At The Guardian a piece called “Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?” is amusing but utterly inexperienced and misleading.

Mawuna Remarque Koutonin

Friday 13 March 201

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them these privileges, directly related to an outdated supremacist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 The political deconstruction of this outdated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. 

I have no idea what kind of expat she’s talking about, but I’ve met many non-white people who identify themselves as expatriates in Asia, mostly Asians of middle class background. If she wants to attack white folks working/living as non-immigrants abroad she should look for a better angle because, as it is, her article is terribly written. Plus, bandying around the words “white people” in this generalized, stereotypical sense that is fashionable on the internet makes her sound like an idiot. In most Asian countries white expatriates don’t have the option of being considered immigrants. Instead, most of us are negatively identified (and stereotyped) as a’dogha, laowai, gweilo and forced to play roles inherited from good ole 19th century European colonialism.