Is the term expat racist? Journalist Laura Secorun argues that the word expat implies a value judgment, suggesting that Westerners who move to another country are adventurous, while the term immigrant suggests someone who likely moved out of necessity or may be a burden to society in their adopted country. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Is “Expat” Racist?”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
Somebody sent me an essay the other day. It’s by Laura Sekaron-Pollett, and this was in the online magazine Ozzie. And I’m not sure how I feel about this essay, so I’d like to get your thoughts, Grant.
She’s writing about the word expat, and she thinks that this word should be retired because she said that, you know, when you say the word expat, you probably think of a couple of adorable British retirees reading Agatha Christie novels while slowly roasting under the unforgiving Spanish sun. But she says that the word expat connotes a certain amount of prestige. Why can’t you just say immigrant rather than expat? She thinks it’s a racist term.
Oh, that’s interesting. I’d have to read the whole essay to counter the whole argument. But pretty much everything you’ve just said is counter to what I understand about the term expat.
What’s your understanding of it?
Well, part of it is you don’t become a citizen in a new country and are not seeking citizenship. You’re allowed through various laws and whatever cases to own property or co-own property. And you’re simply residing there.
Another thing about expat, it usually suggests a permanence, but with a connection, a foot still in the other country. So you haven’t picked up and sold off all of your stuff. Maybe you still own a house in the other country. You still have kids in the other country. Perhaps you even have a business that is generating revenue for you in the other country, or that’s where your retirement funds are located, that sort of thing.
It’s almost the same as moving from New York to Florida to live in your retirement, except you’ve crossed a national border.
Oh, interesting. Yeah, I was surprised to come across that essay, and I wasn’t sure what I thought. I asked a couple of friends of mine who grew up in the United States and moved to Mexico, and one of them said that she came to that same conclusion, that she was wondering, why do I get to be an expat? Because I’ve actually moved to Mexico. Why am I not just an immigrant? She felt like using the term racist sort of was too much, that that was closing a door to discussion, to an interesting discussion.
My other friend wasn’t bothered by it at all. She says, I call myself a expat. And they’ve moved permanently to Mexico.
Yeah. Yeah, that’s interesting.
Isn’t it? And I could see, but I don’t know why there has to be one term or one would force the others out. I could see somebody being an expat and an immigrant or one or the other without definitely being the other one.
Like to me, if I were going to immigrate, say, to Sweden, which is a wonderful place, that would mean I’m abandoning everything here. I’m selling it off. My roots are done. I’m cashing out the accounts. We’re setting up a home or laying out a future. And I’m going to start a business there or have a job there and live a regular life there.
Whereas expat to me does suggest like I’m coasting. I’ve got funds in the bank. I’m going to the beach every day or I’m hiking in the mountains. And I’m not building a business. I’m not building a new life there. I’m just simply kind of petering out what’s left of my time on earth.
That’s interesting because I think of expats as getting together as expats, you know, in the same way that I get together.
They certainly do, don’t they?
Yeah. English speakers tend to glom onto each other no matter where they are in the world.
Exactly. And sometimes, yeah, just have their own little communities without really interacting with the larger community.
Yeah. I wonder if you could take an article about immigration and replace the word immigrant with expat.
Yeah. Wouldn’t that be interesting? And see if people would buy that.
-huh. If that would still work.
Yeah. Maybe it’s not so much that expat is racist. Maybe it’s more that immigrant isn’t always the right word.
Yeah. I would love to hear from our listeners. And share that article on the website so everyone else can throw in their two cents.
Excellent. And you can also throw in your two cents by calling us at 877-929-9673 or send us an email. That address is words@waywordradio.org.
I had already read and heard other suggestions that the term “expad” is racist before hearing you talk about it on your show. This notion doesn’t ring true with me because in my expat club here in France we have white, black, Hispanic and other ethnicities represented. As an American who originally moved to France with a plan for 3-5 years and is still here 11 years later, I completely agree with Grant’s distinction between expat and immigrant. Notice my handle for this site which I picked years ago: FAUX Frenchie. 🙂 I’ve lived here for years and speak the language well enough to occasionally pass for a Frenchman, but I’m American. I’m living outside of (ex) MY country (patria). I have not obtained French citizenship. I don’t vote here. I still have holdings in the US and return frequently for work and pleasure. My parents, siblings and all of their children live in the US and enjoy visiting us here but have no intention of moving. Although I’ve stayed here longer than originally planned, I’ll certainly go back to the US someday.
So it’s not about my race, I don’t think, but it might be about my financial situation. In other words, I don’t think it’s a racist term, but it might be a bit classist. I’m not rich by most definitions, but I do have holdings in both countries and can go back and forth whenever I wish. When I think of the notion of immigration, I think of people who are looking for an opportunity in a new country that they couldn’t get at home. They want to become American or European or whatever and create new opportunities for themselves and their children. I have had an interesting career opportunity here in France, but it hasn’t afforded me a completely different standard of living than I would have had in the US. In fact, by some standards I have somewhat less (smaller houses and cars and such). Some immigrants I know are so focused on their new lives that they don’t teach their children their native language or culture! I’ve never known an expat to do that.
So I don’t think either word is really racist, and I think there are distinctions that make having two separate words useful. If a person always calls white foreigners expats and all non-white foreigners immigrants, then that person is definitely racist!