Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
i don't think that the term "anti-americanism" means anything. it collapses the ideology and interests of a particular faction within the united states into the whole. i think that's wrong: it's no surprise that this "anti-american" thing is a conservative meme.
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I agree.
The problem with this term maybe becomes clearer if you consider the opposite. If one is not "anti-American," then one must be "pro-American." Or maybe there are varying degrees of "Americanness," such as "unAmerican" and "inAmerican," and "homomerican" and "heteromerican"...the latter set in reference to the view of "America" as the melting-pot juggernaut of a former British colony run by rich, old, White males or, alternately, the many Americas that happen to include the various identities otherwise: Black lesbian poets and Chicano linguistic theorists included.
What does any of that mean, really?
I think for the sake of argument, "anti-American" actually means "critical of America's influence on [the topic of which we are speaking at this given time]." This too is a bit of a wash because it implies the term has a multitude of meanings.
There are also those who make the charge of "anti-Americanism" as though the culprit hates America: the culture and the people. The worst conclusion being that those who are "anti-American" would perhaps, if given the right conditions, would prefer to commit genocide.
So, yes, "anti-American" means nothing. We should do away with the term. Those who use it do so at the risk of being seen as either intellectually dishonest or lazy. Don't say "anti-American"; say what you really mean, because the rest of us aren't quite sure what that is.