While
President Obama is far more popular in Latin America than
President Bush,
not everyone is cheering. This protester in Santiago,
Chile holds a U.S.
flag that says 'Obama=Death. He and about 300
other people were demonstrating
against U.S. militarism, Mar. 21.
La Nacion, Chile
U.S. People Need
to Be Reminded: They aren't the Only 'Americans'
"When
Europeans or North Americans refer to us as 'South Americans,' the tone of the
expression provokes suspicions of class discrimination. … 'They,' thanks to the
construction of an identity projected through popular culture, have managed to
shamelessly appropriate the term 'American,' as if to snatch half of our
continent from under our feet. … I prefer 'U.S. president' for Barack Obama. How
about you?"
Members of the Brazilian Socialist Party protest President Obama's visit to Rio, March 18. Ironically, while anti-Obama forces in the U.S. consider him a 'socialist,' socialists in Brazil insult him as an 'imperialist yankee capitalist.'
In Europe and Asia, U.S.
citizens are recognized as "Americans." In South America, they are referred
to as "North Americans."
North Americans are those
living between Alaska and Mexico, and Americans are all of those living between
Tierra del Fuego and Alaska. Isn't that right?
It may be too clichéd to ask ...
but why are U.S. citizens so enthralled with being called "Americans"
or "North Americans"?
It's a lucky coincidence for
them that this provokes in us a certain grating sensation on our consciences. At
the very least, as my grandmother would say, it strikes me as an annoyance and
a nuisance.
That's because in our
collective imagination, when Europeans or North Americans refer to us as "South
Americans," the tone of the expression provokes suspicions of class
discrimination. The same cannot be said of their proud people when they refer
to "American" or "North American." We give it this meaning
ourselves.
"Sudacas,"
is how some in Old Europe refer to us. As if by some sadomasochistic act, we of
the "backyard" define ourselves every time we criticize the U.S.'
political model. However, "they," thanks to the construction of an
identity and image projected through popular culture, have managed to
shamelessly appropriate the term "North American" or "American,"
as if to snatch half of our continent from under our feet. What is so pathetic
is that it succeeds, thanks to our own gentle compliance and the kind patronage
of the mass media and a majority of its journalists, who emphasize the phrase "North
American president" to the point that it seems like some kind of semantic
torture, to remind us of a greatly tampered with history ... at least with
regard to cultural issues that are definitively important to the construction
of our identity as cohabitants of America. And this makes it even more
difficult to construct our own points of pride. Oh well ...
Presidents
Barack Obama and Sebastian Pinera
before a state
dinner in honor of the Obamas visit, at the
government palace
in Santiago, Chile, Mar. 21.
That our own journalists
subtly reiterate the definition "North American" or "American"
to refer to the U.S. president, seems a rather Freudian slip, referring invariably
to a submissive and inferior attitude before the visitor; and like good
cultural sponges, the Chilean people absorb everything that we have designed
over hundreds of years to illustrate differences in power, position, and role
in our continental society.
I think what's lacking is a
change in attitude among journalists who covering Barack Obama's visit to
Santiago, referring to him as "North American" - from irreverent
radio host Nibaldo Moschiatti of Radio Bio-Bio, to
the least known radio and television presenters in our country.
I prefer "U.S. president"
for Barack Obama. How about you?
