The Dangers of Institutionalized Generalizations

Travis Jones
Aug 9, 2017 · 5 min read

The past nine or so years have been a very difficult time for national identity in the United States. I will write more in the future about the background and history of this topic, but in this article I would like to discuss the situation we now find ourselves in.

Since the election of Barack Obama in 2008, there has been a general agreement on the Left side of the political spectrum that everyone that lives in the USA is an American, in spite of where they came from, what cultural norms they hold, or how they identify (race, gender, nationality, etc). Meanwhile, the Right held stubbornly to their traditional beliefs that Americans are those who speak English, work hard, pay their taxes, eat hamburgers and french fries, wear dungarees and smoke marlboros (a vastly inaccurate generalization, I’ll get into this more later). These opposing worldviews in stark contrast to each other have resulted in a government at odds with itself, a President with an innate ability to foster and take advantage of division, and a cultural divide that threatens the very fabric of our society.

I used to believe my progressive values of equality in difference was the “right” way to be. Love thy neighbor, regardless of their cultural background, traditions or values. Be proud of your cultural heritage and ancestry, remember your forefathers who traveled here from afar and honor their memory. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re less than because of something about you that you cannot change. We are all entitled to a piece of the American Dream, how we interact with other Americans is inconsequential.

This confidence was shaken recently, after a discussion with my father around the topic of cultural assimilation and identity. Our ancestors traveled from Sweden to Michigan in the late 1800s and early 1900s. During this time, just like today, there was popular animosity against the new immigrants and a sense of threat to American culture. What my dad told me about his ancestors’ reaction to this is what has shaken my perspective.

His story about our ancestors focused on their recognition that they were entering a new culture and, in order to take fullest advantage of what that culture can offer, felt that they needed to assimilate themselves into it. And so, no Swedish was spoken in the home, no Swedish traditions were held onto, they actively worked to make themselves more “American.”

These days, immigrants come in all shapes and colors, and how they approach the assimilation question varies widely. However, perception is everything, and living in central Texas, I can safely say that I have encountered enough locals that don’t speak any English and hold to the cultural traditions of their homeland to understand why the “Immigrants aren’t American” rhetoric the Right pushes so hard resonates with voters. And this is where we come to the point.

We now live in a country where the Left and Right have diametrically opposed generalizations about immigrants and the process of immigration, naturalization and citizenship. On one side, we say “it doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are or what you believe, you live here so you are American,” and on the other side we say “if you want to consider yourself American you have to prove it to us with the following tests.” Both sides make the assumption that all immigrants are the same and should be treated the same, but one says it’s all good, the other says prove it. And this is why neither side will be able to answer the question.

Niether the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution lay out specifically what is required to be American, and this is obviously by design. The definition has changed over time and swayed considerably between openness and restrictiveness. But to say one way or another what makes one American is to play into the hands of the manipulators—effectively you are drawing a line in the sand and saying “my definition is the only definition that is correct, and I will not abide any argument”—and they can take advantage of this by feeding fuel to the flames of disagreement (see: Trump and the GOP).

In today’s reality, through the opposing freight trains of Left and Right identity-based rhetoric, we have found ourselves in a quagmire of institutionalized cultural and national generalizations. Because we are talking about opinions that cannot be proven true or false without scientific analysis or sociological consensus, we have arrived at a place where if you say something enough, it becomes true. All cultural heritage should be equally valued and protected, regardless of its origins. All Americans should speak English. Sexual and Gender identity is a spectrum. Abortion is murder.

No matter what the opinion is, the holder of that opinion believes it is the absolute truth and contradicting opinions should not be respected, because their echo chamber has repeated it enough that it has entered their canon of unassailable truths.

Why did that engineer at Google write his anti-feminine manifesto? Because he holds generalized opinions on people who identify as women, and believes those generalizations to be true. Why did that guy shoot up the Congressional baseball practice? Because he held generalized opinions about Republican congressmen and believed them to be true. In the end, most conflict arises due to conflicting generalizations and assumptions between two parties.

But if we truly live in an individualist society, shouldn’t the individual be paramount? Shouldn’t the one generalization we all hold and that should bind us together is that no individual can be judged by a generalization about them? When did we lose the ability to see people as people, instead of members of a group? Why do we enter into an encounter with presumptions based on what a person looks like, what their shirt or hat says, or how their voice sounds? It’s naturally human, but it goes starkly against the founding tenets of our society.

Citizens on both sides of the political spectrum need to take some deep breaths, step out of your comfortable echo chambers and remember: at our deepest core we are all Americans, and Americans are all equal, should be treated with respect and deserve to be given their space to express their opinions, but should also be expected to respect the opinions of others, even if they are contrary to your own. When you encounter someone who doesn’t fit into your tribe, do not judge them based on your perception of theirs. Remember, you don’t want them to judge you by their perception of your tribe, do you?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Travis Jones

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