China and the Ottoman Empire are definitely no western countries. They cannot be considered part of western civilization. They were/are part to other civilizations with a much different cultural history.
It's still an interesting fact of history, that Americans claim their war of independence was about freedom and in fact it meant the co…
China and the Ottoman Empire are definitely no western countries. They cannot be considered part of western civilization. They were/are part to other civilizations with a much different cultural history.
It's still an interesting fact of history, that Americans claim their war of independence was about freedom and in fact it meant the continuance of slavery for a significant part of the American people for a significant amount of time. If You were born black in the year of American independence in the USA You were most likely born a slave and You would most likely die a slave too. One way to avoid slavery was to escape from the "free" America into Canada, still part of the British empire, to gain Your freedom. Pretty strange concept of freedom we can still find in American history books. Don't You think?
I believe one reason why racism persistently exists in the USA is that there has never been an honest approach to American history. In order to hold up the myth of American exceptionalism Americans created a whole bunch of other myths to keep the core of the ugly truths about American history securely locked in the closet. Not just racism against blacks and the legacy of slavery, but also racism against the aboriginal inhabitants of US territory and racism against European immigrants like for example Jews, catholics, Italians or Irish.
I believe as long as Americans perpetuate the myth of that "shining city on the hill", which is American exceptionalism, they will be profoundly unable to deal with their past in a rational and reasonable way. Unless Americans admit, that their's is just another normal country on our planet with both strong suits and some ugly flaws, they will continue to have a way to flattering view of their country, overestimate themselves and try to impose their power on other countries for mostly quite selfish reasons. Which constitutes another can of worms, I haven't even opened yet, which is the reason why the US has been much more often at war with the outside world than at peace and still are.
It's about time that the USA starts reflecting about itself in a more realistic and honest way. That has to happen first before America can start defeating flaws like racism. I do not deny that well intended people have been fighting racism throughout the history of the USA and made at least some progress, but these efforts have all been fallen short of ending racism in the US and I have just laid out my opinion about why that is. Americans as a people have no history of being honest to themselves.
China and the Ottoman Empire are definitely no western countries. They cannot be considered part of western civilization. They were/are part to other civilizations with a much different cultural history.
It's still an interesting fact of history, that Americans claim their war of independence was about freedom and in fact it meant the continuance of slavery for a significant part of the American people for a significant amount of time. If You were born black in the year of American independence in the USA You were most likely born a slave and You would most likely die a slave too. One way to avoid slavery was to escape from the "free" America into Canada, still part of the British empire, to gain Your freedom. Pretty strange concept of freedom we can still find in American history books. Don't You think?
I believe one reason why racism persistently exists in the USA is that there has never been an honest approach to American history. In order to hold up the myth of American exceptionalism Americans created a whole bunch of other myths to keep the core of the ugly truths about American history securely locked in the closet. Not just racism against blacks and the legacy of slavery, but also racism against the aboriginal inhabitants of US territory and racism against European immigrants like for example Jews, catholics, Italians or Irish.
I believe as long as Americans perpetuate the myth of that "shining city on the hill", which is American exceptionalism, they will be profoundly unable to deal with their past in a rational and reasonable way. Unless Americans admit, that their's is just another normal country on our planet with both strong suits and some ugly flaws, they will continue to have a way to flattering view of their country, overestimate themselves and try to impose their power on other countries for mostly quite selfish reasons. Which constitutes another can of worms, I haven't even opened yet, which is the reason why the US has been much more often at war with the outside world than at peace and still are.
It's about time that the USA starts reflecting about itself in a more realistic and honest way. That has to happen first before America can start defeating flaws like racism. I do not deny that well intended people have been fighting racism throughout the history of the USA and made at least some progress, but these efforts have all been fallen short of ending racism in the US and I have just laid out my opinion about why that is. Americans as a people have no history of being honest to themselves.