[Vision2020] The Myth of a Monocultural "Western" Civilization

[Donovan Arnold]

Prof. Gier writes,
 
  "When I traveled to India for the first time, I found it initially puzzling that the newspapers called the Middle East 'Western” Asia'."
 
   I don't think that surprising considering that it is west of them and they are smart enough to know their directions. But I do know that the US doesn't. For example, we say "Midwestern states" when we really mean Mideastern. But Mideastern states is another term already used. However, we use correct navigational and geographical terminology in reference to southwestern and northwestern states. Eskimos, I would think, would have an awful time referring to different people from a navigational point of view, being that all civilizations are directly South. 
 
Donovan Arnold
 

________________________________
 From: Nicholas Gier <ngier006 at gmail.com>
To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 3:20 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] The Myth of a Monocultural "Western" Civilization
 

Greetings:

This is my radio commentary/column for the week.  I wrote it especially for the Latah County Human Rights Task Force to counter the activities of a new student group on the UI campus.  It is a right-wing group called "Youth for Western Civilization."  The Task Force asked me not to name the group so as not to give it any PR. 

The full version is attached.

Yours for an incredibly rich multicultrual American civilization, which we must preserve at all costs,

Nick

THE MYTH OF A MONOCULTURAL “WESTERN”
CIVILIZATION 
 
            When I traveled to India for the first time, I found it
initially puzzling that the newspapers called the Middle East “Western” Asia.  Distinguishing cultures by the cardinal
directions is obviously quite arbitrary. 
To avoid these confusions, I now tell people that I taught Euro-American
and Asian philosophy and religion. 
But even
here the term “American” must include the rich and sophisticated cultures of the
indigenous peoples of the “Western” Hemisphere (which of course to Asians is to
their East).  For example, the Iroquois
Confederation had a profound effect on the founding of American democracy, and Iroquois
women had more rights than their European counterparts.   
What is
really amazing about some who clamor for a return to Western Civilization is
that they define it narrowly as “Anglo-Saxon” culture. Former Congressmen Tom
Tancredo, a second-generation Italian-American, once declared that “people who are not white
Anglo-Saxon have become American by adopting a whiteAnglo-Saxon  culture."  This is
really odd: all the Italian Americans I know celebrate their Southern European
heritage and their cuisine is one of the most popular in America. 
Even more ironic is that
Hispanic Americans, some whose families were on American soil long before Northern
Europeans came, also have a Southern European heritage and speak a European
language.  Along with Catholic Poles,
French, and Italians, Hispanic Americans are also “European Christians,”
another term that our nativists are fond of. 
More irony abounds in the meaning of that word: one who “protects the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants.” 
            In his most recent book Suicide of a Superpower, Pat Buchanan predicts
that “historians
will look back in stupefaction at 20th and 21st century Americans
who believed the magnificent republic they inherited would be enriched by
bringing in scores of millions from the failed states of the Third World.”  In the book Buchanan also repeats his
outrageous and completely discredited claim that white males are the most
intelligent human beings. 
            Due
primarily to Anglo-Saxon oppression and a belief that the Irish were not full
human beings, Ireland was a failed “Third World” state. But no one would now
say that Irish Americans, especially after building the transcontinental
railroads along with their despised Chinese co-workers, are not welcome in this
nation.   
            Interestingly
enough, some American nativists give back-hand compliments to Asian Americans
for their hard-working, entrepreneurial spirit, but they condemn Hispanic
workers who turned American fields and orchards into the most productive in the
world.  
            Muslim
Americans have the highest average income of any ethnic group and their women
have earned more college degrees than their men, but Buchanan, Tancredo, and
many others want them deported as well. 
Christian Europe was in the Dark Ages until Islamic scholars brought
Arabic translations of the Greek literature, medicine, and philosophy—the
foundations of “Western” civilization—to medieval Spain.  
Muslims
have lived in America since the importation of slaves from West Africa.  Thomas
Jefferson once defended the sacrifice of lambs, which most certainly indicated
that some of his slaves were Muslims celebrating the feast of Eid.  Jefferson studied the Qur’an and may have
drawn some legal inspiration from it, and he also celebrated Eid at the White
House, a tradition that Presidents Bush and Obama have continued.   
Contrary to popular belief, 63 percent
of Arabs living in the U.S., with roots in this country going back over a
century, are Christians.  Steve Jobs, Ralph Nader, Gen. John Abizaid, and
former Senator George Mitchell are all from Christian Arabic families. Well
above the national average, 36 percent of these good citizens have a bachelor’s
degree or higher. According to the Prejudice Institute: “Fewer than 11% of Arab
Americans live below the poverty level [national average is now 16%]. On
average, the Arab American income is 22% higher than the U.S. national
average.” 
The U. S. has been a multi-cultural
nation since its inception, and no culture, except remote isolated tribes, can
claim to be pure.  We now live in a “fact
aversive” climate, so too many people accept as truth Tancredo’s and Buchanan’s
bigoted statements.  This is a national tragedy. 
Nick Gier taught religion and
philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. 
 

 
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