Looking Like All of Them
"America and China should enjoy their medals -- but we should each also reflect on how the other team got so many. " -- Thomas Friedman, New York Times.
Friedman`s column focuses on what the Chinese and Americans can learn
from each other, which is a lot on both sides, but the best quote in
the article is this one right here: "Walking through the Olympic
Village the other day, here’s what struck me most: the Russian team all
looks Russian; the African team all looks African; the Chinese team all
looks Chinese; and the American team looks like all of them." That's
never been so clear to me as it is now. And I bet the "looks" bit Friedman
cites as diversity also extends to behavior, perspective, and thought processes as well.
I don't seem to have a consistent set of opinions on matters of race, but from where i'm sitting this Friedman chap sounds like a distillation of everything that is wrong with race relations in America...
Based on how people look, from the vantage point of a white (presumably jewish, judging solely by the name), liberally educated, privileged American, everyone can be put in a national box. China, just for example, is made up of a large number of diverse ethnic groups (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_of_China), and lumping them all together just because they "look chinese" seems pretty moronic to me! "Why couldn't those Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda just get along, after all, they looked pretty similar...", would be a statement on a similar level of sophistication.
If American society is the model for racial integration then it probably needs to fix some of the massive inequalities that Mr. Friedman no doubt manages to ignore on a daily basis; the relationship between race and wealth distribution; employment; prison population; rights of migrant workers; etc I'm not trying to make the case that these issues are unique to America, but it does seem reasonable to at least recognise them before making claims about being "strong and unique" because of diversity...
My views are only indirectly based on experience in America. It doesn't take long living in silicon valley to realise that if America is the "melting pot" it claims to be, the contents of the pot might well be melting, but they are not very well mixed, and separating out into some pretty distinct layers!
Wouldn't be at all surprised to be told that i've completely overreacted, but on the face of it, that article is mindless drivel! ...except for the part about losing at basketball due to being unable to play as a team... which seems to contradict the entire premise of the piece.
A rant on the 'cult of individualism' will have to wait for another day. ;-)
Posted by Jon Ellis on August 24, 2008 at 05:14 PM JST #