Citizens of the World

You say, “Don’t let them in, keep our citizens safe”, and I wonder:

Who are we?

What makes us different than them?

 

Your good fortune to live in a safe country, free of war,

does not make you any more human than those who hope for the same.

 

Perhaps you have been blinded to the beauty beyond where you call home.

Perhaps you do not see that we are all citizens of this world. 

Perhaps you do not realize the incredible privilege you have.

 

But what I truly cannot understand is:

How do you treat refugees as though they are terrorists?

They are not them.

And, you see, that’s the problem.

You think that if a person is not one of us, s/he must be one of them.

You’re wrong: We are all human.

We are all citizens of this world,

we all have one common goal,

and together we are stronger.

 

Help us, not them.