Post #4020312

The far right has this false notion that refugees and asylum seekers are dangerous criminals, murderers, rapists, terrorists. We know this to be obviously false. But I think we ourselves on the left make the same type of mistake as well. We tell refugees they're resilient, brave and strong, and they certainly are, but we are flattening them down to a one-dimensional idealisation. A tendency I see is that we don't give refugees enough opportunity to just be themselves. No one can be a fighter 24/7, 100% of the time. We are not doing enough to create safe spaces, to decompress, to find community, to not be constantly in a continuous battle against injustice. As a relatively privileged activist, I have worked myself to near burn out, and so have many others. And you know, what I experience, triple it, quadruple it, and you may not even hold a candle to what my comrades who have experienced this asylum system are going through. And I look up to them, but even my heroes need to rest. Commending someone's resilience, saying they're so strong, that doesn't fix nor acknowledge their issues. Fighting all the time doesn't heal trauma. Please, allow your comrades the dignity to be human. I hope this rant is somewhat coherent.