Proud to be an American?

Two weeks ago Friday we celebrated the Independence Day holiday here in Liberia. It was a quiet and pretty low key holiday celebration because, simply put, it is hard to be proud to be American when you live overseas. There is a lot, I mean A LOT, of hostility towards the United States and a lot of negative attitudes reflected at Americans. So living in this international community is not always warm and fuzzy when you are being verbally attacked because of the passport you carry.

Most people can be cool about their political attitudes and thoughts. They will let you know what they think about the president, the economy, and international policies. But they will do it respectfully and limit the verbal bashing. Then there is the other group. I am amazed at what people will say. And the sad thing is that their opinions usually reflect their own ignorance more often than it makes a point.

I have heard a number of anti-American thoughts and can actually understand some of the points. One of the big arguments against Americans is that we are not culturally diverse. Now I can hear the arguments already as you scream that we are a melting pot. Well, let's be honest, if America is a melting pot than the fire is not hot enough to melt the contents. We may live in culturally diverse cities but the average group will socialize with people of their own background. Coming from South Florida I have seen this my entire life. At school every group could be labeled by their race: the Haitians, the Cubans, the Jamaicans, the Puerto Ricans, etc. I know this because I did not fall into any of the groups and was always harassed for hanging out with white people. But as an American who likes cultural diversity, enjoys traveling and living overseas and has a number of international friends I am always insulted when people say I am not diverse. Stop yelling at the choir!

Another argument that we hear a lot here is that Americans do not care about other countries and do not travel a lot. These are arguments that are based in facts, only 1 out of every 5 Americans owns a passport and our foreign policy usually sucks. But during a recent discussion on this subject I tried to explain to a few of my European and South African crew members why this also makes sense. In Europe because of location and closeness many countries are dependent on their neighbors and can quickly feel negative and positive influences. Being on the other side of the pond and only connected to Canada and Mexico the United States is very independent in comparison to the interdependent European Union. I also explained that for a lot of people it makes sense that they do not travel outside of the US. Our country is huge! There are 50 states and some are larger individually than a number of combined countries. At home if I drive an hour I can get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. In Europe I can cross the border and be in a new country. My five to six hour drive from university to my parent's house would let me either drive across two or three countries or drive around one country a couple of times. I then reminded my fellow crew members that I could enjoy the beach, mountains, deserts, swamps, glaciers, big cities, small towns, metropolises and rural farm towns all within the borders of my own country, sometimes within the same state. How many European countries can boast this type of tourist attractions? So why would someone travel outside of their country, away from the comforts of home, the known language, the cultural rules, and the extra expenses when they could stay within their known borders? I really do not know.

What I do know is that there are 110 Americans on board. We represent a number of states, a number of races and backgrounds. We are very different in some ways. There are some people who remind me of family or friends and some people who embarrass me. But I know that these 110 people are different from most anti-American stereotypes and do not deserve to be harassed or disrespected by anyone. We have left our homes and crossed the pond. We live in an extremely international community and care about people from different countries. So hopefully my fellow crew members will realize that while they are free to have their opinions on America and her policies, these do not necessarily reflect the views, attitudes, or behaviors of the American crew who serve with them. I know that they do not always represent me.