Anti-Americanism 'feels like racism'

[Menydh]

A 2 year old news, but it does show another face of the ethnic conflict that many would like to deny that it exists.

Anti-Americanism 'feels like racism'

BBC News
April 16, 2006


Christian Cox, a US citizen living in London, wrote to the BBC news website to express her concern about the amount of abuse she receives because of her nationality.

She says the level of anti-Americanism she has experienced "feels like a kind of racism".

"I don't want anyone to feel sorry for Americans, or me, I just want people to realise that we are dealing with hatred too."

Typical British pub banter is one thing, says Christian Cox, but the "pure hatred" she says is directed at her for being American is really starting to wear her down.

The former model moved to London a year ago, where she is setting up her own business, and has been surprised at how some people have reacted to her nationality.

Ms Cox, 29, says she has been called, among other things, "terrorist", "scum", "low life", and feels that she is constantly being held to account for the actions of President Bush and for US foreign policy.

This is despite the fact that she doesn't agree with the war in Iraq and didn't vote for Bush.

However she adds: "Bush is our leader and I respect that. It's a bit like the way you feel about your father. You don't always agree with him, but you would defend him."

She has travelled widely in other parts of Europe, Mexico, Canada and Australia but says this is the first time her pride in her country has been challenged in such a vitriolic way.

"People would make jokes about Americans but I didn't experience the pure hatred I have had since I came to live here.

"I appreciate that British people often don't understand why I have so much pride, they think it's brainwashing.

"And I do think some people in the US need to be more educated about what's going on in the world.

"But some people just fly off the handle without even talking to me - it's as if they had been waiting to run into an American all day to let their feelings out," she says.

To avoid confrontations she says she lowers her voice on the Underground and in pubs.

But in one incident an older man asked her directly if she was American.

"When I said yes he said: 'I just want you to know that I think you are the poorest people I have ever met in my life' - meaning we were low-life.

"I said I was sorry he felt that way, but that I disagreed."

The man started shouting obscenities at her group. The row developed into a brawl and Ms Cox suffered a black eye as she tried to pull two people apart.

"After that I cried for two days, then booked a flight back to the States. I felt so hated, I needed to be with people who loved me."

Some friends now advise her to tell people she is Canadian, to deflect potential abuse, an option she calls "sad".

'Culture shock'

However it is advice that teacher Francesca Terry, 28, who grew up in Seattle, recognises.

She has lived in London for four years and is married with a daughter.

"I was aware before I moved here that when you travelled abroad it was always better to say you were Canadian if you could get away with it. But we treated it more like a joke."

She was subjected to verbal abuse in the first year or so in Britain, but things calmed down particularly when she had her daughter and stopped going out to pubs so much.

"When I first came here it was part of the culture shock. I felt really naive, I had thought I would go unnoticed here.

"I would go out and I'd just get picked on by people taking pot shots. I just didn't speak when we went out. What shocked me was that people would just say the rudest comments."

But she adds that she has a close group of girlfriends from the US, many of whom say they have not had similar experiences.

She says she is still cautious when she's out and about: "If people ask where I'm from I say 'the States, but the part near Canada'."

"I feel bad about saying that, but it is out of a kind of guilt, I just don't want to get into it with people. When I do, I tell them these are not my choices. I understand my president makes bad decisions, but that's not me."

The US embassy in London declined to comment on the story.

[source]

[M.R.]

She's proud of what? Being American? What can you be proud of? Being born in America and having an American passport? Waving American flag and praise American 'heroes'? "American way of life"? Claiming America as 'her country' not caring that it actually rightfuly belongs to Indian nations?

Never mind that she doesn't even want to say where she comes from because of "racists".

And there's of course the good old "if you have a problem go back where you came from".

[Lutiferre]

This American subject seems to confirm every stereotype about an American that we know - her lack of understanding of anti-American sentiment is yet another avowal. How can it be racial, if one has a slight bit of knowledge of America, in this case coming from the perspective of American racial history, the very coinage and popularization of the term included.

[Freebooter]

So she's an American citizen living in London who still recognises the American president as her leader and takes pride in the fact that she's an American? That's one of the biggest insults in my book. Having some foreigner come into your home, unashamedly bringing alien elements and having different allegiances, and then expecting to be treated no differently than the locals, or even, in some cases, better.

Reminds me of a web-site I ran into a month or two back. It was a message board for so-called "ex-pats" who had moved to Portugal to discuss various topics. Which is fine. But then I ran into one discussion where the person was talking about how "horrible" it was not being around any other English people, and how great it would be to form some kind of English-speaking community. And they wonder why the Portuguese aren't particularly fond of them...

[Menydh]

"Bush is our leader and I respect that. It's a bit like the way you feel about your father. You don't always agree with him, but you would defend him."

I find this statement pathetic beyond belief.

But in one incident an older man asked her directly if she was American.

"When I said yes he said: 'I just want you to know that I think you are the poorest people I have ever met in my life' - meaning we were low-life.

It only takes to meet a few for one to realize.

"When I first came here it was part of the culture shock. I felt really naive, I had thought I would go unnoticed here.

It goes to tell you how ridiculous is their heritage profiling.

[Susi]

Originally Posted by Vasconcelos

So she's an American citizen living in London who still recognises the American president as her leader and takes pride in the fact that she's an American? That's one of the biggest insults in my book.

Totally agreed.

Having some foreigner come into your home, unashamedly bringing alien elements and having different allegiances, and then expecting to be treated no differently than the locals, or even, in some cases, better.

Well so goes the modern immigration ideas.

This woman is completely clueless. American and Canadian accents are so easy to tell apart, she must be dreaming. Even if they're closer to the border, one can always tell. The state-spirit is also different between Americans and Canadians.

Just one example of cluelessness... my father and I are on a bus going through Heathrow airport to the terminals. Of course, my father still has a rather strong English accent (mine is a hybrid accent of English/Canadian so it sounds weird to both Canadians and English people... which way it leans depends on the company I keep-- so if I'm always with English people my accent turns more English (and vice versa). ><)... We're talking about the train system and how slow it is. This American woman asks my father if he knows where something is based solely on the fact that he has an English accent. My father said "Sorry, but I haven't lived in the country for nearly 20 years". And she gave him a funny look then proceeded to talk about herself (typical American) and said that her boyfriend works for the embassy bla bla bla... ,-, We were glad to be rid of her when we got off at our terminal.

When I go to the UK, from my accent, it's pretty obvious my accent isn't completely English, but I've never had any trouble. No one has mistaken me for American (and in fact no one has mistaken me for Canadian either)..

[wilpuri]

Am I the only one who thinks that good manners and respect for other peoples' privacy is important, even if they are American?

I think it shows great mental underdevelopment if one is not able to separate American foreign policy and the Bush administration from an American individual.

[Susi]

Yes, one can separate the two, but if the people are supportive of these policies and continue to identify with American politics and the American president while residing in my nation (obviously for a long term stint and probably for the rest of their life) and starting a business without understanding the national sentiments.... they are being rude. Just because they are "white" and "anglo-saxon" (doubtful) doesn't mean that they belong in my nation.

If they want to contribute to my culture and understand it better, fine, but for some reason, I do not believe Ms. Cox in the article. From my experience, part of the English "personality" per se is to be polite.

However she adds: "Bush is our leader and I respect that. It's a bit like the way you feel about your father. You don't always agree with him, but you would defend him."

She is more concerned with America.

And it's strange that she hasn't experienced any antiamericanism in Canada because many Canadians that I know dislike America with the same sort of vitriol that she mentions encountering (supposedly) in the UK.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by wilpuri

Am I the only one who thinks that good manners and respect for other peoples' privacy is important, even if they are American?

There is more than one conclusion to draw from it. But you are letting yourself to be dragged by a few external signs to the issue.

And I have to wonder if you would have done the same reading if she had been an immigrant from another country, say from the Middle East or Africa.

I think it shows great mental underdevelopment if one is not able to separate American foreign policy and the Bush administration from an American individual.

Actually, I don't think that the dislike for Americans is only related to Bush administration. What makes you assume that it is since Bush?

And there are a few comments there that point at the inconsistency of Americans, who at large approve their country's policies but then whine if they are made feel responsible.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

This is all ridiculous. If someone openly identifies himself with the current president of his country and thus implicitly with the policy he pursues, and does it abroad, and the country in question is a danger number one (which America is) for the whole world, and the country in question is - in addition - playing world's policeman with a universalistic "sense of mission" (meaning meddling into virtually everyone else's business), what is the point in complaining with being badly treated? If America tomorrow withdrew from world's affairs and minded its own business, then it would be irrelevant for others if some American would identify with his president and his internal policy.

On the other hand, Americans who are disgusted with the current president, administration and policy it pursues (and not only with the current administration, but with the American messianism in general) should be - at least in my opinion - treated with respect, because they are an asset which could bring about change in that country in future.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Americans who are disgusted with the current president, administration and policy it pursues should be - at least in my opinion - treated with respect, because they are an asset which could bring about change in that country in future.

You probably mean that they should be given the benefit of the doubt. Like I said, it is unreal to reduce this problem to only Bush and his policies.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

You probably mean that they should be given the benefit of the doubt. Like I said, it is unreal to reduce this problem to only Bush and his policies.

In fact, I wanted to say that all those Americans who are opposed to the politics of world policing, pursued by many administrations in the last one hundred years, should be given some credit. Of course it is not restricted to the Bush administration.

Bush-bashing has become a fashionable pastime in some leftist (chic leftist) circles and it is sometimes boring. It banalizes the problem reducing it to mere question of who sits in the presidential chair. It is in part justified because he is presently in charge, but the entire problem is of much wider scope.

[M.R.]

Originally Posted by Marulus

On the other hand, Americans who are disgusted with the current president, administration and policy it pursues (and not only with the current administration, but with the American messianism in general) should be - at least in my opinion - treated with respect, because they are an asset which could bring about change in that country in future.

No they won't and shouldn't be.

Immigrant is an immigrant + Europeans are disgusted with Americans anyway, regardless of Bush or their politics.

But if you mean in terms of Americans who are in their country, well I wouldn't have a problem with them really, if they came in my country as tourists I would give them respect as long as they respect my country.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by M.R.

Immigrant is an immigrant + Europeans are disgusted with Americans anyway, regardless of Bush or their politics.

But if you mean in terms of Americans who are in their country, well I wouldn't have a problem with them really, if they came in my country as tourists I would give them respect as long as they respect my country.

Yes, I was meaning exactly that. I did not say that they should be welcomed as immigrants or anything of the kind. I was speaking broadly, not referring to how some American "expats" feel.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by Marulus