Jason   Caminiti
Williams  / 4:05
Social     Issue
Final / 12/06/95

The United States of America is supposed to be the melting pot of the world. America was founded on the ideals of free thinking, and accepting other's differences. However, the great country that it was supposed to be never made it past the theoretical stages. Not because the ideals were wrong, but because the people who founded it embraced narcissism. The original founders of America thought of other cultures and races as inferior. They may not have said this in their documents, in fact they said quite the contrary. "All men are created equal" is a famous quote from the document that started America, "The Declaration of Independence." This document is one of the most hypocritical pieces of work ever written. In fact according to the founders ideals, the phrase should be written "All white men are created equal." If all men were truly created equal, in their minds, George Washington and many of the other founders would not have been slave owners. If they believed this, they certainly would not have been.

When the white man settled in the Americas for the first time they showed major amounts of narcissism. When they landed they met up with what they called "Indians". Now entitled Native Americans, this is a group that has been destroyed as a people from the time Columbus first landed. The original settlers thought that the Indians were inferior to them because of their race. The settlers looked for themselves in the Indians, and when they didn't find what they were looking for they called them savages and destroyed their entire civilizations. Never stopping to think that they may be just as intelligent, only in a different way.

From the early days of America there have been social problems which have trickled down to the present day. The early settlers in the south brought over slaves to do their work. The early plantation owners found the blacks to be inferior to them, so therefore they could force them to do their bidding. This is clearly a narcissistic attitude. The early slave owners saw differences in themselves and their slaves. They thought because they were different they were inferior. Because the slaves had been denied the ability to learn they felt they were also mentally inferior to the plantation owners. Thus, because they were inferior, they were capable of being owned. When in fact the only reasons that the slave owners were able to keep them, was because they kept the slaves ignorant, and used force to retain them.

In American literature we can see many accounts of narcissism, from mainly dealing with immigrants. In an essay written by Tin Le "Enter Dragon," Tin gives an account of how he was treated in the 7th grade when he came over to America from Vietnam. He was greeted with one of the most horrible times in his life. The other students saw that he was different and treated him as an inferior because of his differences. Some influenced by ninja movie stereotypes would challenge him to fight. When he told them he didn't know Karate they taunted him by saying that "all Chinese know Karate," and would push him around. When he didn't fight back they would do it more. In fact for a whole year he was subjected to being pushed around by other students because they knew he wouldn't fight back. The reasons they do this are clear. They see differences in him, and are emotionally satisfied by seeing him as inferior, and teasing him.

Another more famous author Amy Tan, wrote an account of her mother's struggle with the English language. In her short story "Mother Tongue" she speaks about her mother's broken English. The problem she sees is that her mother is not an idiot. Her mother is a very intelligent woman who can read magazines of the stature of Forbes with ease, which Amy Tan admits she can't begin to understand. However, Amy Tan remembers her mother trying to get back results from CAT scans and how the doctors treated her because she didn't speak very good English, she spoke broken English in their minds. It was so bad that Amy Tan had to get on the phone and ask for them for her mother. When Amy Tan got on the phone, though, she got the answers she wanted and an apology. She was able to obtain these because she spoke perfect English. The reasons that her mother was not respected as much as Amy Tan was not because Amy was a writer, or because she was more intelligent than her mother. In fact, the only reason she was respected was because she spoke perfect English. This is a great example of narcissism in America. The doctors did not treat Amy Tan's mother with respect because she didn't speak good English. She spoke "broken English," this is a narcissistic term. The word broken means imperfect, what is perfect is the doctor's English. The doctors are treating her mother in a narcissistic manner. However, doctors did treat someone who spoke perfect English with respect, because they spoke perfect English. She spoke like the doctors and could be understood. Amy's mother on the other hand was not like them, and she was treated as inferior. This is narcissism in it's purest form.

During the war many people were taken and placed in concentration camps. Subjected to the horrors of being plucked from their comfortable lives to being put in the uncomfortable position of wondering when, or if, they will be released and if they will ever see their families again. This picture is not of German origin, it is of plain old narcissistic America during World War II. In the story "Kubota" by Garrett Hongo, he speaks about his grandfather's, and many other Japanese American's, strife in America during WWII. During WWII many Japanese Americans were taken as prisoners and placed in concentration camps for the duration of the war. This was done, because many Americans, particularly the ones in charge, feared the Japanese because of their ancestry. The Japanese had attacked America, and not even thinking about the individual Japanese Americans, the powers that be sent them to camps. The Japanese were not like us, and obviously could not be trusted. Who knows if they were conspiring with the enemy. They probably are, because they aren't like us, they are like "them," and sympathize with "them."

In a story speaking about one of the longest periods of narcissism in America, "Angel at the Candy Counter," Maya Angelou speaks to bigotry against blacks. In the story Marguerite (a young girl) had a very painful toothache. When her grandmother took her to a white doctor that owed her a favor, the doctor refused to help Marguerite because she was a colored person. His policy was that he would rather put his hand in a dog's mouth than a "colored person's." (More profane word edited.) In the story you find out that during the depression the doctor was going to lose his practice, and asked for help from Marguerite's grandmother. Her grandmother loaned him the money without even thinking. The money kept his practice going, yet he would not help her when her grand-daughter needed have her teeth worked on. This irony shows a major trend in America in the 20th century. Blacks were oppressed to the point which they were segregated from the general populace. Or more to the point, the white populace. The white people at that time thought of the blacks as a different race, as a different people. Because of this they made them drink from separate fountains, and use separate toilets. The whites did not see themselves in the blacks, they saw a negative of themselves. Because of this the blacks were separated from the whites, the theory was that blacks and whites could co-exist, however could not be considered as equals. Thus the whites felt they were superior and made treated blacks in worse ways than they treated dogs. This is a sad commentary on a civilized group of people.

On February 22nd, 1989 David Duke was sworn into office as a Louisiana Legislator. David Duke is a known former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, an active white supremacist group in many southern states. This group is infamous for wearing white gowns, white pointy hats, and burn crosses on the lawns of innocent members of minority groups. They do not stop at cross burning, however, they have done everything from protest marches to lynching. Many people call these people racists, which they are. There is no doubt that this group fits the definition of a racist. According to the Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition), a racist is one who holds the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. The members of the Ku Klux Klan believe that white people are inherently superior to any other race, simply based on their race. The primary element here is narcissism. The narcissism is obvious in the ways that they publicly denounce racial integration, and in the suits they wear. They wear white suits, symbolizing white supremecy, and hide behind them. The David Duke and Ku Klux Klan examples are extreme examples. However, this is something that is going on in America today. Thus showing that narcissism is alive and thriving in America today. That a known narcissist and racist, David Duke, could be elected to office shows that people in the south are still living with the ideas that whites are more superior, and that they should elect people which will help them acheive their narcissistic utopia.

People for some reason find comfort in themselves, and cannot accept differences among other people. In everything from simple communication between two people to the relations between entire races, you can see narcissism on both sides. Until we get over ourselves and looking for ourselves in others, we cannot live in peace and harmony and accept others as individuals. Our society cannot thrive under these conditions, instead we need to learn that others are different, and that we should accept them as they are. If we allow ourselves to become narcissists we will be living in a pretty boring world.

This essay is Copyright (C) 1996 Jason Caminiti.

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