A very interesting opinion piece by a NY professor who has a U.S. green card and an Italian passport. He compares his travel experiences with people from less "desirable" countries. - - Donna Poisl
by Aldo Civico, Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia Univeristy
On the day the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, signed an outrageous immigration law, I was at the JFK airport in New York about to embark on a one-month long trip to Colombia, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain.
At the check-in, handing over my papers to the airline officer, I could not help but thinking about the privilege for being white, European, with an Italian passport and a green card. Every time I travel abroad, either for business or for pleasure, I do not have to face the ordeal citizens of the South of the world have to go through when they want to travel beyond the borders of their country.
No long lines at European or U.S. embassies, no need to provide the details of my bank account, and a letter by my employer with the particularities of my contract and of my salary, and proof of my interest to come back. I do not have to proof my decency. I am a citizen of the first world, therefore by default I am decent and I have the right to enjoy the opportunities of our globalized world.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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