For reference, the video I am responding to is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BK_CAXVd1M
Dear FOX,
I would like to first open this post by saying that I am actually upset that I had to just watch this clip three times while taking notes in order to get accurate quotes, times, etc for reference. I find the entire thing horrendously offensive to not only myself, but to the human race in general. FOX, how you have maintained your "news" (and I use that term loosely) program throughout the past few decades is beyond me. Slanderous, inaccurate, poorly researched, smear journalism is not only tasteless, but absolutely unprofessional. That being said, I am always an advocate for open-mindedness, and I think it is only fair that I explain to you just why I found this particular segment to be so offensive, so that you may try and defend your choices if you so desire.
You recently showed a segment in response to Gabby Douglas's winning of the gold medal. However, for an American supremacist/biased station, I was shocked to see just how negative you were about the incredible accomplishments of this brave, strong, young woman. Although, I suppose that given that you support "traditional family values," you probably have a problem with the fact that a woman could be strong, brave and independent in the first place, since "traditional families" generally believe it is the woman's place to stay at home and cook, clean, and raise the kids, so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised by this.
Ali, the main news anchor, first begins by introducing the tremendous accomplishment of Gabby Douglas having won the gold medal. However, she then - in the same breath, nonetheless - goes on to condemn the fact that the cheers and shouts of joy were not patriotic enough (time 0:22 in the video posted above), complaining that the shouts were not the ones of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" that we have heard in past years. Well, Ali, maybe that's because the rest of America has gotten past the whole American elitist thing and now sees the world in a more complete way. Maybe most Americans are able to see our country as what it is: one nation within a larger global economy, society, and population! David Webb made a similar condemning point about how "Americans can't show our exceptioinalism." (1:24)
Now, there are two possible meanings to this use of "exceptionalism." One possible meaning is the idea of "American exceptionalism," a concept which encompasses the belief that America is different from (and implicitly better than) every other nation in the world because of our mission to spread liberty and democracy on a global scale. The other possible meaning is much less intricate; it could be that Mr. Webb simply was trying to say that we Americans are just better than the rest of the world. David, how incredibly arrogant do you have to be to assume that Americans are "exceptional" in any way when you look at the global spectrum of cultures? Even if you are taking this as the idea that we are better people for trying to spread liberty and democracy, I still would not say that's necessarily a good thing. In our attempt to spread liberty and democracy to the Middle Eastern nations, we've killed thousands of civilians - women, children, men, brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers, cousins, best friends, etc - and injured thousands more. A poll from The Guardian magazine points out that in Afghanistan alone, the total number of deaths (this is strictly deaths and totally disregards all other casualties) by Pro-Government forces, which is the group in which our troops are classified for the purposes of this article, was over 3,000! Further, I'd like to point out that trying to force our hegemonic views of American supremacy onto other countries starts to look a lot like European colonialism in Africa, or British colonialism in North America. When you go into a country and overhaul the system that you see as broken simply because it is different than your own, it completely destroys entire cultures.
Now, if you're going to argue that the definition of "exceptionalism" was simply the one in which you just simply think we're better because we happened to be born in America, I must say I feel the need to apologize to the rest of the world on behalf of our country for being home to arrogant elitists like yourself. There is a reason that American school systems are frantically trying to improve their math and science programs. Do you know what that reason is? It's because most of the world is far exceeding our capabilities in these fields! Furthermore, do you know of any top ranking college or university in America that doesn't have dozens of international professors hired specifically to teach their field of expertise? I would absolutely love to see how you, an American (all of whom are supposedly "exceptional" in every way according to this generalized, board statement) try to program a computer better than Anders Hejlsberg of Denmark, compose better music than German native Hans Zimmer, or design a more impressive opening ceremony than Cai Guoqiang did for his home country of China for their 2008 Olympic games. By this definition of "exceptional Americans" you should be better than each of these experts in each of these fields. After all, you have the advantage over them of being American.
The other big focus that you had in this segment was the uniform choices of the athletes in the Olympics. Both Ali and David at one point or another ended up condemning the lack of "red-white-and-blue" they're seeing in the Olympic games. Well, I beg to differ. I've seen red-white-and-blue on lots of Olympic athletes in London. For instance, Aaron Ramsey of the Great Britain (NOT of England as David so generally classified a nation comprising of 4 different regions of which England is only one (2:18), but of Great Britain - you know, the country that's competing in the Olympics with the rest of the countries of the globe recognized by the Olympic panel), Yannick Agnel of France, Leisel Jones of Australia, or one of the other roughly two and a half dozen countries competing in the Olympic games with the national colors red, white, and blue. So, really, there isn't any shortage of red-white-and-blue in the Olympic athletes' costumes.
This brings me to my next point: the Olympics, while it is partially about cheering on your country and watching your nation's athletes compete against the rest of the world's greatest athletes, there is a greater purpose for it. I believe it's more about a moment in time that comes but every two years, where the world can come together as a planet - as a human race - on a fair, even playing field and appreciate the fact that in some ways we have a common background (we are all humans, after all) while simultaneously celebrating the beautiful diversity created from the many differences of the myriad of cultures you see at the games. The idea of Olympic Games goes back to what modern Western cultures would call Ancient times, and they were not about showing who was better, but about world leaders giving their citizens a chance to break out of binding social roles, and be momentarily free of oppressive caste system regulations.
I'd like to now take the time to comment on two statements of Mr. Webb's in this segment. The first comes around 1:19. Mr. Webb asks rhetorically "What's wrong with showing pride? What we're seeing is this kind of soft anti-Americanism." Well, I'd like to point out that "not showing pride" and "Anti-Americanism" are two vastly different things. That's like equating "non-caucasian" with "Asian," or perhaps "not an apple" with "must be an orange." You're trying to create a polarity where in fact there is more of a gradient. And, quite frankly, America is far from being a perfect nation. If failing to take pride in every single aspect of America as it is right now - failing to shout out to the skies at all times "God bless America," and choosing not to brag about being from one of the most hypocritical (soon-to-be former) global leaders - is considered to be "anti-American," then (cue music, please!) I'm proud to be un-American!
The final specific statement about which I will comment came from Mr. Webb toward the end of the clip (4:17) when he said "When you compete, you work together. When you achieve, you feel that individually and as a team. When you take that away, you take away the reason we do this in a lot of ways." Well, I would like to ask you this, Mr. Webb: in what ways are we taking away the opportunity for individuals and teams to compete and feel that sense of accomplishment in the Olympics? It doesn't matter what your uniform is - or even if you have a uniform at all, I would say. Just because they're not wearing a gaudy uniform with obnoxious glittering stars and unflattering stripes doesn't mean that our Olympic athletes feel any less pride when they win than do those competing for Cuba or Italy or the Philippines.
In general, I think that your network is way off the mark on all of this. What gives you the right to take away this moment from our own country's Olympic champion - and, more importantly, the first black woman to ever to win Olympic individual all-around gold in her sport (and, most importantly, a fellow human being who has put her entire life into this moment's accomplishment) - by saying that she wasn't American enough because she wore a pink leotard?! How about instead of focusing on bringing down our nation for not being egocentric enough, you focus on celebrating the fact that Kirani James has won Grenada its first ever Olympic medal this year - or how about celebrating the fact that instead of trying to kill one another for our differences, we're sharing and celebrating our cultural diversity by joining our fellow men and women from all around the world in this fairly rare phenomenon of communal competition?
But, if it makes you feel any better, the next time an American swimmer wins Olympic gold, I'll be sure and yell "play ball!" after they play our National Anthem in the medal ceremony! Now, if you could do me a huge favor and please stop producing tasteless propaganda and calling it news, that would be fantastic!
Sincerely,
Bee
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