There are a lot of claims by political leaders and pundits on both sides of the Atlantic that the #USA and #Europe are united by a common "European culture".
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There are a lot of claims by political leaders and pundits on both sides of the Atlantic that the #USA and #Europe are united by a common "European culture". And I really think we should stop saying that.
For Europeans, this was a useful way of flattering their American hegemon by emphasizing common bonds. But the American hegemony is fraying, and staying within it does not withstand a cost-benefit analysis. Another motivation is #racism - when the same people talk about "Judeo-Christian values" of the "West", it was usually not because they actually cared about Jews or had any understanding of Judaism - but because including Jews was a convenient way of deflecting racism when they excluded European Muslims.
For the white elites of the USA, emphasizing "European culture" as the center of the USA was a way of reinforcing #WhiteSupremacy , and downplaying or dismissing the contributions of non-white people. This current was always there, but has risen to the forefront of the #TrumpAdministration who now support European fascist allies in order to supercharge White Supremacy in Europe as well.
So by supporting the notion that the USA and Europe are part of the same culture, we support the propaganda of some pretty horrible people. This alone should be enough reason to stop doing so. But there is more.
"The USA has no culture!" is a common claim among Europeans, which is pure snobbery and bigotry. And by reducing the USA to a cultural appendix of Europe, we deny the agency of Americans throughout the centuries.
The USA of today _have_ some European roots, but these were never the _only_ cultural roots the USA have. And over the course of the past few centuries, they have diverged greatly from Europe, and have become a cultural powerhouse in their own right. We should respect and accept that they _have_ these political differences, and that Europe and the USA are now largely different cultural zones.
We can only move forward if we see each other clearly.
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R relay@relay.an.exchange shared this topic
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There are a lot of claims by political leaders and pundits on both sides of the Atlantic that the #USA and #Europe are united by a common "European culture". And I really think we should stop saying that.
For Europeans, this was a useful way of flattering their American hegemon by emphasizing common bonds. But the American hegemony is fraying, and staying within it does not withstand a cost-benefit analysis. Another motivation is #racism - when the same people talk about "Judeo-Christian values" of the "West", it was usually not because they actually cared about Jews or had any understanding of Judaism - but because including Jews was a convenient way of deflecting racism when they excluded European Muslims.
For the white elites of the USA, emphasizing "European culture" as the center of the USA was a way of reinforcing #WhiteSupremacy , and downplaying or dismissing the contributions of non-white people. This current was always there, but has risen to the forefront of the #TrumpAdministration who now support European fascist allies in order to supercharge White Supremacy in Europe as well.
So by supporting the notion that the USA and Europe are part of the same culture, we support the propaganda of some pretty horrible people. This alone should be enough reason to stop doing so. But there is more.
"The USA has no culture!" is a common claim among Europeans, which is pure snobbery and bigotry. And by reducing the USA to a cultural appendix of Europe, we deny the agency of Americans throughout the centuries.
The USA of today _have_ some European roots, but these were never the _only_ cultural roots the USA have. And over the course of the past few centuries, they have diverged greatly from Europe, and have become a cultural powerhouse in their own right. We should respect and accept that they _have_ these political differences, and that Europe and the USA are now largely different cultural zones.
We can only move forward if we see each other clearly.
@juergen_hubert
All true. -
There are a lot of claims by political leaders and pundits on both sides of the Atlantic that the #USA and #Europe are united by a common "European culture". And I really think we should stop saying that.
For Europeans, this was a useful way of flattering their American hegemon by emphasizing common bonds. But the American hegemony is fraying, and staying within it does not withstand a cost-benefit analysis. Another motivation is #racism - when the same people talk about "Judeo-Christian values" of the "West", it was usually not because they actually cared about Jews or had any understanding of Judaism - but because including Jews was a convenient way of deflecting racism when they excluded European Muslims.
For the white elites of the USA, emphasizing "European culture" as the center of the USA was a way of reinforcing #WhiteSupremacy , and downplaying or dismissing the contributions of non-white people. This current was always there, but has risen to the forefront of the #TrumpAdministration who now support European fascist allies in order to supercharge White Supremacy in Europe as well.
So by supporting the notion that the USA and Europe are part of the same culture, we support the propaganda of some pretty horrible people. This alone should be enough reason to stop doing so. But there is more.
"The USA has no culture!" is a common claim among Europeans, which is pure snobbery and bigotry. And by reducing the USA to a cultural appendix of Europe, we deny the agency of Americans throughout the centuries.
The USA of today _have_ some European roots, but these were never the _only_ cultural roots the USA have. And over the course of the past few centuries, they have diverged greatly from Europe, and have become a cultural powerhouse in their own right. We should respect and accept that they _have_ these political differences, and that Europe and the USA are now largely different cultural zones.
We can only move forward if we see each other clearly.
@juergen_hubert great point! Also worth noting that one of our (the US's) biggest exports and cultural triumphs, popular music, is really not European in origin at all, but comes directly from Black Americans.
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@juergen_hubert great point! Also worth noting that one of our (the US's) biggest exports and cultural triumphs, popular music, is really not European in origin at all, but comes directly from Black Americans.
Yeah, there are a _lot_ of aspects of American culture that have little to do with Europe, and we should not erase them.
