American Leftists Project 'Race' Onto The Rest Of The World
But my travels abroad showed me something different
American leftists project onto the rest of the world the American version of race to inject a white supremacy narrative & imply the entire world is inherently racially motivated.
However, I've found that my treatment abroad was more based on where I'm from, not my being black.
I've found that one of the hardest activities for people to practice is attempting to see the world from another person's perspective and it's even more difficult to contemplate when that individual lives in a completely different country than yourself.
Instead, we often project onto the world what we're familiar with and how we believe we would interpret life in someone else's skin without inquiry. Leftists do much of this because they're not curious, they're dogmatic: their objective is to make the world fit their narrative.
Being from America, race is a topic of conversation in regards to potential treatment and we're hyper-sensitive about whether our experience will be different simply because of how we look. So, when I started solo traveling, I wondered if the same applied to other countries.
Instead of staying in plush hotels and having guided tours, I opted to stay in hostels and Airbnb and talked to everyone I possibly could to learn more about their perspective on the world and the cultural outlook where they're from.
In nearly every taxi I took, I'd have some of the best conversations and it would be an even more unique perspective because most were immigrants to the country I was visiting, giving them a dual-world perspective I knew nothing about.
But what became obvious with every random person & even potential friends I'd make, was they didn't see me as a different kind of American, ie African-American, they just saw me as an American full stop. They were more curious about what it was like being an American, not black.
At most, they might ask me if what they saw on television about racial tensions was true but even in their questioning, I could tell they didn't fully comprehend why skin tone mattered to us so much because to them culture and nationality were far more important than complexion.
Side note: We underestimate how influential American culture is to the rest of the world and how favorable we are viewed in many parts of it. I literally had a woman hug me with excitement while in Turkey once she found out that I was American, shouting "I love America!" repeatedly.
Most Americans don't have a passport, nevertheless travel abroad in the manner I do, and leftists play on our ignorance about the rest of the world to emphasize white supremacy being a worldwide phenomenon and the driving force for all oppression in the world.
But how could this be true if most countries in the world don't conceptualize race in the same way we do? Does this make sense when there are myriad examples throughout history and the present day of a people's oppressor who shares the same complexion as them?
What I've found is that if there is some form of irrational hatred towards another, it stems from either animosity or fear of that person's culture or what they perceive as that person's culture. Because of this, the American understanding of race or racial hatred doesn't equate.
So far, I've been to 12 countries and while I've been interested in the differences between them, I could not overlook how much we have in common. Leftists need for there to be division to conquer our minds and seeing what bonds us together as humans threatens their initiative.
I'm reminded of when I met a family from Uzbekistan on a boat tour in Istanbul. They didn't speak English yet we found ways to communicate via technology so we could enjoy lunch with each other and even reconnected the following day.
Despite our differences, we found commonalities because they were like many families in America.
There is a profit motive in making us believe we can't get along but if you talk to people in good faith, you'll witness what I have: humanity.
I really like this essay. Great message.
We have similar issues here in 🇨🇦.
Hi Adam. You're writing is so uplifting and this column was no exception. I am so sick of race. I've listened to the lefty democrat clap trap about it my entire 64 years and I'm just so tired of it. Obama was supposed to be the post-racial president but it turned out he was one of the most hyper-racial presidents we've ever had. He and his democrat cronies introduced us, or at least facilitated the growth of DEI, a divisive and destructive philosophy whose real goal is to Balkanize and divide us.
A couple of highlights: "Leftists do much of this because they're not curious, they're dogmatic: their objective is to make the world fit their narrative." A more apt description of democrat lefties I have never heard. The democrat goal is not only to make the world fit their narrative, but it is to force people's behavior, including speech, to conform to their narrative. And unlike some conservative Christians who seek to do the same through moral persuasion and some finger wagging, the democrat leftists seek conformity by using laws enforced by men with guns. There is no "live and let live" in leftism in general or specifically in the democrat party...other than killing babies and private sexual practices between consenting parties (BTW not "consenting adults" anymore, its morphed into "consenting parties"). Other than those two subjects democrats are about dogmatism and conformity. The democrat party being about individual freedom and rights is a thing of the past. But, digress somewhat.
And finally this: " I literally had a woman hug me with excitement while in Turkey once she found out that I was American, shouting "I love America!" repeatedly." This brought tears to my eyes. The Turkish woman expressed a viewpoint about America that was common when I was growing up. We were the great, vast country that had stamped out Nazi evil and Japanese Imperialism. We has stared down the Soviet Communists in the Cold War. We were that great and good...emphasis on good...country. To hear that anyone on the planet still has that view of us was heartening and uplifting. Thanks for a great column.