Un-American
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Un-American is a term of US political discourse which is sometimes applied to people or institutions in the United States in an attempt to deny the targets the identity of American[clarification needed]. It implies a substantial deviation from US norms.
The most famous use is in the title of the House Un-American Activities Committee which was started to combat Nazi and Ku Klux Klan (KKK)[citation needed] activity in the US during World War II and which later investigated the activities of Communists and purported Communists in the US. By 1959, however, former President Harry S. Truman had denounced the House Un-American Activities Committee as the "most un-American thing in the country today.[1]"
The use and meaning of the term is by no means uniform in the US. Due in part to these historical associations with political abuses and jingoism, the attitudes of Americans toward the pejorative use of "Un-American" are often critical or suspicious. Moreover, Americans may vary widely in what they believe to be un-American.
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[edit] Modern usage
Recent years have seen the term applied liberally regardless of political persuasion. It is most often used by a person commenting on the beliefs or actions of others that they believe is contrary to "American values."[2] This highlights the wide variance in personal definitions of the phrase.
Additionally, some have described as un-American recent federal legislation in the U.S. that they view as an attack on civil liberties.[3] The term (or similar sentiments) has been used by political supporters in the media to describe actions or beliefs that are critical of their candidate's policies.[4].
The term "un-American" may be used in ad hominem attacks, meant to quash the arguments of American opponents by depicting them as subversive, unpatriotic or deviant. As a result, it is often used in a satirical or sarcastic manner; similarly, its frequent appearance in situations that do not merit its use has further diluted its original, pre-McCarthyism meaning.
[edit] Examples in current events
[edit] Plastic bag ban "Un-American"
On July 23, 2007, the City Council of Annapolis, Maryland, convened to consider a bill banning plastic shopping bags from the city, in order to protect the marine life of Chesapeake Bay. Safeway characterized the Annapolis bill, and presumably the motives of its proponents, as "un-American": "At the hearing, a lobbyist for Safeway called the bill 'un-American,' saying it would take choices away from consumers."[5]
[edit] Un-Canadian
In Canada, the word "un-Canadian" is sometimes used, generally with the implication that a political official or organisation is doing something improper by the lights of Canadian values (e.g., contrary to the principle of peace, order, and good government), particularly towards Quebec sovereignists.[citation needed]
[edit] Un-Chinese
Another analogous usage is reflected in the Chinese use of the term "un-Chinese" to refer to people who violate norms of "canonical" Chinese culture or who are otherwise refused the identity of Chineseness by some Chinese.[6]
[edit] Un-British
"The British, ordinarily sticklers for procedure even in executions, had gone about this grim business in a secretive and notably un-British way"[7]
[edit] See also
- House Un-American Activities Committee
- McCarthyism
- Jingoism
- Hollywood blacklist
- Censorship
- Anti-Americanism
- Hanjian
- Michelle Bachmann
- Un-Australian
[edit] References
- ^ Stephen J. Whitfield. The Culture of the Cold War. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996
- ^ "Take Action: Speak out against O'Reilly's hate speech". Media Matters for America. http://mediamatters.org/items/200509190005. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
- ^ Hulse, Carl; Kate Zernike (2006-09-28). "Legislation Advances on Terrorism Trials". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/washington/28detain.html?ex=1317096000&en=549d280ef89eb8c1&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
- ^ Saunders, Debra J. "Anti-American and unaware". TownHall.com. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/DebraJSaunders/2002/10/26/anti-american_and_unaware. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
- ^ Urbina, Ian (2007-07-24). "Pressure Builds to Ban Plastic Bags in Stores". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/us/24plastic.html?ex=1186372800&en=c7f0195c3cdfb0cc&ei=5070. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
- ^ How "Un-Chinese": Diasporic, Interracial, and Queer Identities (archived from the original on 2006-09-01)
- ^ Un-British, time Monday, Apr. 28, 1947
[edit] External links
- Enactments So Utterly Un-American
- Didn't Know I Was Unamerican.
- Un-American by Any Name
- Racial Profiling is Un-American
- An “Un-American Bill”: A Congressman Denounces Immigration Quotas
- "Buy American" is un-American
- Ken Lay's Un-American Activities
- "Shameful" Rush Limbaugh "Un-American"
- FOX Sics Its Dogs on "Un-American" Professors
- It's Downright Un-American
