In this essay at Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature, writer and professor Samuel Autman reflects on tourism and privilege, especially in a time of xenophobia; traveling as a Black queer American; and the idea of not fully belonging wherever he goes. The sections in Autman’s piece are organized as terms and conditions in a legal agreement, reminding us that when we cross borders, we navigate different cultural and social scenarios, written and unwritten rules, and people who view us as foreign—no matter how at home we might feel.
I found myself asking harder questions about the young men around him, about the relationships, the patronage and the blurred line between generosity and dependency. Mark had paid for many of them to study law, medicine or business. He had even helped one man living in the United States without legal status by paying for him to attend a Spanish-language school.
None of it suggested scandal or anything obviously illegal. But parts of it no longer sat comfortably with me.
More essays on belonging
Leaving America
“Americans have always moved away. These days, expat Lindsey Tramuta writes, record numbers are leaving or planning to leave in search of health care, civil rights, freedoms, even safety. Does exiting the United States mean you’ve given up? Not necessarily.”
Who Can I Dance With?
“From sneaking into underground basements in Tehran to learning to dance with almost no words in Northern California, I had done everything I could.”
The Persimmon Tree at Stand Five
“My Japanese-American grandma spent her final years on a hunting preserve in Alabama. She taught me how to be comfortable as an anomaly in the South.”
