Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘anti-americanism’

Wagar High School has apologized for an incident last week where an American student was booed for waving her flag at a multicultural ceremony:

“[The students] were also told that certainly the booing of the American flag was more than just booing a flag,” [Principal Michael] Cristofaro said. “It was booing Americans and basically disrespecting the people the flag represents. I made that clear to them. I also apologized to the young lady on behalf of the student body.”

[ . . . ]

[Some letter-writers] called the incident another example of Quebecers’ and other Canadians’ disrespect for Americans. But Cristofaro suggests that notion is a stretch. “We have to keep in mind we are talking about teenage kids who are not always appropriate in every kind of venue.”

To say the least.

This reminds me a little of when the U.S. national anthem was booed at a hockey game right after the war broke out in Iraq last year. That, like this, might have been blown a bit out of proportion. But the fact that it happens at all says a lot, in my opinion. People are so accustomed to anti-Americanism these days that it just becomes one of those “no big deal” things. That’s exactly the problem.

Ironically, Wagar has changed an awful lot from the days when my mom was a student there… and the school was overwhelmingly Jewish.

Following what was said below, it seems our schools are so eager to teach political correctness, tolerance, and multiculturalism, that they encourage pride in every background… except American:

A U.S.-born teenager carrying a U.S. flag in a multiculturalism parade was booed off stage and reduced to tears by fellow students at Wagar High School on Thursday, in an apparent protest against the Iraq war.

[ . . . ]

A parade of flags representing every nationality at the school – 39, this year – is an annual event at Wagar, the most ethnically diverse high school in the English Montreal School Board.

“During the parade, when the American flag (was) walked by, quite a large number of students booed, which was very upsetting to the student carrying the flag,” said Juanita Meikle, a parent who is chairperson of Wagar’s governing board.

The girl, a Grade 9 student, “was very upset. She was crying,” Meikle said.

No other flag was jeered.

Knee-jerk anti-Americanism is something that’s about as much a part of being a Canadian as street hockey. Unfortunately, even the most well-meaning educators encourage it. And lately, most of them haven’t been all that “well-meaning”.

With teachers ranting in classrooms about the evil American government and policies, the infringement of American culture on our own “wonderful” CBC, the exploitation of the rest of the world by America… small wonder students are booing the Stars and Stripes.

People don’t just come to believe something on their own. They need to be taught. I really hope that the teachers and administrators at Wager don’t just criticize the students, but take a long hard look at themselves. If we’re going to stamp out intolerance, that includes all forms of intolerance… including anti-Americanism.

Hey, if the rhetoric works for the Palestinians…

Ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide appealed from exile in Africa Monday for peaceful resistance to what he called the “occupation” of Haiti and repeated a claim he was kidnapped by U.S. forces.

Not that I’m supporting the rebels, mind you. Haiti’s a mess. But Aristide wasn’t much more of a “legitimate” leader than the rebels who outsted him, and his willingness to immediately tap into world hatred of Americans to get sympathy of the despots isn’t scoring him any brownie points in my book.

It’s a very Canadian thing to make jokes about Americans, and to put down the US with our superiority complex. But even though I’ve certainly been guilty of this myself, I’ve long maintained that a lot of it is really an inferiority complex in disguise.

Put simply, we’re jealous.

Most Canadians live within 50 miles of the US border, and yet we’re relegated to the status of outside observers. We’re practically more affected by US presidential elections than Canadian federal ones, but of course we’re not Americans and we have no vote or say.

We are directly influenced by American TV, but are forced to either illegally steal satellite signals or hear about the hottest new shows over the internet or from our American friends, cause the CRTC has decided we’re not cool enough for first-runs of the Sopranos and instead must watch endless reruns of Royal Canadian Air Farce on the CBC.

We are we get American commercials, and yet we can’t shop in US stores. Or, if we do decide to drive across the border to shop for the day, we have to pay the exchange rate, plus ridiculous amounts of duty at the border. All just to get access to the varieties in styles that aren’t available here because our market is a tenth the size of theirs.

We work similar jobs to our American counterparts, but we make less money and pay much more of it in taxes. And when we complain, we’re reminded we have socialized healthcare – which is great, don’t get me wrong – but it’s like we’re supposed to use this as an excuse for everything.

I’m a proud Canadian. I love being Canadian, and I don’t want to move to the US. I think there are a lot of things that are great about Canada, but sometimes I wonder why I feel like a second-class American with my nose pressed against the glass.

For most of the Arab world, it’s a mantra of “Saddam bad, Americans and Zionists worse”, as they watch in disbelief the toppling of the Iraqi regime:

“It is irrelevant whether Saddam is dead or not. His memory will live on to inspire many Arabs to stand up against all the injustices committed by the U.S. and its friends in Israel,” Belqees Hamood, a university student, said.

“Saddam was not an angel to his own people but he will be missed since many Arabs see him as a leader who was not afraid to challenge the American and Israeli aggressions over Palestinians,” said Juma Backer, a businessman.

[ . . . ]

“Saddam is a terrorist but he’s not alone. Bush too is a terrorist but Saddam is weak and Bush is strong. That’s why he has won, because no one opposes a strong person,” said the 33-year-old Saudi government employee.

“How wonderful the world would be without Saddam and without Bush!”

This moral equivalence between Bush and Saddam is nothing new. The anti-war crowd loves to shout similar slogans during their protests even here in North America.

But the disbelief and shock with which most of the Arab world is watching the destruction of Saddam’s regime is another story. It brings to mind Germany’s shock and disbelief at losing World War I in 1918. Both disappointments were the result of controlled media and highly-successful government propaganda. Until this week, I have no doubt that most of the Arab states – especially those without a free press – were convinced that Saddam could and would win!

This is perhaps the largest tragedy of all. Because it has much broader implications. People don’t form their opinions in a vacuum. They listen to the news and the information that they obtain, and all of that serves to influence the opinion of the “street”. It is a lot easier to understand why so much of the Arab world hates America and Israel when we realize that they’re being fed propaganda and false information every single day.

Canadians showed their support and friendship for our neighbours to the south today, as 1,000 people attended a pro-US rally in Toronto. Speakers included Ontario Premier Ernie Eves, and Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper:

”Canadians, friends of America – that is who we as Canadians are,” Eves told the crowd.

”Our American neighbours, our friends, our colleagues, our Allies have always supported us, they’ve protected us, they’ve helped us and they’ve stood by us and now we should be standing by them.”

Harper thanked the crowd for ”opening your hearts” and ‘’saying to our friends in the United States of America, you are our ally, our neighbour, and our best friend in the whole wide world.

”And when your brave men and women give their lives for freedom and democracy we are not neutral,” Harper said.

”We do not stand on the sidelines; we’re for the disarmament of Saddam and the liberation of the people of Iraq.”

Of course, the counter-protesters and hecklers showed up. And the crowd was likely smaller than anticipated due to a freezing-rain storm, and Toronto’s preoccupation with the outbreak of SARS.

Still, one can hope that this pro-US movement will gain some momentum. We’ll know it’s a true success when there’s a pro-US rally in Montreal (hah!).

Update: The Toronto Star has more, including a photo. And Friends of America, the organizer of the rally, has a link on its website to an online petition that Canadians can sign to show their support for the U.S.

Second update: See lots more pictures at InstaPundit.

Today, several pro-American and pro-war in Iraq rallies were held across Canada, the largest of which in Ottawa attracted over 5,000 people:

(Peter) Goldring said the fact that people were marching in favor of the United States on Saturday showed that a “silent majority” actually supported the war.

“We do have a new world reality following Sept. 11, and the new world reality says that we must go to root out terrorism,” he said.

More rallies are scheduled for next week, including a massive one in downtown Toronto on Friday. It’s about time that we Canadians spoke out in support of our friend and ally south of the border, who keeps doing our dirty work for us time and time again while we keep our noses clean and then criticize them.

Great e-mail forward (via Adina):

American flag: $25
Gasoline: $2
Cigarette lighter: $2.50
Catching yourself on fire because you are a terrorist asshole: PRICELESS

If this guy died he’d be on my list for a Darwin award.

A group calling itself “Friends of America” is holding a rally to show Canadian support for America in Toronto on April 4th. Visit the link for more details.

It’s about time someone did this: Jay Currie has started a website entitled Canadian Friends of America. Notice the banner link on the lefthand side of the page.

To our friends south of the border, we’re not all the flag-burning, hockey-game-booing people depicted by our media. Plenty of us are grateful to you and supportive of you, and we want to extend our hands in friendship.