Proud to be...
...who I am.
After a couple of conversations today I am more aware than ever before that it is important to have pride in who you are and where/who/what you come from. I am not one for regret because everything I have done leads up to who I am now. By disavowing my heritage or my country, I am disavowing a part of myself. I may not agree with actions my government has taken, but growing up in the U.S. has enriched and created the person I am today. Why would I disclaim myself just because of the government I happened to be born under? Are all Germans bad people just because they were born with the heritage of a Hitler regime or Communist rule? Are all Arabs bad people because of 9/11? Considering we're only just over 200 years old, I could produce an appallingly long list of atrocities the American government has sanctioned or carried out first-hand. Does that make me a bad person?
The United States is a relatively young nation. And as such, it often acts without thinking through the consequences fully. It has no history of its own to have learned from. It often reacts impetuously, as if it's still defiant of being told what to do (independence was a relatively short time ago, after all). Like a child it is also somewhat shallow and materialistic, focusing on immediate desires and operating from a position of scarcity that needs to be quickly snatched up before it's all gone. As older nations encounter the U.S., they often feed off of the excitement, enjoyment and energy that youth has to offer, wanting a slice of it for themselves. In doing so, many have embraced the bright, shiny materialism and gobbled up the products and images while bad-mouthing the attitude that brought it to them in the first place. Along with the exuberance of youth, the U.S. brings innovation and invention to the global table. Being free from thousands of years of tradition brings with it the advantage of being able to easily think outside of the box and create from that place, as short-sighted as some of those creations may be.
I am often told that I am not the "typical" American. Well I don't know what that means, exactly. I have visited 49 out of 50 states and when I was asked today what I think America is, I could honestly say "I don't know how to answer that. America is a big place." When I lived there, I was surrounded by loving, caring, globally and environmentally conscious, creative individuals. The President's popularity rating is lower than any other president in American history, and it's well under 50%, so I guess that means that the"typical American" doesn't agree with the way the American government is acting either.
I think that we as humans are living cultural experiences with blinders on, accepting what we are taught or told as truth, challenged to pull ourselves out of that "understanding." In college, my concentration was in Women's Studies, and the most valuable thing I got out of that is a double-edged sword: I will never know for the rest of my life what it is truly like to be a woman, & I will spend the rest of my life doing my best to explore and comprehend any perspective that is different from my own, knowing I will never fully be able to understand. This has been part of the driving force behind me traveling to other countries and learning first-hand what others' perspectives are.
If I were to rely on movies, news media, stereotypes and here say, I would only further cement that which I have been told. It has only been through meeting others from other nations and traveling there myself that I have begun to have a slight inkling of what those places are about. In almost every case, I have learned that my preconceptions and expectations were wrong. Whole nations are vilified. Others are pitied as victims. Who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys? That depends on who you ask, of course, which leads me to believe that there is no true answer to that question.
The only truth as I experience it is that which proves to be universal. And what is more universal than the fact that we each have a unique experience and perspective?
Every country has thieves, crooked politicians, and murderers. Every country has artists, humanitarians, and caretakers. Every country has people who think that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Every country has laughter, tears, and love-making.
When I traveled through Europe the first time, people knew I wasn't from their country, but they couldn't place where I was from. The French thought I was Dutch, the Dutch thought I was German, the Germans, Italians, Spanish, and Moroccans thought I was French. Only one person in over 4 months guessed that I was from the U.S. I still get a similar reaction, and that makes me proud too.
Why? Not because I'm proud that nobody thinks I'm American, but because it indicates to me that I truly am becoming a global citizen. And hopefully, as I'm out here absorbing the world and allowing it to change my preconceptions, I too am changing how other people see Americans, removing their blinders as I remove my own.
After a couple of conversations today I am more aware than ever before that it is important to have pride in who you are and where/who/what you come from. I am not one for regret because everything I have done leads up to who I am now. By disavowing my heritage or my country, I am disavowing a part of myself. I may not agree with actions my government has taken, but growing up in the U.S. has enriched and created the person I am today. Why would I disclaim myself just because of the government I happened to be born under? Are all Germans bad people just because they were born with the heritage of a Hitler regime or Communist rule? Are all Arabs bad people because of 9/11? Considering we're only just over 200 years old, I could produce an appallingly long list of atrocities the American government has sanctioned or carried out first-hand. Does that make me a bad person?
The United States is a relatively young nation. And as such, it often acts without thinking through the consequences fully. It has no history of its own to have learned from. It often reacts impetuously, as if it's still defiant of being told what to do (independence was a relatively short time ago, after all). Like a child it is also somewhat shallow and materialistic, focusing on immediate desires and operating from a position of scarcity that needs to be quickly snatched up before it's all gone. As older nations encounter the U.S., they often feed off of the excitement, enjoyment and energy that youth has to offer, wanting a slice of it for themselves. In doing so, many have embraced the bright, shiny materialism and gobbled up the products and images while bad-mouthing the attitude that brought it to them in the first place. Along with the exuberance of youth, the U.S. brings innovation and invention to the global table. Being free from thousands of years of tradition brings with it the advantage of being able to easily think outside of the box and create from that place, as short-sighted as some of those creations may be.
I am often told that I am not the "typical" American. Well I don't know what that means, exactly. I have visited 49 out of 50 states and when I was asked today what I think America is, I could honestly say "I don't know how to answer that. America is a big place." When I lived there, I was surrounded by loving, caring, globally and environmentally conscious, creative individuals. The President's popularity rating is lower than any other president in American history, and it's well under 50%, so I guess that means that the"typical American" doesn't agree with the way the American government is acting either.
I think that we as humans are living cultural experiences with blinders on, accepting what we are taught or told as truth, challenged to pull ourselves out of that "understanding." In college, my concentration was in Women's Studies, and the most valuable thing I got out of that is a double-edged sword: I will never know for the rest of my life what it is truly like to be a woman, & I will spend the rest of my life doing my best to explore and comprehend any perspective that is different from my own, knowing I will never fully be able to understand. This has been part of the driving force behind me traveling to other countries and learning first-hand what others' perspectives are.
If I were to rely on movies, news media, stereotypes and here say, I would only further cement that which I have been told. It has only been through meeting others from other nations and traveling there myself that I have begun to have a slight inkling of what those places are about. In almost every case, I have learned that my preconceptions and expectations were wrong. Whole nations are vilified. Others are pitied as victims. Who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys? That depends on who you ask, of course, which leads me to believe that there is no true answer to that question.
The only truth as I experience it is that which proves to be universal. And what is more universal than the fact that we each have a unique experience and perspective?
Every country has thieves, crooked politicians, and murderers. Every country has artists, humanitarians, and caretakers. Every country has people who think that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Every country has laughter, tears, and love-making.
When I traveled through Europe the first time, people knew I wasn't from their country, but they couldn't place where I was from. The French thought I was Dutch, the Dutch thought I was German, the Germans, Italians, Spanish, and Moroccans thought I was French. Only one person in over 4 months guessed that I was from the U.S. I still get a similar reaction, and that makes me proud too.
Why? Not because I'm proud that nobody thinks I'm American, but because it indicates to me that I truly am becoming a global citizen. And hopefully, as I'm out here absorbing the world and allowing it to change my preconceptions, I too am changing how other people see Americans, removing their blinders as I remove my own.
posted by Spencer Douglas at
1:17 PM
1 Comments:
Ahhh Sooo!
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