"I’m an immigrant myself. One of the things I’ve noticed over the years, when I do events, is that people will—not unkindly—suggest that I’m “doing well.” It’s something that’s always mystified me, as if there are different classes of immigrants, and the immigrants who “make it” work harder than those who don’t “make it.” As if success is entirely determined by an individual’s effort, irrespective of society’s structural inequities. I’ve always been very suspicious of that notion. It’s very dangerous. It’s an idea that I think makes people feel guilty when they’re not successful. Like if you’re poor, it’s your fault because you didn’t work hard enough…"
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Novelists from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesEducators from the United StatesGuggenheim Fellows21st-century African-American women
Original Language: English
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Sources
On the notion of “successful” immigrants in “Laila Lalami: Home Is An In-Between World” in Guernica Magazine (2019 May 1)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Laila_Lalami
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Laila Lalami
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