6/21/23

By Josh Rubin

Over the years, and there have been many of those, I have returned again and again to deplore an expression, namely the word “exclusive.” It is used freely, carelessly almost, in descriptions of hospitality settings, perhaps especially resorts and hotels and the like.

It is used to connote luxury. But buried very shallowly in its etymology is the plainer meaning of the word, which, if we were not numb to it, would tell us that it implies that such settings “exclude” people. And if the description is talking to you, it is telling you that, while you would be accepted for your custom, others would not. And Jews of a certain age, and I am just old enough to qualify, know that the word exclusive was once a code word, often applied to country clubs, that dog-whistled the soft ban on Jews who, though they could afford it, would not be welcome to apply, and if they applied would not be accepted. It wasn’t so long ago, and I would not be surprised to hear from some of you out there that the practice has not quite disappeared.

Which brings me to the border and another locution: without strong borders, we will have no nation. Let’s unpack. When the folks who say this speak about strong borders, they are talking of the ability to stop people from crossing these lines called borders. They are talking about the ready ability to exclude those they feel don’t belong on our side of that line. That brings us to another sort of line, the kind that is drawn to distinguish groups of people from one another.

Class lines. Racial lines. Cultural and ethnic lines. And it should come as no surprise that those are exactly the categories along which our immigration policy is drawn. And that all those lines are deeply etched into the political earth along those strong borders.

Let’s look at the concept of nationhood, which is another divider of people. It seems we rely on exclusion to make a nation. We define ourselves by who we are not, by who is not allowed. Who we are NOT is what makes us a nation.

Which makes me wonder, and makes those of us in the movement for migrant rights wonder and ask: who ARE we?