Montevideo, Uruguay: Learning not to hate North America
Action
Anti-Americanism, and to a lesser extent anti-Canadianism, is one of the few things we’ve encountered everywhere on our Latin American travels.
Xela, Guatemala: My language tutor salutes the American flag.
Porto Alegre, Brazil: Anti-USA sign at the World Social Forum march.
Issues of anti-Americanism were especially notable during our ten days in Montevideo, Uruguay. To begin, we were attending a somewhat unusual encuentro (convergence/encounter/meeting) between activists in the US (mainly Providence, RI) and activists in Montevideo. Much of the encounter seemed designed to instruct the Americans about their country’s exploitation of the rest of the world. One session started with the Uruguayan coordinator asking “How do you Americans feel with blood on your hands?” In this case she was asking about the war in Iraq, but similarly charged questions were also posed about other issues.
Miriam lecturing Americans on their exploitation of Latin America.
When we weren’t occupied with accusations and polemical diatribes, however, the encuentro participants from North and South talked together and learned about each other. For many of us, the week and a half spent at the encuentro was the most prolonged time when we’d deeply engaged with a group of our peers from another continent.
The North-South dialogue continued outside of the encuentro. While in Montevideo, we were staying with Soraya, a Uruguayan union worker and fervent anti-American. When we first moved in, she announced that she could only name two good things about the US: Walt Whitman and Tracy Chapman. Later, she explained (half-jokingly) the scandal we’d created at her union, when word got out that after decades of hosting visitors from all over the world, there were now for the first time Americans staying in her house! (Incidentally, two Dominican-Americans from Providence were also staying in the house, but there were always “The Dominicans”)
During our stay with Soraya and her friend Miguel, the four of us talked, explored the city, went to a Carnaval parade, visited the beach, cooked and ate food, went to the movies, watched TV, shared travel pictures, did laundry, listened to music, and generally did everything that one does during an average week in Montevideo. When we finally left town, Soraya and Miguel confessed that they learned a lot and now liked a few more things about North America. We responded in kind.
Soraya giggling at our brilliant American humor (or our less than brilliant attempts at translating this humor into Spanish)
Our hosts enjoying some American diversity, in the form of home-cooked vegetarian Tunisian stew
Reflection
To many North Americans, being Anti-American and liking Americans might sound like two contradictory statements. Throughout our travels, however, we’ve generally found them to go hand in hand. Almost everyone we’ve met has been highly critical of the US government, while at the same time welcoming us as individual Americans. They’ve explained: “We despise the imperialist policies of the US government, but have nothing against the people of the US.” or “We recognize that the US government’s actions don’t really reflect what the people of the US want.”
At the same time, most Latin Americans that we’ve met haven’t had a good sense of what the peoples of North American do want, or who we are. Most of what they know seems to come from the US government and Michael Moore… presenting a picture as simplified as, well, the US media. Sadly, most North Americans know even less about our neighbors to the South. Although cross-cultural accusations didn’t help us bridge this information gap, our everyday discussions with Soraya, Miguel, and many of the encuentro participants seemed to teach both sides quite a bit. Hopefully, Soraya and Miguel even learned that North Americans are good for more than just home-cooked meals… but dessert too!
Question
How do you talk with foreigners about your home country? What do you think foreigners should know about your country? How have you learned about the people of other countries?
Anti-Americanism, and to a lesser extent anti-Canadianism, is one of the few things we’ve encountered everywhere on our Latin American travels.
Xela, Guatemala: My language tutor salutes the American flag.
Porto Alegre, Brazil: Anti-USA sign at the World Social Forum march.
Issues of anti-Americanism were especially notable during our ten days in Montevideo, Uruguay. To begin, we were attending a somewhat unusual encuentro (convergence/encounter/meeting) between activists in the US (mainly Providence, RI) and activists in Montevideo. Much of the encounter seemed designed to instruct the Americans about their country’s exploitation of the rest of the world. One session started with the Uruguayan coordinator asking “How do you Americans feel with blood on your hands?” In this case she was asking about the war in Iraq, but similarly charged questions were also posed about other issues.
Miriam lecturing Americans on their exploitation of Latin America.
When we weren’t occupied with accusations and polemical diatribes, however, the encuentro participants from North and South talked together and learned about each other. For many of us, the week and a half spent at the encuentro was the most prolonged time when we’d deeply engaged with a group of our peers from another continent.
The North-South dialogue continued outside of the encuentro. While in Montevideo, we were staying with Soraya, a Uruguayan union worker and fervent anti-American. When we first moved in, she announced that she could only name two good things about the US: Walt Whitman and Tracy Chapman. Later, she explained (half-jokingly) the scandal we’d created at her union, when word got out that after decades of hosting visitors from all over the world, there were now for the first time Americans staying in her house! (Incidentally, two Dominican-Americans from Providence were also staying in the house, but there were always “The Dominicans”)
During our stay with Soraya and her friend Miguel, the four of us talked, explored the city, went to a Carnaval parade, visited the beach, cooked and ate food, went to the movies, watched TV, shared travel pictures, did laundry, listened to music, and generally did everything that one does during an average week in Montevideo. When we finally left town, Soraya and Miguel confessed that they learned a lot and now liked a few more things about North America. We responded in kind.
Soraya giggling at our brilliant American humor (or our less than brilliant attempts at translating this humor into Spanish)
Our hosts enjoying some American diversity, in the form of home-cooked vegetarian Tunisian stew
Reflection
To many North Americans, being Anti-American and liking Americans might sound like two contradictory statements. Throughout our travels, however, we’ve generally found them to go hand in hand. Almost everyone we’ve met has been highly critical of the US government, while at the same time welcoming us as individual Americans. They’ve explained: “We despise the imperialist policies of the US government, but have nothing against the people of the US.” or “We recognize that the US government’s actions don’t really reflect what the people of the US want.”
At the same time, most Latin Americans that we’ve met haven’t had a good sense of what the peoples of North American do want, or who we are. Most of what they know seems to come from the US government and Michael Moore… presenting a picture as simplified as, well, the US media. Sadly, most North Americans know even less about our neighbors to the South. Although cross-cultural accusations didn’t help us bridge this information gap, our everyday discussions with Soraya, Miguel, and many of the encuentro participants seemed to teach both sides quite a bit. Hopefully, Soraya and Miguel even learned that North Americans are good for more than just home-cooked meals… but dessert too!
Question
How do you talk with foreigners about your home country? What do you think foreigners should know about your country? How have you learned about the people of other countries?
7 Comments:
At 3:56 PM, Jen said…
This reminds me of something that often comes up with Americans when discussing all things French.
Now, it's ok to not like what a country as a whole or what that country's government is doing. And it's ok to explain details of your personal experience that might influence why you feel a certain way (ie, I've only met one person from this place, and I didn't like them). Not necessarily right to condemn a whole people for that, but it's understandable.
But what I hear from people I know - often - is how much the French are horrible, and how rotten they are, and how their language is horrible, and they are mean, and they are rude, and the smell bad, etc etc etc. You name it. When I ask the person if they've ever been to France, they say either 1) no, and I don't ever want to go or 2) yes, and they were mean to me. At which point, I learn that they don't speak a word of French.
Now I've never met anyone from Uruguay. And I wouldn't begrudge them their right to hate all things American and everything, based on what they know. But I still wouldn't ever imagine that they would hate me personally if I met them. Like you mentioned - hating American stuff but liking individual Americans. I think it's funny the way it worked out for you guys.
Unfortunately, from people who should know better, I see the hatred of not only the French country and government, but also the people. Or fill in the blank with another country or nationality.
Maybe I'm just being negative. But it drives me nuts!!! And this post reminded me of that.
What you wrote about seems to describe one of the benefits of meeting up for these seminars. When you learn another language or you meet someone from another culture, you start to engage with that culture, and you can't really hate them anymore.
I think a lot of the problem with Americans is that they don't travel enough and they don't get out to meet others - there is that belief of "we are the best and we speak the best language, so I don't need to do any of that". And it appears that is our downfall in world politics today.
At 9:40 PM, LAURA!! said…
It's funny, this all seems like such a typical human trait when you break it down....to be suspicious of those we don't know very well and to be ESPECIALLY suspicious of those we feel look down on us, or think they may be better than thus in some way.
I mean, we are all familiar with it on a very broad scale: different countries being deeply suspicious towards other countries (esp. different language countries, dif. religious countries, countries who've stepped all over other countries, etc.)
But it also can be broken down into a Southerner's deep-rooted suspicions towards "Yankees." West Coast/East Coast rap wars...(I know you saw the doc./video Renate); east and west coast views of mid-westerners.
Of course, to a lesser extent animosity-wise, it goes further: people here in Denver are typically suspicious of people who live in the much wealtheir community of Boulder (30 miles away). Same with different burroughs of New York City.
Is it a deep-rooted insecurity? Is it a need to bolster self-esteem (sure she's prettier, but I'm smarter)? I feel like we have a whole lot to overcome when we (we as humans) talk about xenophobia and the like. America is at a disadvantage being a new country and a relatively isolated one.
Embarrassing, but when I hear that someone I've met lives in Highlands Ranch (a land of look-alike mcmansions) I instantly a. look down on them and b. assume they are a certain type of person. I think it's a subconcious way of making myself feel better about my lifestyle choices.
Is this related to anti-pickacountry-ism?
At 10:09 PM, John said…
I tell them that my government is evil and that the country is full of corporations that are coming to destroy them.
At 2:10 AM, LAURA!! said…
That's probably true.
At 11:39 AM, Jen said…
And we all want to feel like we are on the good side, you know. We like to feel better than others because, well, this is who we are. So it just makes sense to do this. But then, like any group, once you get to know someone, you usually soften your belief.
At 10:10 AM, lernerm said…
interesting questions. How do I talk to foreigners? Well, most of the foreigners I meet are patients, so I usually talk with them much like I talk with anyone else - with the exception being that I'm more open about politics. Most of my patients who are foreigners, from almost every country - Canada, anywhere in Europe, South America, etc. - have been more liberal and therefore more receptive to comments about nationalized health care. They all tend to be more politically aware and educated as well. What should foreigners know about our country? Perhaps the less they know the better off we are - certainly most know that the US has a history of usually acting as a bully towards most countries. But it would be nice if they knew that this is our government's policy, and that on an individual level, most Americans are generous and caring. They should also know that most Americans are fairly religious - certainly more than most Europeans. They should know that most Americans are not politically aware, that most Americans for example believe that our government is very generous with foreign aid, spending perhaps 5% of budget on foreign aid (off by a factor of over 10). How have I learned about people of other countries? Well I haven't travelled much, although I've read a bit and interacted with many people of other countries. But your question raises the question of to what extent people are different from country to country? Is there really a French national character? From my knowledge of psychology, I'd have to say that the similarities between people in various countries outweigh the differences. Certainly there are countries in which most men are more sexist than men in say Iceland, but on the whole, when it comes to ways of being/acting human, I think our common evolutionary background far outweighs the influence of the country we live in. Not to say that if you take two identical twin infants from say Japan and raise one in America and one in Japan that they'd end up with the same beliefs and personalities - people are malleable, but so are national traits - I think that Americans have become much more materialistic, conservative, and religious over the past 25 years, but this too may change in time. Interesting questions you pose, and interesting comments
At 1:44 AM, caluje said…
lernerm, you are so right. I'm south american, from Uruguay. I agree 100% with your point of view. I've always focused on spotting differences when I travel and it's always the same: We are sooooo similar. There are no important differences, only subtle funny ones like the way of dressing, talking, eating, etc. The important ones, mostly related about feelings and thoughts are always minimal.
If all people could realize about this, hate and wars wouldn't exist.
Apart from this a general comment about this blog. Not all people hates USA, also in Uruguay. The problem is that the local host to this trip to Uruguay seems to be a very radical left wing person. There are many here. They usually hate USA, it's cool and you are supposed to feel that way. She probably breathes politics instead of oxygen which is usually their profile. Politics substitute religion in Uruguay and usually it also has a lot of fanatics.
Not all people is like that here.
I really think that politics is healthier as a way to reach a goal in which you believe than a way of living by itself.
I have relatives that live that way and it's sad. They are ALL the time talking about politics and trying to make you think like them. Kind of religious recruitment. Each time there's a problem, the responsible is the government and their political party leader is their god.
That's always dangerous. People should never trust blindly in anyone and anything.
What I can't understand is how can they be against Bush but not against Fidel and Saddam. No coherence, just blind belief in something.
The day that the left political party won the elections here, people was shouting against Bush while having flags supporting Fidel. Crazy
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