Following President Donald Trump’s tweet targeting four US congresswomen over the weekend, some people took to Twitter and shared their own experiences of being told to “go back to your country.”
The president has been criticized for saying that Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley should go back to the ‘‘broken and crime infested’’ countries they came from, even though all are American citizens and three were born in the US.
The use of the trope angered many and prompted people to tweet shared experiences or encounters of being told to “go back.”
I remember when I was 8 years old a white couple told my mom and me to go back to "our country" because they lost a parking space to her. It has left an impression on me my entire life. You and your voters are exactly how we think they are
— Evocatus (@DolemiteShasta) July 14, 2019
I get told to "go back to your shitty country if you don't like it here." I'm from Iowa and served my country & paid dearly for it. They just don't like that I am anti-Trump & not afraid to say it.
— SomethingWild (@Peculiar_Witch) July 14, 2019
Even if it was a joke, the implications of being told “go back to your country” are at the bare minimum biased at their core.
— Anu Kumar 🧠 (@aneurokumar) July 15, 2019
To me it always meant “you don’t belong here,” even though I was born and raised in the US.
"Go back to your country" is something I remember vividly as a kid. Whenever I spoke Spanish in public with my grandmother, we would be told by strangers that we didn't belong. She came to this country legally to pursue the American dream.
— CinaedhVik ⧖ (@CinaedhVik) July 14, 2019
My grandfather was born in California. So was my dad. So was I. Yet as a child, I heard “go back to China” more than once. I think my family has been in US longer than Trump’s. https://t.co/VakPfv1U9J via @NYTimes
— tess gerritsen (@tessgerritsen) July 15, 2019
I'd been told to "go back to your own country" several times in the last few years. So I did, and now I reside in Canada again. 🇨🇦🤘💥
— Peter Shinkoda (@PeterShinkoda) July 14, 2019
Curious...how many people of color have been told to “go back to your country” at one point in their lives, or called a racist slur or microaggressed? #IHave ✋🏽 #RacistInChief
— Natasha Chandel (@Natasha_Chandel) July 14, 2019
My son told me kids at school were telling him to "go back to your country." I am looking at how mainstream Republicans respond to this. I am looking for the media to start every story about this president with, "the racist president of the US today..." When will "enough" start? https://t.co/X4hSqWi9EH
— Jaime Casap (@jcasap) July 14, 2019
Shaleen Title, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, noted a recent encounter at a local coffee shop:
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I live in one of the most diverse cities in MA. Two weeks ago at a coffee shop, a woman and her boyfriend told me to “go back to my country.” It escalated to the point where she was arrested. This is an ongoing, coordinated attack to dehumanize POC and encourage such behavior. pic.twitter.com/k5x4MK66vd
— Shaleen Title (@shaleentitle) July 14, 2019
And politicians had stories too of examples they have seen.
I was around 16 when I first heard a version of “go back to your country.” A drunk white guy screaming at an elderly Filipino lady, saying all kinds of foul stuff. Everyone at that bus stop told him to cut it out and he slinked away. We have to be the people at the bus stop.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) July 14, 2019
As an immigrant and a citizen, my dad cared deeply about this country. Once, when he was speaking at a campus protest against Reagan’s accommodation of apartheid, a passing student noticed Dad’s brown skin and unique accent and called out: “go home!” He answered: “I am home.”
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) July 14, 2019
Have you had similar experiences? Let us know in the comments.