Glenn Beck was pleasantly surprised by last night’s Super Bowl because he didn’t witness anything that upset or offended him except, of course, for the Coca-Cola commercial featuring a rendition of “America The Beautiful” sung in various languages. That ad, Beck declared on his radio program today, was “an in your face” effort “to divide people.”…. The entire point of the ad was, according to Beck, to send the message that “if you don’t like it, if you’re offended by it, then you’re a racist … That’s all this is, is to divide people”[.]
Three days after the Super Bowl, and I still find myself astonished and dismayed at the xenophobic reaction of so many “Real Americans.” What was undoubtedly intended as a celebration of our “melting pot” heritage was turned instead into something of a White Pride rally. Never mind that those so virulently denouncing the ad ignore the truth that, unless you’re Native American, we’re ALL descendants of immigrants. We’re ALL from somewhere else, and there’s a pretty good chance our forebears didn’t speak English when they stumbled off the boat. Most of mine didn’t- and they don’t get much Whiter than me.
And yet the xenophobes have the nerve to claim the mantle of being “Real Americans?” What does that even mean?
Oh…and for those of you incensed by the fact that the ad featured a gay couple, the lyrics of “America the Beautiful” were written by a lesbian. In 1895.
Oh, the humanity….
After showing a clip of the ad, [Colbert] writhed in pain from the assault on his ears. “They were singing ‘America the Beautiful’ in foreign talk!” he exclaimed. “I mean, c’mon, only English can give that song its certain ‘Je ne sais quoi.’”
How anyone could possibly see the ad as an attempt to divide is something that defies rational explanation and understanding. Singing “America the Beautiful” in languages other than English was simply acknowledgment and celebration of America being a nation of immigrants. In my case, those languages were German and Czech. I’m proud to be an American, but I’m equally proud of my heritage…and I see no contradiction in that. America is a polyglot collection of languages and cultures, all of whom have something to offer. If we forget where we come from…well, it appears too many of us already have.
The idea that the Coke ad was intended to divide is absurd, self-serving, and just plain wrong. The people who put that idea forward ignore their own heritage in an effort to turn America into some sort of White, English-speaking enclave. The truth is that nothing could be further from the truth than the idea that America is the property and playground of White English speakers. America may be populated by a White majority, but that’s changing, and before long we’re going to be a minority in “our” country. What the xenophobes refuse to understand is that America belongs to Brown, Red, Yellow, and Black, every bit as much as White. “American” is a title that connotes citizenship, and that appellation is not the property of White Americans.
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I was truly dumbfounded by the number of people who railed against the ad and then followed their vitriol with “but I’m not a racist.” It seems arrogance and racism come with blinders to shield the wearer from the “unpleasant reality” that America isn’t the province and property of White English speakers. It belongs to those Americans born in Chicago (me) just as much as those born in Bangalore, Oaxaca, Beijing, or Manila.
“America the beautiful” is a song that celebrates the beauty and diversity of America. Anyone taking offense at it being sung in differential languages suffers from a degree of arrogance and xenophobia I can’t even to explain, much less understand.
Sometimes, some people really suck.
And you wonder why I fear for the future of our Republic?
