En englænders oplevelse af Danmark

De sidste år har vi gang på gang hørt om, hvor store problemer “udlændingene” skaber i vort samfund. Den slags vrøvl har vi især hørt fra Dansk Folkepari, men desværre også fra samtlige politiske partier på nær Enhedslisten  og de radikale. SFs og Villy Søvndals knæfald for tidens racisme er blandt de mest pinlige optrin i dansk politik i mange år.

Men det siger sig selv, at denne mistænkeliggørelse også virker tilbage på de berørte “udlændinge”. Når mange mennesker med gode uddannelser og solide jobs så brokker sig og siger, at de faktisk ikke synes, de skaber problemer, skynder man sig ofte at sige, at sådan nogle hårdtarbejdende udlændinge vil man gerne have til landet, det er “de andre” …

Den britiske blogger skatesection, der i snart to år har undervist på en folkeskole i en mindre by i Jylland fortæller i et  indlæg om, hvordan hun havde håbet på til sin tid at kunne sige, at Danmark er et dejligt land med en fri kultur, som hun dog ender med at forlade, fordi hun dybest set savner at være i et engelsktalende land.

Efter to år er hun desværre bare ved at få nok, og her er, hvad hun vil være nødt til at sige, når hun om ikke så længe har forladt landet:

I went to see how other schools work and I wanted to learn another language… I was not sure if I wanted to settle there but in the end, I decided that the political environment was threatening. Every time I turned on the news, it would be about how immigrants were fucking up the country. Eating sandwiches, knitting, riding a bike… these activities would rarely escape comment about me “doing it properly”. I worked my ass off to learn the language but they are so unused to foreign accents that they cannot understand me and occasionally people would be mean to me. They had a lovely culture, so free and gentle but it has been hijacked by the far right and the influence of these people has forced all the parties (and people), right wards. What was once cozy and quaint is now warped. Most of the people are generous and fun but a significant minority are mean spirited and cruel. The parties are great but I was rarely invited to them, I had to make friends with other immigrants almost exclusively after two years (I had no partner to give me an “in”) I loved the pace of life but the flip side was that a lot of the services I relied on would be done “half-assed” (or non-assed at all)… In the end, I was terrified of having children with a Dane and then getting stuck there… especially since the right wing are completely unchecked and things look like they might get fascist really quick. I missed being in a country where I would be sure that if someone was being mean to me it was because I had done something wrong or they were having a bad day and not because I speak with an accent.

Danmark er altså ikke et varmt, åbent, venligt og indbydende land for fremmede – uanset, hvor de kommer fra. Måske det var på tide, om vi tog os sammen og gjorde noget ved det.

Link: What I would have wanted

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