self-loathing americanism.
I very recently became familiar with a fellow by the name of Ward Churchill. He is a professor of American Indian Studies with the Department of Ethnic studies, at the University of Colorado (home of the Buffaloes). He's come under fire for post-9/11 statements.
"I am not a 'defender' of the September 11 attacks," Churchill stated. "But simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people should engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy.
You can go here to read the full statement. A fellow LiveJournal-er wrote about it, which is how I found it. Here was my response:
The fundamental problem I have with statements such as those made my Ward Churchill is one of self-loathing, American guilt. Far be it from me to be confused with a hyper-jingoistic flag-waver, but I also don't believe in casting Original Sin back upon this country when someone does something horrendous.
It's almost like people in the U.S. want to feel like we deserved it.
I disagree.
But please do not equate my views -- as some are wont to do -- to that of the overly-simplistic "they hate us for our freedom" ilk. No, I get it. I get the hatred and anti-American sentiment around the world is deep-rooted. But to start down the deconstructing 9/11 road and arrive to a point that nudges people into nodding along with the "we had it coming" notion is to assume responsibility. Wrong.
If this level of thinking can be carried down to the level of a single homicidal robber, could "the system" be help culpable of said criminal's decision to hold up a liquor store?
The balance between all sides is a very simple one: shit happens and yeah, we probably should have seen it coming. But are we at fault? Nope. I can’t take it to that level.
There was a time not so long ago that autoworkers in the U.S. were furious with the U.S. government and the Japanese auto industry for asskicking U.S autos were taking by Honda and Toyota in America. There were protests and, sadly, anti-Japanese rhetoric. But at no point did a group of irate, angry AFL-CIO members undertake a plot to crash planes into Tokyo commerce centers to punctuate their rage.
But let's say they did. With whom would the blame lie?
While I try to be as conscionable as possible, there comes a point when I have to draw a line. And I just can’t get behind the “we had it coming philosophy.” I sometimes think of such thought to smack of cultural elitism. I mean, to think that we as Americans must always be the first to succumb to hyper-introspection when it comes to such horrendous acts and give the actual perpetrators a free pass because we took advantage of their culture or some such thing seems just as ethnocentric as the thinking behind blowing up a coffee shop or supermarket.
And just to be sure we’re all clear, this is not a plea to absolve the U.S. of any purported wrongdoings abroad. But that thinking must be balanced against the reality that U.S. business is big money for other countries. Just look at India. For better or worse, it's a seller's market for U.S. business. Sadly, that reality often comes at the expense of American labor as well.
In terms of 9/11, I blame the U.S. government about as much as I blame Allah. They’re both involved in some tertiary way, but it ultimately comes back to 19 hijackers, their cartel and that cartel’s investors.
It’s important to be socially pragmatic in business. But it’s always easier to armchair-quarterback your way out of tragedy when watching the instant-replay.
"I am not a 'defender' of the September 11 attacks," Churchill stated. "But simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people should engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy.
You can go here to read the full statement. A fellow LiveJournal-er wrote about it, which is how I found it. Here was my response:
The fundamental problem I have with statements such as those made my Ward Churchill is one of self-loathing, American guilt. Far be it from me to be confused with a hyper-jingoistic flag-waver, but I also don't believe in casting Original Sin back upon this country when someone does something horrendous.
It's almost like people in the U.S. want to feel like we deserved it.
I disagree.
But please do not equate my views -- as some are wont to do -- to that of the overly-simplistic "they hate us for our freedom" ilk. No, I get it. I get the hatred and anti-American sentiment around the world is deep-rooted. But to start down the deconstructing 9/11 road and arrive to a point that nudges people into nodding along with the "we had it coming" notion is to assume responsibility. Wrong.
If this level of thinking can be carried down to the level of a single homicidal robber, could "the system" be help culpable of said criminal's decision to hold up a liquor store?
The balance between all sides is a very simple one: shit happens and yeah, we probably should have seen it coming. But are we at fault? Nope. I can’t take it to that level.
There was a time not so long ago that autoworkers in the U.S. were furious with the U.S. government and the Japanese auto industry for asskicking U.S autos were taking by Honda and Toyota in America. There were protests and, sadly, anti-Japanese rhetoric. But at no point did a group of irate, angry AFL-CIO members undertake a plot to crash planes into Tokyo commerce centers to punctuate their rage.
But let's say they did. With whom would the blame lie?
While I try to be as conscionable as possible, there comes a point when I have to draw a line. And I just can’t get behind the “we had it coming philosophy.” I sometimes think of such thought to smack of cultural elitism. I mean, to think that we as Americans must always be the first to succumb to hyper-introspection when it comes to such horrendous acts and give the actual perpetrators a free pass because we took advantage of their culture or some such thing seems just as ethnocentric as the thinking behind blowing up a coffee shop or supermarket.
And just to be sure we’re all clear, this is not a plea to absolve the U.S. of any purported wrongdoings abroad. But that thinking must be balanced against the reality that U.S. business is big money for other countries. Just look at India. For better or worse, it's a seller's market for U.S. business. Sadly, that reality often comes at the expense of American labor as well.
In terms of 9/11, I blame the U.S. government about as much as I blame Allah. They’re both involved in some tertiary way, but it ultimately comes back to 19 hijackers, their cartel and that cartel’s investors.
It’s important to be socially pragmatic in business. But it’s always easier to armchair-quarterback your way out of tragedy when watching the instant-replay.
