“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” –Winston Churchill
Read the above quote. It’s so true. Is it not?
The audacity to respond… to anything.
Just about all of my commenters here on the topic of Americanophobia are in shock and are surprised that I have something to say about it, that I have an opinion about it, that I’m responding and have a reaction toward the Americanophobes. Shame on me! But too bad too sad!
I wrote about a topic like this more than three years ago. It still rings true for me. We Americans are “supposed” to be the bullies riding Bush’s back yelling giddy up. But the Americanophobes are proving that they are no different – just an unarmed version of an American. Naturally, if you gave the Americanophobes REAL weapons, they’d be blazing away and taking hold of power like no other. They’ll deny it, of course, but only fools believe them. Only the reasonable can read beyond their veil of puritanism.
Look at this thread carefully. Did I do or say anything offensive? If you are confused about my definition of Anti-Americanism, you can read my reasoning here. Leave it up to the Americanophobes to have no clue what their cause is about.
A couple of Americanophobes out and about in the world have told me that because America is so BIG, POWERFUL, STRONG, MIGHTY and “America is a country that can look after itself bla bla bla….” that Americans shouldn’t dispel myths and stereotypes and Americans also shouldn’t complain about it.
If we take a look at all the groups in the world that are hated (both past and present), and ask the bigot himself, he’ll think that he has a good reason to be prejudiced toward said group. Keeping that in mind, “the hated should not attempt to defend themselves”.
Also consider the fact that any time that a person tries to silence someone trying to defend themselves, that is a classic sign of bullying (putting prejudice aside). If you know anything about bullying at all, you’ll know that bullies = cowards. People with true courage will not attempt to silence their opponent and will be open to retaliation. You are aware of the expression, “They can dish it out, but they can’t take it”, right? Those are true cowards/bullies. And interestingly enough, that is what the Americanophobes also call the Americans.
It is justified to hate all Americans considering the aforementioned philosophy. Why? Because they’re big. They should be able to take it.
What’s wrong with this argument? It is unreasonable to confuse the big, powerful, almighty government with the general average man in the street in America (the general population). It’s our GOVERNMENT that is BIG, POWERFUL AND STRONG. The American people, however, are no different from the people living in any other different nation aside from cultural and language differences. The American people have no more / less control/power than the average citizen living in ANY country with an established democracy. With that said, people are people. People are human beings everywhere; they have feelings no matter their whereabouts and their country of origin. A government catering to the $$$$ Fat $$$$ Cats $$$$ and Oil $$$$ for Halliburton $$$$ with Gunz-a-Blazin’ $$$$ doesn’t make me (as a person) a stoic – nor change the fact that I feel compelled to react to the world around me (including strong words toward my own government).
People need a reason for their xenophobia and will scrape and scratch at anything.
In conclusion, prejudice and sweeping generalizations of ANY group is irrational and UNJUSTIFIABLE.
Another thing that I find quite the interesting is that there’s a French blogger out there. He is quite famous too. That would be SuperFrenchie. His entire blog is devoted to dispelling Anti-French myths and defending his people and country. The French are stereotyped throughout Europe and America (far worse in the US). Well, in case you didn’t know, the French do not appreciate being called a the ever so infamous “cheese eating surrender monkies”. SuperFrenchie describes his feelings:
Surrender jokes are offensive, period. This episode of our history is still painful. We have not yet come to terms with many aspects of our defeat to Germany and the ensuing collaboration. And even if we had, jokes about them would still be demeaning and offensive.
[snip!]
In conclusion, no, French bashing is not racism. Maybe a mix of xenophobia (fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people), inferiority complex, superiority complex, salt, pepper and conflicting universalisms. It should nevertheless be kept in check, as such stereotypes are the seeds of more elaborate racist feelings that could ultimately lead to violence.
You can read the rest of his post here.
A guest blogger (Flocon) on his site had been linking French-bashing to Nazi Propaganda in this entry. Here are some snippets:
I had long ago made the comparison, which some contested, with Radio Berlin talking about the Jews in 1943. I must stand by it.
The fact that an association between the anti-French discourse and Nazi rhetoric may be unacceptable to the American conscience is understandable. Nevertheless it happens to be the same mental process, which consists of lowering a certain category of humans to the point of suggesting that said category is unworthy of being part of humanity. Are we not speaking of animals, after all? And then you add the fact that the French are hairy (like animals), that they stink (like animals), etc…
The author gives some examples about hatred toward other groups:
Let’s imagine that, in France, we should systematically associate blackness with “So, you likes dem fried chickens?” Oh, but it’s just a stereotype, a trope, …
Or let’s say constantly talking to a black man this way: “Yessum, you’s a good nigga, you ain’t no happy here in France?” Haha, giggle, it’s just a stereotype, a trope… “You’s not happy? You’s susceptible. You’s hafta learn real men know how to laugh at jokes. You not real man yet.”
To a Jew, who would be regularly asked, “Why does it always smell like Zyklon B when you enter a room?” haha, giggle, just a trope, just a stereotype. It’s a satirical show with no intention of doing harm. “Are you still lacking a little bit somewhere?”Laugh, laugh…To an Arab: “Are you gonna behead me? Have you had your jihad juice? Where’s your camel?” Haha, giggle, it’s just a stereotype, a trope…
Now try to imagine a black, a Jew, or an Arab who, for several years, would have been sys-te-ma-ti-ca-lly associated with this kind of stereotypes; yeah, they’d enjoy it, no doubt.
[snip!]
We are indeed in the realms of the unspeakable, but they want to make us believe, probably in good faith, that it’s just meaningless jokes. Yeah, right…
People use all sorts of excuses and reasons to prevent their enemies from responding:
- It’s just a joke
- You’re big; you can take care of yourself
- You brought it on yourself
- You deserve it
Turn the tables around. Let the Canadians and Brits be on the tail end of universal hate and irrational stereotypes and see how they feel. They write defensively all the time on my blog right here – which is proof that they have feelings and just as much pride as the next guy. At the end of the day, nobody likes to be accused of something they didn’t do. We know the French stereotypes. Here is the American stereotype as we know it:
nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving and self-centered Neanderthal
And the million dollar question: How can we assert that every single American (all 300+ million) or even most Americans fall under the above stereotype?
This pretty much turns the American people into less than human (like the French stereotype), doesn’t it? But the French can stand up and defend themselves without much ridicule. The Americans, on the other hand, are told to shut up.
Proud American Liberals don’t take anything lying down, so naturally, you’ll be hearing more from me. 
