This is America, not ‘the Americas’
How much do people in Latin America resent the way the people of the United States refer to their nation as ‘America’? This op-ed article from El Caribe of the Dominican Republic offers people in our country a taste of this long-simmering ‘Latin American’ angst.
“It seems that for all the world, America includes only the United States. The rest of the hemisphere is something else, with America as a surname [Latin America], and if they want to be even more derogatory, they just call us Caribbean and pass us off as savages.”
By Pedro Domínguez Brito, an Attorney
Translated By Virginia Gillenwater
December 5, 2007
Dominican Republic – El Caribe – Original Article (Spanish)
The first time I visited the Old Continent [Europe], someone asked me where I was from. “I’m from America,” I replied. So you’re from the United States? He asked me. “No,” I replied, “I’m from America.”
In schools in the United States, they teach that our continent isn’t one, but three: America, which is them, Central America (including the Caribbean), and South America. On their maps, we all have different colors, so as to avoid any confusion.
And we accept this discrimination – not even Fidel protests. This explains those famous encounters between presidents of the region, which are called the “Summit of the Americas,” thus clarifying that a George [Bush] is probably not be from the same place as an Evo [Evo Morales, President of Bolivia].
We ourselves comply with the same distinction when – now and again – we say “you know those Americans,” referring to inhabitants of the colossus to the North. In the Dominican Republic, even one of our airports bears the name “The Americas.”
In Europe, for example, we are simply sudacos [This means South American, but is regarded as something of a slur]. It would be too daring for them to catalogue us simply as Americans. That word, they think, is too big for us.
“It seems that for all the world, America includes only the United States. The rest of the hemisphere is something else, with America as a surname [Latin America], and if they want to be even more derogatory, they just call us Caribbean and pass us off as savages. They believe that whoever visits us had better bring their own aspirin and that tourists here can go on safari, with the opportunity only to hunt lions, rhinos and baboons.
And with no intention of discriminating against the Saxons and Arians who inhabit these lands, I am convinced that the most authentic Americans are those born thanks to the great racial encounter of the indigenous, black and white races. What emerged from this mixture is what has gaven us the flavor of the Amazon, of drums, of maize, of tobacco, of Duarte, of Montezuma, of Bolivar and of Martí …
16 Responses to “This is America, not ‘the Americas’”
In the 90′s, Michael Moore (please don’t flag me for mentioning him) was more about satire and didn’t spend so much time focusing on how messed up life in the United States was. I actually did read both “Downsize This!” and “Dude, Where’s My Country?”. And let me tell you, “Downsize This!” is way, way funnier.
Anyway, I remember reading the chapter “What America Needs Is a Makeover” where he addressed the problem about the name of our country. “The United States of America” is long and very unimpressive, unlike, say, “GREAT Britain”, or “United KINGDOM”. And we can’t call ourselves “Americans”, because our country is not “America”. One would think “America” would refer to both of the continents with the name “America” in them.
So, he gave some silly ideas for names. I won’t list them all, but this is my favorite:
And if you don’t like it, bite THE BIG ONE! Even though there’s no way this would pass in real life.
I hope somebody was amused by this.
that was funny, dear Megaman–X from The Big One. I know MM and he has quixotic wit. Thanks for giving us all a smile. In these times, that’s a kind of gold of its own.
Just for those of us who were born before the Flood, in school we learned we were from North America; and that there was South America and Central America also. We understood ‘America’ as shorthand for North America—along with the Canadians our brothers and sisters up there… and then USA was the name of our nation.
All that said, this writer’s essay is I think, about how others are perceived as ‘less’ according to ‘lack of place’ assigned to them including exclusion by ethnic background, geographical locale, economic class, etc. He is accurate. No matter where in the Americas, all these things hold true in some way. 500 years and 600 years in some parts of the world is not yet far enough away from self-appointed kings enraptured with having an underclass.
It changes away from all that slowly, but I can see it occuring, mainly through education… A suddenly highly educated young adult from the underclass will not often willingly continue to be an under class person under anyone’s thumb for much longer.
I think this piece was translated from the author’s native Spanish
dr.e
Thanks, Megaman_X, that is pretty good!
Pedro Brito, according to the byline, is an attorney, but he certainly doesn’t seem to use language precisely. If he wants to gripe about people’s language usage then he needs to be accurate in his own use.
If he’s from the Dominican Republic, why can’t he just say he’s Dominican? Seems like he’s spoiling for a fight with anyone who will listen.
People from the United States of America are officially “Americans”. No one else in the world can say they are an American. People from the Dominican Republic are Dominicans, etc. The people Pedro meet during his travels are right to ask for clarification if he says he is from America (common usage to refer to our country). I’d even go so far as to say that these people who ask for clarification are polite since they don’t assume that he is from the US when he tells them he is from America.
You’re welcome. Dr. Clarissa,You are an assistant editor? I must say, after reading your comment, you certainly write like one.
Yeah well, what else are we going to call ourselves? “United State-rs”? Ha ha ha ha ha…NO, “Americans” sounds way cooler.
It’s always struck me as simply an accident of naming and history. Does any other country in the Americas incorporate the name of the continent(s) into their nation’s name? None that I’m aware of. So “America” and Americans became a convenient way to refer to the United States of America and its citizens. No big conspiracy or monstrous ego involved.
Megaman_X wrote: “what else are we going to call ourselves? “United State-rs”?”
Right.
My dad, who couldnt speak English completely well called himself a United Statesian. As in, “I em a You-knight-it
Schtat-see-on.” And, of course, he wasnt from America, he was from Ah-meer-eek-ah. Roll the r.
Like you, I think American is just jake. The author of the post seems only using that hook to speak of something else, I think. Jim Satterfield and StockBoySF pick that up clearly.
It’d be interesting to know if this piece was edited from a longer piece as there appears to be places where ‘thought’ is missing. I dont mean it’s unthoughtful, its clear, but there are ‘blanks’ (open places where thought just sort of trails off) where one might expect more ‘story’ in the story. I looked at the original Spanish, and the translator did a good job, but that too has places in it, where maybe there was more to the essay, but it was taken out.
Depends on who this was written for originally. Sometimes eds in old media chop up work to make it fit
word count… then critical part(s) are lost that were part of orig. structure.
My bet is if we could talk to the author, we would understand more of the issue and the subtext from the Dominican side than seems contained in this short article. There IS an issue for some of the more educated who live in Mexico and Central America. Every now and then, when I’ve traveled there, someone will say something like “no La Americana, pero La NorteAmericana”… you’re not an American woman, you’re a North American woman. They mean to say, in subtext, that they too are Americans. Still, the issue isn’t really the words. It’s something about appropriating way more than the word, and leaving others out.
Just my .02
dr.e.
What’s most amusing about this (other than the upside-down Americas map I enjoy looking at) is that while it’s a matter of convenience, as J-Sat has stated, by us, and actually taken in stride by many in Latin America, it has been a liberal college professor’s book on going to Latin America that calls a negative reaction to “egostic” malappropriation of “Americans” by US citizens as “picayune.” Kind of a cruel thing to say about her hosts, if you ask me.
Some do resent it, but mainly it is confusing due to imprecision when conversing or corresponding with “fellow Americans” south of our border.
To be more precise (and courteous), I normally use the word “estadounidense” (“US [citizen],” an adjective as well as a noun) to refer to my nationality in conversations with Latin Americans, here and there.
By the way, Mexico is the “United Mexican States” — when someone tells me they are from Mexico, I respond by asking “[de] cual estado” (“[from] which state”) they are in order to learn more — and be aware that Mexico is no more homogeneous than the USA. It’s not all deserts and a guy with a sombrero dozing against a saguaro cactus! (Actually, that is mythical.) Don’t let the border towns fool you. (Actually, if you are like Joe G. or others in San Diego, you can forego going to Tijuana and instead go inland to Tecate, through chaparral country that makes you look for outlaws on horseback — near Jacumba, possibly one Western film at least featuring a train robbery was made there — for Tecate is a much smaller town with foreign smells as well as sounds and sights, where few speak English.
* When I am in Quebec and someone speaks to me in French, which happens, yes, even in Montreal, such as in a primarily-francophone bookstore, I say “no” but then apologize and say “Etats-Unis” so they know I’m not a Canadian anglophone who has refused to learn French.)
Everyone in Mexico, Central America (which some believe should be included in North America), and South America — the Caribbean is arguable — may call themselves Americans, but they don’t, not only because common usage elsewhere in the world refers to people and things of the United States, but because they have their own countries they can name — countries that are not all the same but often much different from each other, and different even within themselves (Quito’s littoral versus montane versus Amazon portions, and you may have neglected to consider this because the obvious example not only west-to-east (which is often forgotten) but north (desert) to south (ice cap) is Chile.
Incidentally, Latin American Spanish dialects vary among the nations and within nations (that is how we identify some people from regions in the USA, and how people Mexicans identify their compatriots from other parts of that country), they also appear different. Spanish-descent people of the Southern Cone are so white they look like Western Euro white people here in the States. If you ever walk up to, as I have, a typical white kid (or listen to white teeny-bopper girls chatting, as I have in DC metro), and they are speaking Spanish or speak Spanish to you, or obviously are Spanish-speakers and struggle with English to ask you directions (when I was still in the Bay Area, a family asked me for directions to LA, which I gave them and also the time needed: “Ocho horas” — I gave them the standard I-5 route but also showed them 101 without confusing them), I have predicted successfully every time, yes, they are from Argentina. (Hear that, SD?)
Nice globe, William. I could look at a globe like that (as well as suitable maps, such as the watershed map I posted a link to earlier and now do so again here) for yours. Good centering of it.
That’s where (if not alternating Panama-Colombia) the Pan-American games should ideally be played. (Caribbean nations invited, of course; they are effectively American, too.) Santiago de Cuba might also be fun (as well as Miami sometime — “our east coast is their [South America's] west coast”).
It would have been a simple “Two Americas” solution if England, France, Canada, and the USA (during the USA’s expansionist and continental-imperalist era) had seized all of Mexico and Central America and given the Spanish the “Acadian treatment,” (to South America instead of “Louisianne”), just as Europe and Asia would be more distinct if the Turks were removed from Europe (shoved across the Bosporus into Asia Minor), but oh, well.
It’s still largely Two Americas (Latin and non-Latin).
Watershed map (link)
Enjoy. (Guantanamo bad? Send ‘em to Alert, then! Worry not about escapes. Latitude 84-plus.)
Y’all have the floor now.
Little linguistic tidbits. Though “American” is used as shorthand for people from the United States, Spanish speaking countries have another term (no not gringo), estadounidense, from “Estados Unidos” (United States). Interestingly that itself could be confused with Mexicans, since Mexico’s full name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, but they’re just call mejicanos (Traditional Spanish is not big on the letter X).
If you say “americano” any Spaniard will understand you’re talking about the US, even if some Latin Americans get a little miffed about it. I’d say americano is used mostly, but estadounidense gets about 20-30% of usage, especially in official things like government and news broadcasts.
Are you trying to distinguish the Euro-Americans from the true Aryans that would make the white supremacist types red-faced if the knew the truth, namely Iranians (Persians)?
(this ain’t Nazi stuff)
especially if you look like a gringo
As I, and later, Lynx, have said, there is a term that says exactly that: “estadounidense.” (“United States” = “Estados Unidos” in Spanish, “Etats-Unis” in French.) There is an additional technical detail related to this, in that Mexico’s name also has “United States” in it.
World: What’s up? South! (When I lived in Phoenix, a guy who had moved there from Australia had this in his cubicle.)
Look at McArthur’s map here.
Plenty more (Dyer) here.
Yes, one day I bought for my radical friend in DC a large-sized Peters PC map of the world. (Peters)
And no, I don’t know of any Religious Right organizations that have created an upside-down map of the USA with the South at the top.