Sometimes one has these days…you know the type…when you feel
exhausted and just plain weary and then when walking from one place to another, God’s
own bird drops its waste in your hair and on your clean shirt. Sigh.
Most of my weariness today comes from once again being called anti-American, which I just don't get. Here are some
questions for you, the reader, to ponder…
- If citizens from Belgium, France, Norway, Italy, et al, call themselves Europeans…AND if citizens of India, China, Japan, et al, call themselves Asian…AND if citizens of Uganda, Egypt, South Africa, et al, call themselves Africans…THEN why is it that most citizens of the United States of America think that they - and only they - are Americans?
- To put it another way, how can I be “Anti-American”
when I point out to college students that the country where I am a citizen (the U.S. of A.) has supported regimes and a terrorist war in the past and is now plotting to block international loans for social programs in the country where I now live (Nicaragua)…WHEN both countries are part of the continent of North America? I have been accused of being anti-American since the 1980s when I learned about the history of Nicaragua and came to
Nicaragua while the country was being terrorized by U.S.-funded rebels. Accused publicly in newspapers!
- WHEN did criticisms of one’s own national agendas become unpatriotic? Occasionally, I have happened upon a clip of Fox News blasting Pres. Obama ad nauseum, but I personally never heard the network called unpatriotic.
- And lastly…why are these things considered unpatriotic by many?...
a.
having a global awareness,
b.
having an awareness of the suffering of others (including homeless vets),
c. understanding how empires and
international corporations use people of color, and
d.
having an awareness that most places of power
protect the people in power, not those living in poverty.
Are we so blinded by the stars and stripes that we cannot
question and call for our own nation to be better than it is?
“But look at all the good things the U.S. does,” people say.
Many U.S. citizens treat their government like a child…one that has to
be protected at all costs even ignoring their own faith, let alone someone else’s faith; one
that has to be coddled “France was mean to us so we are now going to call fried
potatoes freedom fries;” one that has
to be reassured constantly and never challenged....
The U.S. is over 200 years old…I know, I was there for its
200th birthday watching blurry fireworks because of the tears in my
eyes. 200 plus years would lead one to think that the U.S. is in its "adult stage."
Demanding that we as a nation be more just, work for peace, strive to care for the most
vulnerable and be respectful of all its citizens as well as other sovereign
nations of the world is not going to break a fragile persona, but it will make us better and stronger.
Maybe I'm stupid, but I just don’t get
how feeling that way is "anti-American."
-Kathleen
