things are the way they are here and there.
Curious to find out more, about six moths ago I started collecting stories about how and what immigrants think. I interviewed a few dozen immigrants from a few dozen countries, in Pittsburgh PA where I live. No matter the part of the world they come from, I wanted to see what immigrants have in common in how has migrating changed them deep inside. What is a deeper frame of how they understand belonging to a country, what is patriotism, what makes a homeland, and how has their migratory experience impacted their worldview? What have they learned about people and themselves in the process and how does that knowledge inform and shape how they live their life, their interactions and their role in the society?
We all know that just being a tourist in a different country can open eyes and minds, inspire new ideas and foster deep thought. And drawing from personal experience and that of my immigrant friends it is evident that being immersed in two (sometimes three or more) cultures for a long period of time creates profound shifts in thinking that cannot be accomplished most any other way. The gift of distance from both the origin and, by virtue of being transplanted, from the receiving culture as well, truly elevates the immigrant perspective to the realm of seeing a bigger, more complete picture of the world around us.
And nuggets of wisdom from that space are something, I believe, we could all find nourishment in. Because the big picture gives clarity to what really goes on, reminds us of what is important and what is petty, what needs more attention and what are the divisive energy and compassion suckers that should be left behind.
If we allow ourselves the openness and courage to roam in the immigrant mental landscape we may be onto an insightful, powerful, even paradigm shifting understanding of our humanity.
As I am collecting and analyzing the stories from the interviews I have been conducting with immigrants, I will be sharing the thoughts, and emerging patterns on the way to better understanding the overall framework from which it all stems. It is a journey that I’m excited to embark on and see where it takes me. And I hope that all of you, immigrants or not, will join in and share your thoughts and help cultivate thinking deeply about migration and how it affects all of us. If anything, I hope that discoveries and musings that come out of this project are a stimulating exercise in reexamining the status quo of our current way of thinking about immigrants and hopefully broadens our perspective.
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