I am born and raised in Denmark. I have lived in Denmark for 20 years, I speak the language, I know the culture, I do not break the law and I pay my taxes. I do everything an ethnic dane does. We have many similarities, but sometimes it is the smallest differences that separates us from them, and them from us.
My parents are from Turkey. They are both born there and immigrated to Denmark when their parents got offered jobs in the 1900’s. I stand between two cultures and get forced to choose, which country I belong to. But no matter who you are, where you feel you belong, it is as if the society already decided who you are before you were even born. Politicians and ministers have already put you in a specific group and chose which spotlight you should stand under.
We are all puppets, being portrayed exactly as they want to. We get told who to love and who to feel disgusted by. So I can either choose to love the country I am born in or I can go back to my roots. One day I realized that I do not have to be the way they want me to be. It is okay to stand out. It is okay to cut yourself free from the puppet strings and deny. It is okay to be who you really are. It is okay to stay true to your roots and love your ancestors. When I travel to Turkey I feel at home and I do everything a ethnic turk does. I understand my history, hence I know who I am. But I still have not chosen one nationality over the other. I am not a dane nor an immigrant.
But I am still my grandparents and parents hard work from when they immigrated to Denmark. I am still the friends from childhood to present. I am also the one the government put up frames for. I am the one the media talks about. I am the one without strings. I am the one who doesn't shine under their spotlight, becasuse I am my own spotlight. That is beyond “okay”.