Little American diplomats

I just completed my final med school exams, and one of my 4 exams involved a series of stations, each manned by a physician, where I had 9 minutes to answer questions around a given patient scenario. At 9 minutes, time is of the essence. So I was surprised that after briefly introducing myself to one doctor, he didn’t proceed to the exam question, but remarked:

Huh, that accent. So where are you from? America or Canada?

And so began a 3-minute conversation about what an American was doing taking an Australian med school exam. “Yes, I’m an anomaly”, I explained. Sufficed to say that I was shocked he would steal my answer time to satiate his curiosity.

I also noticed during the course of my exams how med school staff with whom I had little contact over the years all seemed to know my name. This was unnerving, as I couldn’t remember theirs.

The same with my classmates: In a class of 200 or so, it seemed as if most kids knew my name, while I was generally reluctant to engage other students in conversation because I couldn’t remember their names. I need to work on that.

This demonstrates to me what I have long known: the American abroad is like a gnat in the soup. You can’t help but notice her and you’re not sure if it matters that she’s there.

So I’m keenly aware of my American-ess here – not because I’m self-conscious – but because Australians remind me of it constantly. This means something.

People make judgments, form prejudices, make exceptions, and develop world views from their lived experience. Anti-Americanism may have geopolitical justifications, but nothing is as powerful in shaping opinion than personal experience. This means I have power over the minds and hearts of the Australians I meet day-to-day, because I’m an ambassador. A walking, talking opportunity to change how Australians feel about Americans. I can be the evidence for their view that Americans are inherently decent blokes or bloody arrogant bastards. I suppose then that I am self-conscious, because I keep this in mind more often than not and try to behave in ways that reflect positively on my country. I consider it my civic responsibility.

This means I also keep an eye on the behavior of other Americans here…

During my pediatric rotation this year I was stationed at a major children’s hospital. It’s a very pleasant hospital thanks to the frequent fundraisers devoted to its beautification, but a place can only be so pleasant that cares for the sickest of children, many dying. The place is largely quiet and the mood can be sobering.

But one day at the hospital while having a bit of lunch, I detected an atmospheric anomaly.

Drums.

Base.

Flutes.

Trombones?

I followed the sounds to the small lecture theatre to find 30-odd teenagers with matching uniforms and big brass instruments.

A marching band.

An American marching band.

I asked the grey-haired gentleman who seemed to be directing them: “What’s this about?” He replied in an uncanny Ned Flanders impression (i.e. Michigan accent):

Oh! This is a concert! You’re welcome to come in and enjoy! Everyone is welcome!

In the theatre I found hospital staff, doctors, and parents with sick children still connected to drips. They all had their eyes on the American kids with their quintessential American band gear. They were watching us.

Hospital staff and patients came and went as time permitted, and the kids kept on playing, whether there were 2 people in that theatre or 20.

The kids played big band music, swing, Disney tunes, and the American and Australian national anthems. The Aussies stood proudly to sing Advance Australia Fair and stood again, respectfully, as I sang along, hand to heart, to the Star Spangled Banner. And those kids played beautifully. Movingly. Skillfully. They played for Australia’s sick children.

I cried.

There was something so uplifting about 30-odd American kids packed into a tiny hospital theatre with oversized drums, trombones and clarinets making such loud and lovely music. They were the best of the American stereotype. I felt such pride in those kids. It was the kind of experience that makes you fall in love with Americans.

It was the best kind of American diplomacy.

Can I say?

Can I say… Kevin Rudd sucks.

Comedian Robin Williams had this to say on Letterman about Australia after a visit to the country:

“Australians are basically English rednecks. You down there, ‘how are ya? Good to see you. Hello.” he said. “I realized that if Darwin had landed in Australia, he would have gone: ‘I’m wrong’.”

Insulting? Sure.  But last time I checked, Robin Williams was a COMEDIAN, not a Head of Government.

So the Prime Minister of Australia thought it befitting of a man in his position to say in response on Australian radio:

“I think Robin Williams should go and spend a bit of time in Alabama before he frames comments about anyone being particularly redneck,” Rudd said.

Needless to say, the Governor of Alabama, a more dignified politician, was not impressed and responded more appropriately at the insult to his state:

“I’m not sure if Prime Minister Rudd has ever been to Alabama. If he has, he would know that Alabamians are decent, hard working, creative people.”

“That’s why Alabama is home to Australian companies like Austral which employs more than 1000 Alabamians at the world’s largest aluminium shipyard,” Mr Riley said.

Now that’s class. Recall that it was Rudd who was a career diplomat before becoming Prime Minister.

I’ve lived in Australia for 6 years now and not a week goes by where I’m not subjected to some insult as an American. I was in the Emergency Department tea room just this week where a bunch of nurses spent fifteen minutes talking about how stupid Americans were. I tuned out to keep my blood pressure down. In one nurse’s defense, when she realized that I was American and had heard the whole diatribe, she apologized profusely.

Usually, the Australian knows I’m an American and that is precisely why they start ripping into my country. I’ve had surgeons insult me in the operating theatre, an anesthetist insult me after inviting me and other students to his home for dinner, lecturers unknowingly insult me ad nauseum, and of course rank and file hospital doctors and nurses make disparaging comments to my face.

These same people would also ask me, “So how do you like Australia?”

“It’s a great country, I like it very much!” I say.

If I can be polite in the face of direct insult on a regular basis, surely the so-called sophisticated intellectual Head of Government of this so-called progressive nation can behave with aplomb without resorting to pettiness.

Can I say, Kevin Rudd, you suck.

The sociopaths among us

When you’re in medical school in Australia, you expect to learn about pathophysiology, not American politics. But my Australian professors cannot resist making ungenerous comments about American culture, uninformed comments about US health care, and unrelated comments about US politics.

Today’s tutorial on personality disorders was a case in point.

I asked the lecturer – a distinguished and highly competent Australian psychiatrist – a question about personality disorders in my very obvious American accent. He answered my question by way of this statement:

All the U.S. Presidents in the last 40 years were sociopaths, with the exception of Obama and Carter.

He proceeded to spend half of the tutorial providing evidence of this, highlighting the pathological misdeeds of Clinton, Nixon and JFK in particular (though JFK was a bit more than 40 years ago, and he didn’t need to convince me that Nixon was a sociopath).

Whether or not there is any truth to that statement, it is an inherently obnoxious one. I highly doubt that any of the 22-year-old medical students in that room knew or cared about the psychopathology of Richard Nixon. Were he interested in educating that student group he might have used more culturally appropriate examples; but he was very well read on the biographies of U.S. presidents, he assured me, and could speak on the subject of their psychopathologies with confidence. He was clearly enjoying his little monologue on the subject – particularly given my reticence to entertain the subject – and was not the least bit concerned about discomfiting me, though other students were frequently glancing my way to gauge my feelings. His behavior was a tad, dare I suggest, antisocial.

People with Antisocial Personality Disorder are also known as sociopaths or psychopaths:

The essential feature of Antisocial Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others.

Sociopaths frequently lack empathy and tend to be callous, cynical, and contemptuous of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others. They may have an inflated and arrogant self-appraisal (e.g., feel that ordinary work is beneath them or lack a realistic concern about their current problems or their future) and may be excessively opinionated, self-assured, or cocky. They may display a glib, superficial charm and can be quite voluble and verbally facile (e.g., using technical terms or jargon that might impress someone who is unfamiliar with the topic)…. These individuals may also be irresponsible and exploitative in their sexual relationships. They may have a history of many sexual partners and may never have sustained a monogamous relationship…

The sociopath can be deceitful and manipulative in order to gain personal profit or pleasure…. repeatedly lie, use an alias, con others…. make decisions on the spur of the moment without consideration for the consequences to self or others…. be irritable and aggressive…. display a reckless disregard for the safety of themselves or others…. may be indifferent to having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from someone (e.g., “life’s unfair”, “losers deserve to lose”, or “he had it coming anyway”)… and may blame the victims for being foolish, helpless, or deserving their fate (DSM-IV-TR).

U.S. politics aside, the tutorial was actually an interesting one, and I learned a good deal. I was especially fascinated by the concept of the successful sociopath. The psychiatrist – let’s call him Dr. Snark – said that the textbooks commonly describe the failed sociopath, whose personality disorder is so severe as to impair social and occupational function. The successful sociopath, on the other hand, has found the occupational niche in which his pathological behavior and antisocial attitudes contribute greatly to his own benefit. He may be a bouncer if he delights in violence, a financial CEO if he delights in risk-taking and defrauding suckers, or a politician if he delights in lies. There is no treatment for Antisocial Personality Disorder. According to Dr. Snark, all the psychiatrist can do is avoid getting manipulated and encourage the sociopath to find his niche in civilized society.

Dr. Snark kept returning to the subject of U.S. figures he considered sociopaths – adding Bernie Madoff (duh) and Ted Kennedy to the list – until I had to interrupt his rant to ask:

humanb: Excuse me sir, but is this is a political opinion or a psychiatric opinion you’re expressing?

Dr. Snark: A bit of both.

Well at least he doesn’t delight in lies.

Return of the American brand

The United States has catapulted to the #1 spot in the ranking for the nation with the best global image, according to a 2009 Nation Brands Index survey.

In 2008 – prior to the election of Barack Obama – the U.S. was ranked 7th.

I’m not the only one shocked by this:

“What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States in 2009,” explains Simon Anholt, the founder of the Nation Brands Index.

Here’s the Top 10:

1. United States
2. France
3. Germany
4. United Kingdom
5. Japan
6. Italy
7. Canada
8. Switzerland
9. Australia
10. Spain and Sweden (tie)

I could scarcely believe that Obama could be responsible for this radical and rapid rebirth of the American brand – that is, until the New York Times reported that Obama had won the bloody Nobel Peace Prize.

Goodness grief.

What a spectacularly premature decision.

What a daft idea.

The Nobel Committee has this to say for itself:

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee… told reporters that Mr. Obama, who took office in January, had already contributed enough to world diplomacy and understanding to deserve the prize.

Asked whether the prize was given too early in Mr. Obama’s presidency, he said: “We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do.”

Republicans are going to have a field day with this. They’ve been preaching that he’s egomaniacal since the primaries. They repeatedly accuse him of believing himself the Messiah, while some of them swear he’s the anti-Christ.

I’m not sure this prize will do anything to enhance Obama’s image in the US.  It’s far too high an honor for a president who hasn’t even completed one year in office. It’s the wrong type of honor for a president presiding over two wars and Gitmo.

I support my president. I voted for him. I campaigned for him. I donated to his campaign. I follow his efforts, mishaps and successes in government. I’m proud of him and I’m disappointed in him. He hasn’t showed enough courage and grit to fight for his campaign promises. But I want him to succeed, and I want America and the world to be impressed with him.

But this prize is ridiculous.

Make no mistake. This prize is not about what he’s done, because he’s not done much at all, beyond inspire many in the world and frustrate many in America. The inspiring of millions is a big deal, but only if it translates into positive, tangible changes, and it’s just too early to tell. The nomination deadline was in February, not even a month after he took office. No, this prize is about the Committee wanting to publicly coerce the most powerful man in the world, into pursuing and or/staying true to those policies and positions the Committee espouses. This has basically been confirmed by Committee members who admit to wanting their prize to be more influential in world affairs.

Tell the man he’s great, to compel him to aspire to greatness.

The Committee could also have wanted to influence America’s opinion of it’s own president, so as to provide Obama with more leverage to act internationally. His poll numbers are stable, but not stellar.

This prize is also about the world’s infatuation with the man himself.

Just today, I had two patients in the mental health ward to which I am attached, express their love for Obama to me when they heard my accent. One was a Filippino teenager who loved Obama’s looks and style. The other was a Kenyan who spoke of him like a father would a son – ready to admonish him if he acted out of line. Their minds may have been confused, but their thoughts on Obama were clear.

The Nobel Committee however, has clearly lost the plot, and not a small amount of credibility.

Hey, Hey, It’s the Ugly Australian!

If you haven’t already heard about the blackface routine performed by the “Jackson Jive” on the Australian television show “Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday”, you can find footage here, and more articles here and here. I really don’t feel like retelling the tale. I highly recommend you read the comments after each article, as the comments say more about the diversity of attitudes in Australia. I read the articles and comments before I saw the sketch.

It should be emphasized that the overwhelming majority of comments express disgust at the sketch. I quote a few of those at the end of this post.

Others express disgust at Americans:

Angry of Mayfair
Thu 08 Oct 09 (09:52am)

Whatever the connotations of ‘black face’ in the US, we’re not in the US. We are in Australia. Harry Connick should show a little more cultural sensitivity and not expect us to pander to his cultural values over our own.

This show chose to parody an American group using an historcally racist American technique in front of an invited American judge. They were asking for an American opinion and they got one.

Flabbergasted
Thu 08 Oct 09 (11:41am)

Oh for heaven’s sake. How far can this political correctness, false hand wringing and crocodile tears go? …. As Australians we need to lighten up a bit otherwise the traits and characteristics of larrikinism, lack of self importance and the ability to take the mickey out of each other that we all like to puff out our chests about and claim that this is what makes us uniquely Australian will be lost forever. For me, I don’t want to go to bed at night having saluted the flag and thinking of Mom, God and apple pie. I’m not a racist. I’m an Aussie, not a Yank.

If you’re an Aussie and not a ‘Yank’, then “take the mickey ” out of your own, if that is what it means to be “uniquely Australian”. Showing respect for the fact that blackface is grossly offensive to me, my community and my countrymen, doesn’t mean you have traitorously yielded to Americanization; but didn’t I see you at McDonald’s the other day after that Warner Brothers movie?

Andrew Smith
Thu 08 Oct 09 (10:27am)

Amanda Meade, what a load of bull.  This country needs some family entertainment and whether you like it or not, this is it.  It was great fun and frankly the overreaction of Harry Connick Junior shows how blatantly arrogant Americans really are. And unfortunately it gets blown out of proportion by narrow minded opportunists such as yourself.  The world may have changed since 1999, but sometimes we need to sit back and relax and take things for what they are, as racist, this was not.

I read more than a few comments accusing Harry Connick Jr. of being arrogant. I simply cannot fathom how someone comes to this conclusion. The man showed remarkable grace and courage in speaking up. He was as visibly uncomfortable expressing his view as he was watching the sketch. He took great pains to emphasize that he did not think the sketch was purposefully offensive. He made a special point of expressing his love for Australia as a second home. He was apologetic in his statement that he did not want to depress the tone of the show. How many of us have the courage to speak out when we are offended by the actions of others? The man did so on national television. Would that we all stood up for what we believe when on the spot. This commenter has got some seriously unresolved Yank-hate.

John
Thu 08 Oct 09 (11:53am)

I can’t believe that political correctness could have been allowed to get to the stage where this act was regarded as offensive. The intelectuals have taken over and are telling us ordinary people what we should see—Never Never!!. Maybe they should move to America where they will fit in better. The arrogance of the American “Star”?? was amazing – lets make sure he doesnt come back to Australia where real people live.

Yes, because real people find it funny to dance around in blackface to honor a black musician after his tragic death. An arrogant person takes public offense at seeing his fellow countrymen and fellow musicians parodied in front of his face, and for his benefit as an invited judge.

Now to my main point…

Do I find the sketch racist?

That’s the wrong question, because what we really want to know, is if something is good or bad. We acknowledge that racism is bad, so if we find something is racist, then we conclude it is bad. If we find it is not racist, then we conclude it is not bad. But we don’t need to label something racist to determine if it is bad.

People made derogatory comments about blacks throughout my childhood, and to my face. What hurt me so deeply was not that people held these attitudes, but that they shared them with me. They showed so little respect for my feelings and dignity in expressing attitudes they knew would offend me.

Today, Australians do this to me with alarming frequency – only they tell me to my face that Americans are idiots. I don’t think they’re bigots. I think they’re brutes.

From one article:

The lead performer in the sketch, Dr Anand Deva… said … the Jackson Jive act … was not meant to cause offence, but he admitted he would not have performed it in the US…. “I suspect things are probably a bit different in America in terms of what that (black face) means,” he said. “I understand the history of the black face but certainly it was not construed in that way at all.”

So he performed something on national television in Australia that he knew would be offensive to Americans, and that mimicked what he knew were racist practices in America’s past. There are about 100,000 Americans in Australia and tens of millions with access to the Internet and television news. To perform an act you know would be offensive to others is to be insensitive to the feelings of others. It is rude. It is ill-mannered. It is by definition offensive, as you know it will offend others. It is ugly.

To be politically correct is to be respectful of the feelings of others by refraining from using language or engaging in behaviors you know others find offensive. You may find it annoying to have to watch what you say and do, so as to avoid offending others. In the end, you decide whether or not you want to offend people. If you choose to do something politically incorrect, be prepared to hear the complaints of offended people. Attacking people for being offended is as brutish as knowingly offending them in the first place.

Here’s the leader of the sketch defending himself:

Dr Deva further defended the act by saying the group of doctors were from multicultural backgrounds and were huge Michael Jackson fans.

“I am an Indian, and five of the six of us are from multicultural backgrounds and to be called a racist … I don’t think I have ever been called that ever in my life before,” he said this morning.

The last time I checked, every human being had the capacity to offend others. No ethnic group is immune from being insensitive. Anyone can be a brute. See how much more useful a conversation we can have when we don’t force the use of the word ‘racist’? Maybe this guy has never been called a racist, but I bet he’s been accused of insensitivity before. That’s a much more specific accusation. I would add ‘clueless’.

Apparently, the men who performed the sketch were all medical specialists. This is a pity, precisely because doctors are expected to develop and demonstrate an adequate level of sensitivity towards the diversity of patients for whom they have a duty of care. One has to question the judgment, if not the sensitivity, of doctors who would think that sketch was appropriate.

Here are a few of the comments expressing the majority opinion on the sketch.

AEC
Thu 08 Oct 09 (11:24am)

I am dumbfounded by how racist some of the comments above are, and what is even more amazing is that they believe that they are not racist comments.

White men dressing up as a racially stereotypical black men deemed as family entertainment is indicative of how racist these people are, and that they clearly are happy to have their children grow up thinking that racially lampooning people of a different colour is acceptable. Do they also think it acceptable to throw racist abuse at people of a different colour as well?

Australia is renowned around the rest of the world as being one of the most racist countries, and shows like this and comments as above will only go to reinforce that perception. This will be broadcast around the world and I for one am glad Harry Connick Jr made the statement he did; all other fair minded people would do the same.

And another:

DAC
Thu 08 Oct 09 (10:02am)

This segment was in apallingly poor taste, and reflects a blindspot in Australian Anglo-Saxon culture around ethnicity. Just because the buffoons involved in this farce “didn’t mean” to racially villify African-Americans provides no excuse. White Australians need to understand how the rest of the world views this kind of stupidity and how it fuels more malevolent racist elements. And the claim that being sensitive to other cultures’ views on racism is somehow “Politically Correct” and thus suspect doesn’t wash. Political correctness is mostly just avoiding behaviour that makes one look like a insensitive fool.

And another:

Dane
Thu 08 Oct 09 (12:02pm)

Thank you, Harry Connick Jr. (and thank you too, Caroline Overington) for calling this idiocy out and letting everyone know how ridiculous and offensive that stupid skit was…. as usual, no matter how disgusting and offensive something is, there will ALWAYS be the clueless supporters who accuse the people rightfully outraged by that skit as being “the real racists.” It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic.  Anyone who thinks that this has not given Australia a MASSIVE black eye and that this won’t make it’s way back to America is deluding himself. Considering that 90% of Australian television is comprised of American television shows and American talent, I think this country would try to do a hell of alot better about understanding the racial dynamics of the world before putting out such backwards, ridiculous programming.  As for the claim that the men are minorities themselves and thus not racist, unless you’re black you have no business in blackface.  Period.

NB: The image is from Wonkette. I hope they won’t mind. I use it to demonstrate that I do have a sense of humor with regards to how much people – including blacks – resort to using the “R Word” when they have poverty of thought. Just say what you really mean, because none of us will ever agree on what racism is.

UPDATE: Some Australians are salivating at this Harry Connick Jr. sketch in which he is performing with a black comedian and portraying a southern preacher in a sketch for Mad TV. They are calling him “Harry the Hypocrite.”  First, he’s not in minstrel black face. Second, he doesn’t seem to be stereotyping a black preacher. He seems to be stereotyping a southern preacher. The man is from the Deep South. He is stereotyping his own. I’m not offended. I would be honest if I were.

More importantly, even if Harry Connick Jr. were in an offensive sketch, it doesn’t make the ‘Jackson Jive’ any less tasteless.