A letter about true democracy to the GOP nominee.
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When advocates of affirmative action declare that diversity is key to justice, because you can’t expect to be treated fairly by anyone other than a member of your own group, you castigate them for playing the race card; but when you say a federal judge can’t be trusted to give you a fair shake because of his race, it’s common sense. Seriously? Seriously! This is the kind of shit I expect from Europeans not Americans.
“Is he French or is he French?” Don’t know how many times I heard that in France. A guy whose grandparents moved to France from Algeria, a guy who was born and raised in France, will never be truly French. That was made clear to us when we lived there time and again. Despite its many flaws, one of the most beautiful things about the States, something that continues to make American nationalism truly great, and immensely attractive, is that it’s usually not like this (especially in the big cities). And that’s precisely why I think you’ve become a challenge to the project of American nationalism itself.
“Democracy,” argued Churchill, “is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Thinking along similar lines, I tell students in my “Good and Evil” class that talking about morality in a class about nationalism is sort of like talking about modesty in a swingers club or moderation in a crack house. Diaspora communities get this. I once asked a table filled with Lebanese who’d gathered in Montreal for a wedding how the immigrant experience differed from country to country. I’ll never forget the response: “Live in France for as long as you want, you’ll never be French; live in Montreal for a decade and you’re considered Québécois; live in Toronto for two years and you’re Canadian; but in New Jersey, you’re American in six months!” So, two cheers for American nationalism: one because it’s remarkably open, and two because, amid a field of blood-soaked alternatives, it’s practically virginal.
Few things are more dehumanizing than being treated like the representative of a category; and few things are more unAmerican than telling a natural-born American citizen, a guy who could legally become president, that he’s to be forever defined by where his parents came from. It looks like the GOP kingmakers were right to fear you, Donald. You really are the worst thing that could have happened to the Republican Party. Keep up the good work!
—John Faithful Hamer, The Myth of the Fuckbuddy (2016)
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This article originally appeared on Committing Sociology
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“Seriously! This is the kind of shit I expect from Europeans not Americans”
Hey- not cool.
Don’t overgeneralize and paint Europeans & Americans with a broad brush like that- that’s no better than what all the Russians do!
yeah i agree
like being on the receiving end of “old white men ewwwww” – isn’t that disdain the same thing?
Hi OirishM, long time no see. Glad to see you’re back … Stand in line buddy, it’s long receiving line.
BTW, If I had a business that was under litigation, I’d make darn sure that the courts were not stacked against me. Just as I would question a judge who was known to belong to an extremely conservative church, trying a case on discrimination against LGBT, wouldn’t you?
“Few things are more dehumanizing than being treated like the representative of a category; and few things are more unAmerican than telling a natural-born American citizen, a guy who could legally become president, that he’s to be forever defined by where his parents came from. It looks like the GOP kingmakers were right to fear you, Donald. You really are the worst thing that could have happened to the Republican Party. Keep up the good work! ” Then explain to me why our society has always pushed the hyphenated? Did you look at the protesters who egged that women at… Read more »