In defense of my home
Oh we are what we are when we're praying, in our way of seeking some light. May the mission bells still ring of the colorful dream, in the faith that everyone will be treated right.
Terry Reid, To Be Treated Right
In corners of social networking and internet blogging, there are American citizens who have draped themselves in nationalism and so-called Christian values in order to celebrate the devastation in Japan. You may have seen this sentiment documented on sites like Karma Japan and Ignorant and Online. These are young, ignorant Americans who feel that the Japanese people "deserve" the earthquake, and resulting tsunami and nuclear crisis, as retribution from God for the Pearl Harbor attack during World War II.
I've waded through a lot of saddening things in the last few weeks. From the union-busting, anti-teacher sentiment coming out across the country, to wholesale defense of rape culture in the self-proclaimed "enlightened and unbiased" media. I can usually keep a stiff upper lip, make my rounds of retweet/reposts, sign my petitions, argue with some people on Facebook, and feel just a little bit better about things. But this? I won't keep quiet about this.
I find myself living in a country full of spoiled, ugly, reckless children. These children are not representative of the whole of America, but they're often the loudest among us. Children who pride themselves on ignorance and covet material possessions above all else. These are children who defame other countries for imagined threats, because they feel America is the chosen land of God, some great shining city on the hill that all others must strive to emulate. These are children that have made enemies out of people they don't know, don't care to know, and will never understand. They don't feel like they have to understand other people, because they're American. They have shiny cell phones and laptops and designer jeans. They're more important than anyone else.
Like those shifty Chinese people, they're out to take all our jobs and crush our spirits. Those lazy Mexicans, they just want to soak up our resources and pump out children. Those cowardly French, what a bunch of faggots. All those freedom-hating Middle Eastern people, because there's no difference between an Egyptian and an Iraqi, or anybody else from that region. And now the Japanese, those dirty Japanese. They're now beyond forgiveness for a war-time attack that only the grandparents and great-grandparents of this generation were witness to. They deserved this earthquake for what they did to America.
Never mind that Japan is one of America's closest allies today. Never mind that Japan has provided millions of dollars in relief funding for America during natural disasters, both from government sources and private donations. Never mind that most of the cars, computers, gaming systems and technology that my generation now takes for granted comes directly from Japan or was derived from Japanese ingenuity. Never mind that these are just people who got up one day, unaware that their lives were going to be changed forever, and are now fighting to survive amid the wreckage.
We get it. You're proud of your ignorance. You feel justified in expressing it. But we won't allow you to hide behind Free Speech or God to justify being a stupid, hateful, xenophobic nationalist. We will publicly call you out on your lies. We will shame you on blogs like Karma Japan and Ignorant and Online. We will make sure that the world knows that Americans are not afraid of petulant children. We will not allow you to embarrass America like you've embarrassed yourselves.
