Another Go at Exceptionalism Posted by Heather Hurlburt

Maybe it's because I am getting ready to head off to my high school reunion, but in the aftermath of the London bombings I've been remembering my first encounters with the different ways American and European societies confront our problems with ethnicity and race.

We had Swedish exchange students one summer, and the first thing those supposedly-sophisticated young folk wanted to do was go "see some black people in a slum."  I remember my mother shamefacedly trying to talk them out of it.

So you can imagine my astonishment when I got to puttering around Western Europe a few years later and discovered that Britain and France had slums and no-go zones, too.  Then I got to Eastern Europe and was hailed by a Nicaraguan student -- "ah, Americans, not racist like the Soviets."

If this is my 20th high school reunion I'm far too old to be shocked, but I was, um, surprised to hear people on the BBC feeling betrayed that this carnage had been unleashed by their "fellow Britons."

Americans who have lived in many European countries for any length of time will tell you, much as they love the people, the atmosphere, the politics, the way of life, they often are surprised at how much a foreigner they feel after decades, marriage, children, real commitment to the society.  Immigrants from less-developed countries will often tell you worse.

You want American exceptionalism, here it is:  we are better, not perfect, not faultless, not immune from such attacks but better, at offering anyone who comes here the chance to fit in as much as they want to.  Have dark skin?  You're still American.  Speak funny-sounding English?  Hey, join the club.  Practice an unusual religion -- you've still got a fighting shot.  Have a baby here, as of yet, anyhow, and the kid is an American, no questions asked.

This isn't something any political movement can claim credit for -- we're an immigrant society.  And it does have a dark side -- Americanization can be pretty relentless, and yes, the resulting culture can be rather lowest common denominator.  (On the other hand, much European tv is abominably bad too.) 

But this is something American politics can ruin.  We can ruin it by preaching a version of American exceptionalism that ignores our failings and is so grandiose we couldn't possibly live up to it. 

We can ruin it by undermining the level of tolerance we've achieved, by failing to use our secular and spiritual pulpits to keep America's climate open and inclusive.  (Compare the pronouncements of Blair, other British officials, and British religious figures with some of the things that happened after 9-11, when clergypeople from conservative and "liberal" denominations were denounced for appearing on pulpits with Muslim clergy.)

And, by the way, we could ruin it by slamming our doors shut on immigrants.

With that, I'm off to celebrate that temple to liberty, the American high school.  (Gulp.)

Comments

[Karlo]

After being exposed to so many hubristic, xenophobic cases for American exceptionalism, it was enlightening to read such a decent, reasonable and modest one! Which I think is why I think this post has finally convinced me that, shed of its bombast, American exceptionalism is a myth that we can well do without. The US is of course not the only nation of immigrants (what about Canada and Brazil?) and evidently not even the most appealing desination of choice for most emigrants any more. Our exceptionalism, if in fact we were ever exceptional in a qualititively different way than the way all countries have wonderful, exceptional features, serves our complacency these days more than it serves our better selves. If America for once faced up to its political, environmental, economic, and now even military unsustainability, now THAT would truly exceptional.

[Joel Patterson]

Good points... by the way, there is a political movement that can claim this dedication to opportunity: Liberalism. Who used the federal government to step in for rights of black people when state governments wouldn't give them their rights? Who pushed for funding for public schools? For school lunches? For headstart? Conservatives will sometimes tell you they want to de-fund public schools, the engine for this opportunity.

p.s. You should have shown the Swedes the tough neighborhood. They'd no doubt heard plenty of music inspired by the ghetto. The rundown parts of D.C. are just as much a part of America as the gilt-signed stores in Georgetown or the strip malls of Tyson's Corner. One of the biggest reasons not everyone gets a fair shot is that people with power (like you) do not see the people without power.

[Pres Reagan]

Joel,

I have to disagree. Some of my best friends are liberals who write blogs and graduated valedictorian from their high schools in small East coast states and then attend the Ivy League. I can assure you that Heather is a woman of the people, not a person with power. She's worked hard to get where she is now even though it's the wrong side, but give her time to realize that Right is might.

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