American Arrogance: The Curse of American Exceptionalism
posted by Candace Butler | October 2, 2020 | In OpinionWhat does America mean to you? When you close your eyes, do you see long dead white landowners hovering over the draft of the Declaration of Independence? Do you see fireworks, and the America flag, which was falsely attributed to Betsy Ross, not the only inaccuracy taught in American public schools by the way, or do you see a long line of long dead or still-alive white presidents each making their mark on history?
Do you see American freedom brought to you on the backs of men in chains? Do you hear the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. and see the struggle for American freedom those first words in the Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal”?
Do you perhaps see the whips and chains that still keep you in bondage, and do you wonder how can a country that has so much offer so few opportunities for improvement?
How did we arrive at this place in this moment in time? Just how do we create such unity out of such obvious division?
This country has seen its fair share of sorrow and pain from the angst that ripped families apart along with the entire nation with the dreadful Civil War, or the War Between States, which turned ordinary citizens into traitors and who tested the metal of family values and the merits of their own conscience. Perhaps the window in which you view the world has less to do with your role as an American, and more to do with which social class, ethnic group, or gender with which you identify.
Our country has seen a lot of death just like the terrible bombings of Pearl Harbor, and it against tested the morality of our country as it also divided those of us who supported Hitler and his nationalism against those of us who took up arms against him. Sadly, the nationalism that was alive and well in both Hitler’s regime and the Old South has once again raised its ugly head as it fights for the soul of this nation.
Once we saw ourselves as heroes, so just how did we become the villains? And, even worse, how long will it be before we all acknowledge the truth staring us in the face: that we have become the villains. As if this American experiment has gone horribly wrong, and yet here we are trying to pick up the pieces and trying on borrowed time to build a better tomorrow.
I’m sure that any Republican reading this will blow me off as just another liberal snowflake, but when and why do we need to destroy our fellow Americans? When did it become more important to hate, than to help one another? Is this truly the American legacy we want to leave for our children, is this what we want the world to see when they look across the sea and think of our country? Is our lasting message not of America’s strength and her beauty but of the pettiness and selfishness of her people?
This sense of American entitlement, from whence did it come. How have we become so egotistical that we believe that our way is the right way and that the rest of the world is backwards and wrong? Can we not take a moment to consider that perhaps it’s our way that’s wrong, and not the other way around?
How can I identify as an American and yet clearly see her many flaws? A friend once told me: “You’re an offshoot. You’re of them but alienated from them.” Is that really so bad? Is this not what we need, someone that can understand America at her core, and yet bring to light the problems of this Americanized view?
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