Samuel Lee Crawford
Teacher/Opera singer, 28
Arrived in Paris in 2002 from Memphis, TN

    Most people like me who come from very poor families, never imagine leaving the United States, not even the little town they were born in. ” Why bother? I’m here, I can’t afford to go anywhere.” All my family lives in Memphis, Tennessee except for an uncle because he was in the army. I think it’s important to find out about the world outside of your world. In the States, I always joined groups that took trips, because I knew I could never afford to do those on my own.
    In the States, I’d get the “Well, I really like you, but you’re black, I’m white, it’s going to cause problems.” Here, they don’t really care. They like black Americans, but not Africans, and not North Africans. That’s the racism I’ve run across here.
    My Arab students’ views on American politics are very harsh, they don’t like the Bush government, what he’s done, there is some hate. But most of them want to live in America because they think of the America they see on TV – rich, nice houses and cars. When the other teachers told the students I was from America, you’d hear, “He’s from America?” “America!” For these students, I’m like a movie star. When I tell them I want to stay in France, they are like, “That’s catastrophic!”.