alt Hacker News> Then, in April 1996 - by which time I’d expatriated to the Kingdom of Tonga
It annoys me every time I read the word expat and its derivatives. You became an immigrant, by emigrating to the Kingdom of Tonga. Only because you are white and rich doesn't change the concept of emigration to warrant a word with less stigma.
Immigration is a tricky subject with many nuances, pretending otherwise i.e. driving the immigration = bad line and calling immigration that affects ourselves or that we don't find objectionable expatriation is disingenuous and hinders good quality discourse about the topic.
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If he was writing to the people of the Kingdom of Tonga, it might make sense to describe himself as an immigrant. If his audience is largely American, though, the story is much more clear with "expat".
Oh man, who said the author was white? And why would this even matter for this post? I can't believe how some people manage to bring up the race issue in any possible context, regardless if it's relevant or not.