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    Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?

    Surely any person going to work outside their country is an expatriate? But no, the word exclusively applies to white people
    Indian Summers tea party
    Expats or immigrants? Photograph: Matt Brandon
    Mawuna Remarque Koutonin
    Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is editor of SiliconAfrica.com and a social activist for Africa Renaissance. @siliconafrica
    In the lexicon of human migration there are still hierarchical words, created with the purpose of putting white people above everyone else. One of those remnants is the word “expat”.
    What is an expat? And who is an expat? According to Wikipedia, “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”.
    Defined that way, you should expect that any person going to work outside of his or her country for a period of time would be an expat, regardless of his skin colour or country. But that is not the case in reality; expat is a term reserved exclusively for western white people going to work abroad.
    Africans are immigrants. Arabs are immigrants. Asians are immigrants. However, Europeans are expats because they can’t be at the same level as other ethnicities. They are superior. Immigrants is a term set aside for ‘inferior races’.
    Don’t take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal, the leading financial information magazine in the world, has a blog dedicated to the life of expats and recently they featured a story ‘Who is an expat, anyway?’. Here are the main conclusions: “Some arrivals are described as expats; others as immigrants; and some simply as migrants. It depends on social class, country of origin and economic status. It’s strange to hear some people in Hong Kong described as expats, but not others. Anyone with roots in a western country is considered an expat … Filipino domestic helpers are just guests, even if they’ve been here for decades. Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese are rarely regarded as expats … It’s a double standard woven into official policy.”
    The reality is the same in Africa and Europe. Top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. Period. “I work for multinational organisations both in the private and public sectors. And being black or coloured doesn’t gain me the term “expat”. I’m a highly qualified immigrant, as they call me, to be politically correct,” says an African migrant worker.
    Most white people deny that they enjoy the privileges of a racist system. And why not? But our responsibility is to point out and to deny them these privileges, directly related to an outdated supremacist ideology. If you see those “expats” in Africa, call them immigrants like everyone else. If that hurts their white superiority, they can jump in the air and stay there. The political deconstruction of this outdated worldview must continue.
    Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is the editor of SiliconAfrica.com, where this blog was first published. Follow @siliconafrica on Twitter.
    Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter.

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    An interesting article on a topic that is rarely discussed. In Hong Kong; where I originally came from, I'd think that the term "expat" is often refer to people who are from overseas but work in HK on a working visa. There is also a general impression that "expats" in HK are professionals with high income. But I'd think that all "non-Chinese" people except foreign domestic helpers could be considered "expats"; not necessarily "white people". Do expats often have this "I am better than thou attitude" towards local HKers? Sometimes yes. And it was very much so when HK was still a colony o Britain. I'd say that such "colonial attitude" sort of "look down" on local people in HK often come from SOME white expats; non-white expats, not so apparent. But it is ok though most of us HKers would just ignore those snobbish foreigners and let them be happy in their little racist expat circle. :)
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    • Guardian Pick
      I have often wondered this. It seems to be something so engrained that we don't even think about it. I'd be interested to know the terms used in non English speaking countries - is there an equivalent term to ex-pat?
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      This is a manufactured issue. In Singapore black British people are also described as 'expats'.
      The different between an expat and an immigrant is that the former stays by choice rather than necessity. The assumption with immigrants is that don't have the same choice. That reflects class more than ethnicity.
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      A really thought-provoking article: language is very powerful and from now on I will try to use the term 'immigrant' regardless of race.
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      An interesting article on a topic that is rarely discussed. In Hong Kong; where I originally came from, I'd think that the term "expat" is often refer to people who are from overseas but work in HK on a working visa. There is also a general impression that "expats" in HK are professionals with high income. But I'd think that all "non-Chinese" people except foreign domestic helpers could be considered "expats"; not necessarily "white people". Do e…
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      I'm a New Zealander living permanently in the UK.
      Not one person has ever called me an immigrant nor accused me of coming here to steal jobs/benefits.
      There is a clear racial bas at play.
      Jump to comment
    1 2 3 4 … 14 next
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    • 0 1
      Is it not usually referring to an Ex-patriate of the British Empire?
      So usually Ex- colonies, US, Canada, Hong Kong, NZ etc?
      Granted, they are mostly white migrants, but....
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      This goes two ways.
      White immigrants to Africa, in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, are fairly substantial groups and in some cases have been there many centuries, but, are widely regarded as not African, no matter how much they say they are.
      In Ireland, Protestant people in Northern Ireland and Anglo-Irish families in Southern Ireland are considered as immigrants and not fully Irish, many centuries after they arrived.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      "Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese are rarely regarded as expats". So are New Yorkers in California.
      " Anyone with roots in a western country is considered an expat", Not "Anyone white".
      "Africans are immigrants. Arabs are immigrants. Asians are immigrants". And Europeans are "expats" because 1) they are not arriving in millions but are numbered and 2) most of them do not want to stay permanently in the new country and acquire its citizenship.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      It's easy to distinguish:
      Usually an expat is someone who earns more than the average salary of the locals while those who earn low wages are called "migrant workers". Immigrants can be a different idea, it can be someone who moves to a country not because of work, but by marriage, for example
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      The bottom line of the article is that it's a bit bloody hypocritical for us to constantly bitch and moan about foreigners coming to our country and refusing to integrate and learn the language when that's exactly what we do when we go to any of theirs. This is completely true, just acknowledge it with some degree of humility and move on.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      Coming from an Irish family we were always called Immigrants, I have never heard a member of my family mention themselves as being expat, same goes for my immigrant Polish friends who happen to be white.
      Others have given good definitions between the difference of the 2 but I wanted to assure you that as a "white person" that I am the child of immigrants not expats, though I do think the Irish would have better claim to use expats than anyone else boom boom.
      Is that my coat?
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      Simply not the case. I've lived and worked in four different countries. Each of those calls their people overseas expats, or an equivalent thereof, and everybody else immigrants. It has nothing to do with colour or race and is all about nationality.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      Not entirely true. In where I come from (Indonesia) and where I am now (France) this is not the case. In Indonesia we call all non-Indonesians simply as "foreigners", and call foreign professionals as "expats" regardless their races. So you could be an african, an indian, a chinese, a korean... whatever... if you're a professional, then you're an expat to us. We never use the word "immigrant" to non-Indonesians. In France, well, they don't use the word "expats" to non-French/foreigners. They simply call you immigrants no matter where you come from. You can be an Italian, a Spanish, a Japanese, a Vietnamese... well for them you're simply an immigrant. Anyway, for an article that is aimed at highlighting a narrow-minded idea of "expats vs immigrants" it's just sad that the writer him/herself adopts narrow-minded judgments :)
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      I think this article is a complete non-starter. If you are a native English speaker you soon realise that the language is not bound by narrow dictionary definitions. Do we talk about English migrants to Australia as expats? No. They are migrants because they seek the citizenship of their new country. Expats retain their own citizenship. I guess in some imagined future where Africans and Asians go to work on assistance projects to help war-torn Europe get back on its feet, they too will be considered expats, because they will ultimately be returning to Kinshasa, Mogadishu or Manila. Of course at the present time they are migrants because the majority seek to migrate permanently.
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      I think it is something to do with you being an offense seeker. It's just a description of what we call ourselves abroad, what is wrong with that?
      I'm sure the residents of the country we seek to live in refer to us as immigrants too. Get off your offense seeking soap box and write something meaningful.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      The differences are simple and I'm not sure how it is confusing -
      An expat is someone who is temporarily overseas for work, usually assigned - they didn't go looking to go to that particular country; they are in that country because of their industry or close country-to-country ties (like Hong Kong / UK), or they are retiring or on a extended vacation of a few years.
      The biggest difference is that an expat is not seeking permanent residency, while an immigrant is. The Expat has a choice of where to be, can leave at any time, has reasonably similar employment opportunities in their country of origin, and is not seeking permanent residency in the country they are in at the moment.
      For example, in a Japanese company I worked for, our office manager was a Japanese national that had been in the US for over ten years before he went back, and never applied for a green card. That is an Expat. It has nothing to do with race. In fact, the author being convinced that it is demonstrates alot more about their racist views than anybody else's.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      The far simpler and duller explanation is that it's all about the perspective of the speaker. I'm British, so to me a (say) Nigerian called John coming to work in the UK is an immigrant, while a Brit called Bob going to work in Nigeria is an expat.
      But to a Nigerian, John is an expat and Bob is an immigrant. This is because, without further context, when we talk about immigrants we mean immigrants to our own country. When we talk about expats we talk about people from our country working abroad. Go to West Africa and the word expat is used to refer to West Africans working in e.g. Britain.
      In fewer words, expat is basically used as a synonym for the rarely-used emigrant. The fact that the authors perceive a racial distinction is essentially because western countries are the ones that have a) the largest numbers of immigrants b) the largest number of expats.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      Expats versus immigrants - Has always meant those with power versus the powerless. In the 21st century Post colonial world with Obama in the White House, it's no longer as simple as black and white.
      Go clubbing in any expensive nightclub and you can see rich russians with wads of cash( expats) when the club is over and the cleaners come in from latin america, africa (immigrants)
      labelling all non - native residents immigrants -everywhere - is an interesting idea- the legion of ukip voters who dream of retiring in the sun - can no longer have the double standard they are nothing but 'filthy immigrants'
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      While I understand the concept of white privilege-- It's term that describes the implicit privileges or a majority group provided by class structure and societal norms. Similar to straight privilege or Hindu privilege if you are in a place like India.
      While I'm not disputing white privilege exists, I believe the example cited here is a misinterpretation of the English language. As an American, I use the term "immigrant" to refer to someone in my country that came from some place else regardless of their race or ethnicity. So we have Polish, Russian, Jamaican, English immigrants etc.
      I use the term "expat" to refer to Americans that have gone abroad to live in another country, also regardless of the race or ethnicity. So I call Tina Turner, living in Switzerland, an American "expat".
      I know other English speaking countries use the term "expat" in a similar fashion and sometimes they refer to themselves as the "expat" community in non-English speaking countries, meaning anyone from an English speaking country.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      This is very simple, really. US landscape is now dominated by trash, both white and "of color".
      So, only those desperate starving for food from Africa and Bangladesh are trying to get in,
      while educated, developed , civilized white American are running away, and settle in Thailand or Moscow.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      I would even argue further that in Europe the term applies to top management and family from Western countries. I, as a white Romanian, having a University degree and working in Switzerland temporarily - because I want to and not because I need to - have never been classified as an expat officially or unofficially. Thank you very much for opening this conversation!
      Reply |
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    • 1 2
      To the post that was deleted for no reason...
      "Nope. They're saying that when someone emigrates from their homeland, they will be considered expatriates (if professionals) or migrant workers (if skilled labourers) by their homeland, but will be considered by immigrants or whatever by the country they have emigrated to. "
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      In a global economy white, black, brown and yellow .. were all IMMIGRANTS .. The word Expat can be retired for ever .. Whats more there is hardly no more National Purity anymore if there ever was .. Hell all Of Europe and America 1.2 % neanderthal .. could go a long way to explain a few of rather wired ways we view the World .. Expat idea being a part of that mind set . Personally I think Whites in general have seen the World at large is NOT white .. So instead of integrating with the Real world Whites have tried with all there might to separate themselves from the World in which they actually live .. It's a form of DENIAL .. From this very surrealistic World view pops up real Nasty Idea's .. " Master Race " Being one African Apartheid , lets see Skin Heads , Nazi's and Neo-Nazi's .. Slavery in America .. Oh and of course the GOP ... and Huge Vast social Engineering project that have only one point and that is to hold people of Color ... Back .. Ferguson and places like that . Where the Local Government has targeted Poor People of Color as a added income for City coffers .. as sick and twisted as the whole idea is .. When White people landed in America .. Were they Expats or Illegal immigrants .. Well White America insists they were settlers or Pilgrims .. Well the reality of that is America was already settled and if they were Pilgrims then they were lost .. Jerusalem is South East of Europe not South West ..
      No our Nation was founded on the Idea's if Illegal Immigrants .. You know just like the ones we find all around us today . The Only none expats or Natives Americans had lived here for THOUSANDS of years .. That's Thousands of years before Europe came along and trashed the entire Nation in less than Three Hundred ... Ah the Neanderthal mind..
      Perhaps if we spent less time being White and more time being human ... Well things might be different ..They might not .. But we will never know will we .. because way down deep inside.. We see the world is predominately not white and that fact scares us . I don't know why it should but it does hence all the Scary White first idea's ... Oh well .. Eventually white might become a thing of the Past ... you know like bell-bottom jeans ... just a passing trend in Natures long book tricks
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      This article is deeply disingenuous. As many have pointed out, it is not about colour, but about the level of development of the person's home economy and the job they do in their host nation: black or Asian Westerners in less developed countries (especially those in highly-skilled/specialist positions) are widely termed expats while white Eastern Europeans in Western Europe (especially in low-skilled positions) are generally considered immigrants.
      Arguing that the same term should apply to both is from the "I don't see colour" school of thought. Ostensibly it might seem to indicate an egalitarian attitude, but it's actually an obtuse denial of reality. The expat experience is often very comfortable: you typically earn a lot more than the national average, you live in a nice part of town, you're generally made to feel welcome, you probably enjoy a high status in your work, which reflects your level of qualification and experience.
      The immigrant experience is typically much harder: you generally earn less than the national average, you probably don't live in the best area, you might experience racism or xenophobia, your job may be well below your skill level.
      The issues here are the disparities between different economies that drive people abroad for the chance of a decent life and the racism or xenophobia that make some people treat others badly. That is what needs addressing. "Immigrant" or "expat" doesn't reflect whether you're better or worse; it reflects your luck in being born in a rich economy. To think that tinkering with the terminology and rebadging a certain group is going to improve anyone's life is wilfully naïve.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      "Expat" is a licence not to integrate or assimilate in the hope of returning home after a temporary stay. But the "Immigrants" here don't seem to fit the bill as they just want to live here, educate their children here and even retire.
      The reason is because in certain countries such as Saudi Arabia, you can have children but they will still be considered "non-subjects" even worse than dogs as they don't want any "foreigners" taking up Saudi citizenship. Compared to here or in the most extreme cases in places like Ireland where any child is born is automatically considered a citizen enjoying all the privileges that come along with it.
      Reply |
    • 5 6
      If I was a unsure of the difference between an expat & an immigrant I'd check the dictionary....
      Might be also worth looking up "journalism" & "click-bait" as I can't tell which is which anymore.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      "But our responsibility is to point out and to deny them these privileges, " ... what planet are you from?
      Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
      We all have our own lives & supposing that anyone persons, is easier or less deserving than another person, based on ethnic origin, is fallacious & attention seeking - my perspective.
      It's exactly this articles perspective, that promotes modern day slavery in the middle east.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      I'm sure most people do use the term with a racial bias, but I think it is also largely down to social and economic factors as well. My girlfriend isn't British or white, but when we were discussing living abroad, she used the term expatriate to describe us rather than immigrant. We're both well-off professionals (although I'm working-class born and bred), and I'm guessing that had something to do with it.
      Polish people are white for the most as well, and we tend to call them immigrants rather than expatriates because of the view of the jobs they're going to be looking for as soon as they move here. They're more likely to be cleaning floors and stacking shelves than working in law or engineering.
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      While I agree with the conclusion of a racial bias in regards to immigrants, I have never used the term expat to define my status in the UK. I am an American living in the UK. If I were talking about my status in the UK, I am an immigrant. If I am talking about my status in regards to my home country, America, I am an American expat.
      Looking at the comments and the article itself, I imagine the issue has a lot to do with language. Many people seem to have a different way of defining 'expat'.
      Reply |
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