I was just heard on the radio that Denmark has these immigration measures, where if a Danish citizen marries a non-Danish citizen, they’re not allowed to live in Denmark.

>.< Wait, so you’re kicking out your own citizens?

The argument behind it is even more questionable. Apparently they say they would be fine with immigrants “if they conformed to our culture, but instead they keep their own. This is to help women, especially Muslims, gain more rights. Often they are forced into arranged marriages, and we want to give them the power to marry whoever they want.”

And the funny thing is that the radio segment started out with a Danish woman with a Palestinian background. She is forced to live in Sweden because her husband is from Jordan.

It’s such a strange face for me to take in, that such developed countries are refusing their citizens, some of them that are the best in society, just because of culture.

I know I somewhat take that for granted, that I have the right to keep and celebrate my culture. And it’s not the first time ever I have realized this fact. I had an Indonesian friend at camp, who was of Chinese descent. She told me that she went to private school, and all her friends there were also of Chinese descent. The reason is that Indonesia has rampant discrimination, contains education troubles, and is also an Islamic country. That’s why she cannot attend public school, since she isn’t Muslim and she’s not ethically Indonesian.

This brings up so many more questions for me. Am I Chinese, American, or both? I don’t really fit in either China or America, but if I had to choose a place that I had to live forever, I would choose America. The truth is, while I may be part of a minority, at least I’m not alone in the minority and I can celebrate my differences.

I moved from a community with lots of Asians to one that was mostly White. From 5^th to 7^th grade, I was the only Chinese person in my grade. (Full-blooded, to be fair. There was one other girl, but she was half-Chinese and could only understand Cantonese.) Even in 8^th grade, when a Chinese guy moved in, I was still the only Chinese person well educated about my heritage. He couldn’t speak or read any Chinese, and he didn’t care about China’s history or holidays.

My high school is very much like the community I spent my childhood in. Maybe 10% of the school is Asian. When I talk about Chinese customs or somehow Chinese comes out of my mouth, there are actually people who understand me. But don’t get me wrong-I still am very close to my middle school friends, who are mostly White.

But I find that Asian people tend to stick with Asian people. I got to know the Koreans in my grade in middle school because we would hang out together. People who used to shun in Chinese school because they didn’t know me are now really great classmates. In summer camps, often I make friends with the Asian people.

Why? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s not only because we’re the “same people”, but we have a lot of similarities and inside jokes. But that doesn’t mean I limit myself to Asian people. It’s just easier to befriend people who grew up in a similar background as you do.

If America took away this right, I would be devastated. What was my identity? Even if I tried to be like all my Caucasian friends, I could never fully be “American”. My body reacts different to Asian and American food sometimes, and this different between the two cultures is even greater with medicine.

Although I’m fiercely proud of my Asian heritage and pure blood, I’m not biased against stuff. I live about twenty minutes away from the city that has the highest number of couples and families. In fact, I think it would be awesome if over the years and generations, we would have a lot more people. It would help with a lot of cultural misunderstandings.

But we should know who we are. That’s why I think it’s awesome when my Caucasian friends celebrate how they’re Jewish or how they’re Irish. (Yes I know Jewish is a religion, but it’s still a heritage.)

We should always be proud who we are, not only of who our ancestors are, but what kind of people we are. No government or country should ever take that away from us. We must remember that although we may look different, have different cultures or practices, we are all equal and we are all human beings.

We all deserve the same rights, and we all have the right to be ourselves.