According to the 11th
Edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate ® Dictionary, a synonym is “one of two
or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly
the same meaning in some or all senses.”
That same dictionary defines
immigrant as, “one that immigrates: such as (a) a person who comes to a country
to take up permanent residence, or (b) a plant or animal that becomes
established in an area where it was previously unknown.”
The following are synonyms of the
word immigrant: newcomer, stranger, outsider, settler, nonnative, foreigner,
alien.
Who among us is not an
immigrant? Who has never been a newcomer
or a stranger? Who has never experienced
a moment as an outsider, or a time of having to settle in new or unfamiliar
surroundings? The fact is, all of us
have walked in those shoes; some more than others, and those who deny doing so
are only fooling themselves.
Life is full of immigrant moments
– your first day of school; the first day at a new job; a first time walking
into a new church; meeting other kids on the playground; passing strangers in
the supermarket; interacting with unknown store clerks; being introduced to
unfamiliar guests at a party, meeting newcomers at a club; and being the newest
recruit on a sports team. There are
countless other examples, synonymous circumstances with those of an immigrant.
Before mistreating or ridiculing
immigrants, ask yourself: Is this how I
want to be treated when I’m the newcomer, an outsider or a stranger?
We have more in common with
immigrants than many of us care to admit.
It’s time we act like it!
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