Shawn Gunaratne

How does being an immigrant affect your identity?

“I can’t even imagine not being an immigrant; it influences my entire perspective. The seminal point, I would say, is post-9/11. Being a brown man in America was very different pre-9/11. I was in high school when 9/11 happened, and you were immediately looked at differently.”

Since 9/11 in 2001 to now in 2018, what do you think has changed?

“I don’t know if much has changed; my perspective on the world is based on being a minority American. So being a person of color is a huge part of how I approach the world. Whenever there’s any type of attack or shooting in this country, my first thought is whether or not it’s a brown guy.”

Why do you think your first thought is “don’t let it be a brown guy”?

“Especially being in Orange County, which is the most conservative part of California, I’m always conscious of how people look at me, and how I represent myself. If something bad happens in our country and it is a ‘brown person,’ then many people’s first thoughts are, ‘They must all be like that.’ But if it is a white person, then for some reason it is considered to be an outlier. 

I’ve also had experiences where I’ve been kicked out of bars because people didn’t like the color of my skin. But at the same time, similar to what Obama said in 2004, in no other country is my story even possible. I think you can come to this country and in one generation ‘make it’ and I think my parents are perfect examples of that.”