'Ugly' and proud

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France -- In America, my relatively liberal views ensure that I am called "un-American" a decent amount. It does not help that I don't "look American," a fact that French folks have mentioned to me numerous times. With my English major, political views and slanty eyes, I might as well be from Canada.\nBut truth be told, I am an American through and through. And nowhere has my patriotism been challenged and reinforced like it has in France. As you might know, the French have a teeny bit of anti-Americanism in their blood. (I'm pretty sure it's in the constitution of the Fifth Republic somewhere.) While America-bashers here assure me they only hate George W. Bush and not all Americans, it's not long before they crack out good ol' "American empire" chestnuts or use "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" as an example of American foolishness. \nI find myself on unusually defensive turf in discussions, standing up for everything from Condoleezza Rice to the merits of the Southern barbecue. I actually had to convince a few anarcho-Marxists that it was, in fact, wrong to suggest the assassination of President Bush. (I, for one, would rather have a big national dunk tank with Bush on the perch to raise money for Iraqi reconstruction.)\nIt's a little bit like being a metaphorical big brother who picks on his little brother all the time but defends him against the onslaughts of others. \nYet it's deeper than that simplistic analogy because there are few countries on earth whose citizens hold their national identity as highly as Americans. For example, in France, there are no flags. There's one hanging out in front of city hall, but that's it. In America, we stamp the flag on T-shirts, coffee mugs and tattoos because, above all else, we are Americans first. For me, at least, being American is central to being who I am, and when someone starts flinging around "America this" and "Americans that," it's hard not to take it personally.\nFor years now, the media and foreign policy experts have worked to combat the "ugly American" mentality. Yet I would like to remind people that in the 1958 book "The Ugly American," it is the physically "ugly" American abroad, engineer Homer Atkins, who listens to the locals, responds with open-mindedness and eventually defends America by example. The last thing we need is more "pretty Americans," all smiles and handshakes, who traipse the world through photo ops and promos. \nPerhaps that's what makes the overwrought anti-American sentiment most distressing is: the knowledge that at its center is a grain of truth. American foreign policy nightmares have eroded our image abroad, but it is possible to get it back. We have to dare to be "ugly" Americans who listen and try to understand foreign cultures instead of trumpeting our own and gently assure the world that we are not monsters. We are Americans.