According to Oxford Languages, the word “homeland” can have several definitions:
1. “A person's or a people's native land.”
2. “An autonomous or semi-autonomous state occupied by a particular people.”
Do people mean the same thing as Oxford Languages’ definitions when they use the term “homeland” though? – I think it become much more difficult, tricky, and emotional than that, especially if it pertains to an immigrant. Can one person have two homelands, perhaps three? Maybe four? If so, who decides?!
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We allow people to have multiple nationalities via holding multiple citizenships of multiple countries. We allow people to be multi-cultural, have multiple gender definitions, multiple sexual orientations, etc. Yet, do will we allow someone to have more than one homeland?
As a person that has immigrated to the United States and is now an American citizen, I have been asked more than once what would seem to be an innocent question – what do you consider as your homeland; The United States or where you came from?
It seems like an innocent question yet could withhold a more complex emotion and perception at its base. As if to ask, which country are you going to be loyal to, when push comes to shove?
You may choose to be offended and disturbed by it, but I think it is a legit question. Furthermore, the more I leave in the United States, the more I ask myself, who am I now? How much of the old Moran am I? Can I ever just be of one nationality?
I find myself wondering if flying to the country where I immigrated from to the United States constitutes going back home, or leaving home? Where is home?
The more I think about it, the more confused I get, and the more complex it gets. My father, sister, niece, second degree family, and friends are still there. My children and wife live in the United States, as do I.
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They say home is where the heart is. Ok…let’s assume that is true, then my heart is split geographically, I guess. Where though is one’s homeland? What are the criteria to determine where one’s homeland resides? Am I allowed to have more than one homeland?
Does immigrating to the United States mean that I must give up one homeland for the other in every aspect, including the emotional? How do I cope with constantly feeling ashamed of having more than one homeland. I am an American and do consider the United States my home, where my wife Jayme is, and where my children are, home. The land where you home reside, could be defined as your homeland.
On the other hand, I am very much part of my original nationality, culture, and country, the one I have immigrated from to the United States. I guess, traveling from one to the other, I will be leaving one homeland and entering another homeland, and vice versa. To summaries, the idea and word “homeland” can easily represent the constant conflicts of an immigrant as they pertain to culture, way of life, emotions, perceptions, and more while living in the United States.
How many homelands do you have?
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