3 things President Obama said about refugees that we all need to hear.
Speaking from the G-20 summit, President Obama appealed to our duty as human beings.
In the wake of Friday's deadly attacks in Paris, some political leaders are responding by taking staunch anti-refugee positions.
Several governors across the U.S. have declared that they will not accept Syrian refugees being relocated to their states.
Although, as Ian Millhiser at ThinkProgress points out, governors don't actually have the authority to override the federal government and deny entry to refugees. Even so, the anti-refugee sentiment is far from uncommon, and that's worrisome.
On Monday, during a nearly 50-minute press conference, President Obama came to the refugees' defense.
Appearing at the G-20 conference in Turkey, the president kept coming back to the importance of not taking out the world's anger following the Paris attacks on innocent refugees.
On that topic, his comments came down to these three basic points.
1. Many refugees are victims of terrorism. They are not, themselves, terrorists.
Why are refugees fleeing places like Syria in the first place? They flee because what happened in Paris is a fairly common experience for those living in the war-torn country.
GIFs via the White House/YouTube.
If refugees are fleeing terrorism and we turn them away because of terrorism, we're sending them back to a place where what happened in Paris happens with much more frequency and much less global attention.
2. It's not fair to equate Islam with terrorism, and conflating the two will only make things worse.
"The overwhelming majority of victims of terrorism over the last several years — and certainly the overwhelming majority of victims of ISIL — are themselves Muslims," the president said.
"Those kinds of stereotypes are counterproductive, they're wrong. They will lead, I think, to greater recruitment into terrorist organizations over time if this becomes somehow defined as a Muslim problem as opposed to a terrorist problem."
3. We have a duty, as Americans and as human beings, to take in refugees.
"They are parents, they are children, they are orphans. It is important ... that we do not close our hearts to these victims," said the president.
"When I hear folks say, 'Maybe we should just admit the Christians, but not the Muslims,' when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who's fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks, themselves, come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution," Obama said, before continuing bluntly:
While the debate over what to do about the world's refugees will inevitably rage on, let's hope empathy — not hate — wins.
"The values that we are fighting against ISIL for are precisely that we don't discriminate against people because of their faith," Obama said today. "We don't kill people because they're different than us. That's what separates us from them. And we don't feed that kind of notion that somehow Christians and Muslims are at war."
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."