Carol Forsloff---"I'm an American. I drink beer, eat meat, and speak English!"printed on a tee shirt worn by a gray-haired man watching Fox News at a motel on a Saturday morning is a reminder of that ugly American image so often considered by people around the world as representing U.S. opinions about others. A tee shirt slogan tells anyone who reads it of an arrogant attitude that continues to foster suspicion and distrust that haunts American relations internationally.
The man sat in the middle of the motel breakfast room where everyone entering could see his shirt and recognize a negative attitude about anyone perceived as different. It was reinforced by a message on Fox News that repeatedly focused on Obamacare and the shortcomings of the current President, Barack Obama in putting diplomacy ahead of force against those who differ with American ideas. Surrounding the man were a group of people traveling from the United Kingdom, visiting the United States. The message on a shirt is surely one they might remember when they travel back to Europe, underlining once again how what Americans think and say in casual circumstances becomes a permanent image for others about attitude and prejudices that can influence foreign policy.
On another occasion, in Bali, the couple at the hotel desk, shouting about "those people here" giving bad service echoed through the lobby, as people stood and stared while they listened to rude remarks by an American in a public arena. International travelers paused to grimace slightly, shrug and turn away. Americans traveling in another country, represented by the loud and boorish statements, communicate to other travelers, and to the Balinese service personnel, once again the ugly side of American behavior and beliefs.
The film, "The Ugly American" made in 1963 offered a glimpse of that American attitude in the personality of the conservatives who debated the appointment of Harrison MacWhite, played by Marlon Brando, as Ambassador to an Asian country named Sarkan, a newly developed nation. In the course of the film, MacWhite tangles with the local leadership over the building of Freedom Road, a U.S. sponsored highway considered to be an example of American imperialism. When MacWhite is unable to complete his assignment and returns to the US mainland, this summary is provided in a critic's overview of the film, "He explains in an interview with the press that to help the countries of Southeast Asia, Americans must understand their internal problems before inflicting a way of life upon them. As his words are carried to the United States by television, an uninterested viewer switches off his set."The statement becomes the core realization of how an American diplomat makes wrong choices and ends up bungling his job, as the example of that ugly American, with the uninterested viewer reflecting the attitude that it really does not matter.
In the 1960's President John F. Kennedy hoped to establish a different image of America as a country that provided service to underdeveloped countries, through an organization called the Peace Corps. The idea was to send Americans to live and work with residents in countries that needed support in education, industrial development, agriculture and other areas. The concept had been the brainchild of Hubert Humphrey, then U.S. Senator from Minnesota, who had opposed Kennedy in the Presidential primaries, but the implementation of the program began under the Kennedy administration. The hope was to change that image of the ugly American so that foreign relations might also improve.
Despite the Peace Corps, foreign aid, and Americans devoting time, money and effort to help people around the world, especially during disasters, what many people see is that boorish individual who wears a shirt that declares he represents what the United States truly believes. So efforts to reach out to others are seen as manipulative as opposed to caring and concerned. Perhaps it is the reason why folks take the help, then turn their backs on reciprocity in international relations, especially when significant differences arise and the United States needs help in persuading people to take action in some special way. That action might be global immunization programs or difficulties created by global warming, as two examples of areas where universal support is critical for many. With the ugly American image, portrayed by the media, repeated on tee shirt slogans and bumper stickers and reinforced by the behavior of folks traveling to other countries, it becomes increasingly difficult for the United States to sustain leadership when global action is needed.
As foreign diplomats grapple with international problems, climate change, the potential of Russia's encroachment into East European countries and other issues, the value of American leadership is important in managing crises in a way that might avert global conflict. A message on a tee shirt can be a monumental assertion to those who watch and listen and wonder if Americans care about anything or anyone but themselves.
While Kennedy's pronouncements and programs are often cited as representing the best of America's leadership and stature, the undermining of the message of caring and inclusion continues to stress diplomacy. The ugly American is a reminder to many that the country that says "I care" and offers tangentially leadership and hope for a free world for everyone continues to struggle with itself and its mission.
A message on a tee shirt for some might simply be incidental on a day when many things occur, however it represents to others a much larger issue, and that is how we relate and think about our neighbors can offer a far better protection against aggression than the big stick or the gun can do.
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