With a slip and a fall the American representative of the 2007 Miss Universe Pageant, taking place in Mexico City, unknowingly revealed the true colors of her Mexican audience. Fighting boos and cat calls during the question and answer session, Rachel Smith absorbed the full torrent of abuse hurled at her. Her appearance further conveyed the malice held by the majority of Mexicans toward the United States. While 12 million of their compatriots were getting a free pass to American citizenship, the underlying animosities of their misguided political beliefs were exposed.
Imagine for the briefest moment that the pageant had been held in the United States and the victim of those four inch heels was a young Mexican woman. Would the International community, never mind the Mexicans, stand for an American audience that jeered the contestant? The mechanisms of “political correctness” would come out in full swing and this would be yet another example of an America the world can hate. Are the same standards held for the Mexicans? Is the International Community insisting on an apology? Nope.
Flashback to the 2004/2005 World Cup qualifiers; Mexican nationals booed the American team and some even chanted “Osama.” Was there an International outcry? Most certainly there was not. When millions of illegal Mexicans took to the streets in defiance of American law, demanding recognition, did the International community come to the defense of America? Quite the contrary; they sided with the Mexicans. You would be hard-pressed to find another country in the world that faces an International Community that argues for the rights of those who are knowingly breaking the law everyday they spend on American soil.
To briefly compare the mass hypocrisy facing America today, one only has to look as far as the Mexicans themselves. Specifically the Mexican laws concerning non-Mexican immigrants seeking residence in Mexico. To begin with, you must speak the native language and you must be a professional worker. Sorry, no unskilled workers allowed. There are no bilingual government programs and as a foreigner you will not have the right to vote or hold office. You are not eligible to receive any government sponsored welfare and if you want to take to the streets and protest unfair treatment, that too is illegal. You are not allowed to wave the flag of a foreign nation, form a political party, or criticize the government. And I almost forgot, if you come to Mexico illegally you will be arrested and jailed.
The true question concerning Mexican-American relations is why there is so much anti-Americanism in Mexico? Are Mexicans upset at their inability to sustain their economy without the massive remittances provided by their compatriots working in the United States? Or is it a deeper national character flaw that prohibits them from accepting that their neighbor to the North has simply managed to be more successful in most every sense of the word? The livelihood of the Mexican economy depends heavily on the engine of the American economy and the rampant anti-Americanism contaminating the Mexican political and social environment can only lead to a negative outcome.
Does America abide by a higher standard? Well, if current polls are any indication of the anti-Americanism sweeping Mexico, then America is indeed abiding by a higher standard. The majority of Mexicans have an unfavorable view of both Americans and the United States government. Furthermore, a recent Zogby poll showed that 75% of Mexicans think Americans are racist and only 17% think that Americans are tolerant. Yet aside from merely talking about building a wall, the United States has done nothing to warrant this animosity. Thousands of illegal immigrants continue to flood the border and the United States continues to accommodate them. The gap between Mexico and the United States continues to expand and the increase in the hatred felt by the Mexicans will almost inevitably rise as well.
- This article was written for and provided to the Weekend Economist by Westbrook Sullivan
Imagine for the briefest moment that the pageant had been held in the United States and the victim of those four inch heels was a young Mexican woman. Would the International community, never mind the Mexicans, stand for an American audience that jeered the contestant? The mechanisms of “political correctness” would come out in full swing and this would be yet another example of an America the world can hate. Are the same standards held for the Mexicans? Is the International Community insisting on an apology? Nope.
Flashback to the 2004/2005 World Cup qualifiers; Mexican nationals booed the American team and some even chanted “Osama.” Was there an International outcry? Most certainly there was not. When millions of illegal Mexicans took to the streets in defiance of American law, demanding recognition, did the International community come to the defense of America? Quite the contrary; they sided with the Mexicans. You would be hard-pressed to find another country in the world that faces an International Community that argues for the rights of those who are knowingly breaking the law everyday they spend on American soil.
To briefly compare the mass hypocrisy facing America today, one only has to look as far as the Mexicans themselves. Specifically the Mexican laws concerning non-Mexican immigrants seeking residence in Mexico. To begin with, you must speak the native language and you must be a professional worker. Sorry, no unskilled workers allowed. There are no bilingual government programs and as a foreigner you will not have the right to vote or hold office. You are not eligible to receive any government sponsored welfare and if you want to take to the streets and protest unfair treatment, that too is illegal. You are not allowed to wave the flag of a foreign nation, form a political party, or criticize the government. And I almost forgot, if you come to Mexico illegally you will be arrested and jailed.
The true question concerning Mexican-American relations is why there is so much anti-Americanism in Mexico? Are Mexicans upset at their inability to sustain their economy without the massive remittances provided by their compatriots working in the United States? Or is it a deeper national character flaw that prohibits them from accepting that their neighbor to the North has simply managed to be more successful in most every sense of the word? The livelihood of the Mexican economy depends heavily on the engine of the American economy and the rampant anti-Americanism contaminating the Mexican political and social environment can only lead to a negative outcome.
Does America abide by a higher standard? Well, if current polls are any indication of the anti-Americanism sweeping Mexico, then America is indeed abiding by a higher standard. The majority of Mexicans have an unfavorable view of both Americans and the United States government. Furthermore, a recent Zogby poll showed that 75% of Mexicans think Americans are racist and only 17% think that Americans are tolerant. Yet aside from merely talking about building a wall, the United States has done nothing to warrant this animosity. Thousands of illegal immigrants continue to flood the border and the United States continues to accommodate them. The gap between Mexico and the United States continues to expand and the increase in the hatred felt by the Mexicans will almost inevitably rise as well.
- This article was written for and provided to the Weekend Economist by Westbrook Sullivan
1 comment:
The negative perception of the USA is not restricted to Mexico. Various polls show that the USA’s esteem by other nations slipped back to extremely low levels. It should merit some studies to understand the reason to this phenomenon.
I am certainly not an expert in this area, but common sense points to several possible reasons:
• The USA is the mightiest player in the international field – if you are mighty you are automatically mistrusted
• The USA is very naïve in its policies and actions internationally. It is often forgotten that the world does not work like America – there are different cultures and each plays according to different rules. So probably the USA has offended quite some communities by neglecting the cultural specific aspects in their contacts (see last steps related to the missile protection of Europe)
• The USA is truly democratic therefore its reactions on the longer term are always controlled by its people. Extreme actions will not be tolerated internally and any occurrences of injustice pointed to by the international community will be sooner or later quenched by the American people. So if one shouts loud enough outside, somebody will hear it inside and do your work for you. This certainly is not the case for most of the other nations in the international community, hence shouting has no effect.
In fact, the USA became a pariah in a way due to its naivety and sense of righteousness which it believes to be universal.
Post a Comment