In Spanish class last year, my teacher would often go off on the same tangent about the fact that people who live in the United States are narcissistic to call themselves "Americans." She argued that the term, American is a selfish because it forgets that
there are all the other countries in Central and South America too. My teacher would often say that the English language should adopt the word Unitedstatesian like the Spanish word,
estadounidense, which describes someone from the United States because that would be more accurate than, "American."
In a way, I agree with my teacher. I wondered why the Spanish language would have a word to describe people from the United States and not the English language. I think that the connotation of the word, American, is that we could care less about the other nations that are in the Americas. Of course, it is not fair to say that everyone who lives in the U.S. thinks that they are better than people from other nations when they call themselves American. But, the word might have a totally different meaning to someone who lives in Panama, for example. A Panamanian might feel like people from the United States are narcissistic because they think they are the only Americans.
Americans' narcism may also be a proximate cause for the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). The PIC often discriminates against people of color and immigrants. I think it is a major problem because it is increasing the class boundaries because people who have money are investing in prisons and are taking advantage of felons who are mostly non-whites. For example, because of laws preventing ex-felons from voting, many people of color are unable to vote. As a result, people of color are often stuck in the 'revolving door' of the Prison Industrial Complex: "This model understands incarceration, directly profitable or not, as part of a larger circuitry of social control in which the poor are blamed for their own plight..." (Coulter 3). It is a common trend, the wealthy and powerful ignore the people who are below them. Some people who live in the U.S. might think themselves above all other nations.
How do you feel about the word
American being used to describe a person who lives in the United States?
I disagree with you Josh. I don't think that the term "American" is narcissistic at all. It's a term citizens of the United States use to identify themselves. The U.S. has African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans etc... I think that the term "American" unifies everyone because it connects all the citizens of the U.S. I wasn't born in Korea but both of my parents were and I am a citizen here in the U.S., therefore, I would call myself a Korean American for specificity.
ReplyDeleteAs for the PIC, I agree with you in that it discriminates people of color as well as immigrants. The media plays a huge role in molding our idea of the typical "bad guy." I also think that many immigrants and people of color have lower to middle income, while most people with higher income are white. That money can be used in ways that would prevent them from going to prison.
I see what you mean Audrey. I think it is true that the term, "American" is a common term that has come to mean "someone from the United States" and it does in some ways portray the diversity in the U.S. I do, however, think that there are many instances in which Americans feel that they are better than all the other countries and I could understand how someone who is also American, but lives in Chile might feel. Do you think Americans feel a sense of control that most other nations lack (this might even be better displayed in the Military Industrial Complex where the US spends more that all the other nations combined on our military). Is there a correlation between military spending and our country's narcissism?
ReplyDelete