Prince Edward Island and "come from away"

This is a fascinating article about Prince Edward Island. If you were not born on PEI, you would be known as CFA which means "come from away". Made me think of those Russian nesting dolls, you know the ones where you can keep on peeling to find several more inside the layers. Goes to prove how very mysterious and exotic all our people happen to be. Learning about Canada and its people is a never ending lovely endeavor. It's a good article overall, however, I definitely do not agree with the view of Dr.Baldacchino as portrayed by the writer Teresa Wright. Emphasis mine. quote: In a recent report compiled for the provincial Population Secretariat, UPEI Professor Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino found many newcomers to P.E.I. feel the marked distinction between themselves and “real” Islanders is cold, unwelcoming and sometimes just plain discriminatory. The report surveyed recent immigrants to P.E.I. about their reasons for coming to the Island and wanting to stay and, for those who left, the factors that made them want to leave. Among the 257 respondents who shared their stories in the survey, “the alleged closed-mindedness of Islanders” was the most common explanation given by newcomers for wanting to leave. “Many of them are fairly concerned about the labelling that’s going on,” Baldacchino said. A settler to P.E.I. from another province or country is often referred to as a CFA (Come-From-Away). But this label is seen as prejudiced and mean-spirited by many new residents. Baldacchino said he believes the designation of newcomers as ‘CFAs’ borders dangerously on outright racism. “It’s creating a class of second-class citizens who will never be able to belong and I think that’s an issue.” As an immigrant to P.E.I. himself, Baldacchino knows first-hand how difficult it can be to integrate into Island society. He always gets questions about where he’s from, especially due to his foreign name and accent. When he tells people he’s from Charlottetown, they just laugh and ask, ‘No, but where are you really from?’ “This is something that is very painful because it all the time means that I can’t belong,” he said. unquote Now, I simply cannot see why Baldacchino thinks that the phrase "come from away" is racist. It is a natural turn of language. Being an immigrant myself and one of the visible minorities, if someone were to ask me "where are you from?" I would welcome the question. Firstly, because someone is showing an interest in my origins and secondly because I think that is a natural question if you have a friendly and inquisitive mind. It has nothing to do with racism like this dopey Dr.Baldacchino is suggesting. Pompous fools like Dr.Baldacchino go out of their way to create a feeling of racism where none is intended. And pray tell us Dr.Baldacchino, how many people, that actually left the island for other places said they did not like the "closed-mindedness of Islanders"? Were there 2 who said that, were there 3? I liked the attitude of the ex-Texan Debbie Crowther who moved to PEI a few years ago. Read the article but ignore the nonsense spurted by the so called "provincial Population Secretariat, UPEI" Dr.Baldacchino. AreYouAnIsland by Teresa Wright