America has forgotten American ways

Following the weekend of the Super Bowl and incredibly expensive commercials, one thing really stood out. It was Coca-Cola’s commercial “America the Beautiful” that raised a lot of dust in America. Many Americans were offended by the fact that Coca-Cola dared to present something so American through different languages.

As a proud Serbian and someone who has been in the states for the past four years, and truly inspired by many hateful comments on the Internet, I would like to take a deeper look into a few things.

For all the people who claim that America is equivalent to the English language and that it is unbearable to sing an American song in any other language but English, let me clarify a few things.  America does not have an official language. Many languages are spoken and used by many Americans, regardless if they moved to America a long time ago, or if they are first generation Americans.

This commercial raised many questions that were deeper than just singing a song in English. Its cultural diversity is something that America has been struggling with and a lot of people have a hard time accepting the fact that Jews, Chinese, Muslims and others are a part of this country.

“An American song sang in the terrorist language,” and “Welcome to America now we speak English,” are only a few open-minded opinions of patriotic Americans who are so proud to protect their country from any other cultural influences, that they forget they came from a different continent.

I was extremely angry when I saw these posts because, as a foreign student, I have a hard time accepting the idea of American freedom, tolerance and equal opportunity when the practice is so far away from this idealistic image America is trying to sell to the world.

Also, Americans came from all around the world. America is unique because it is the whole world combined in one country. Why are people still trying to protect something so American when the word “American” means culturally connected and united?

I was not upset about the fact that people did not like the song because it was not in English, that is just a personal preference. I was upset because people do not realize what America is today and they  lack respect and tolerance toward everything that is different from who they are and what they are used to. The amount of hatred and intolerance that was expressed through hundreds of tweets raised the issue of how ignorant some people are. You don’t have to like it, but learn to respect it. And if you stop drinking Coke because you cannot stand their commercial, remember, they already earned their money because you already bought the products. There are still millions of people all around the world who will keep drinking it, so your protest probably will not influence their economy.

Coca-Cola had a positive idea to present America as a united culture full of diversity, but people found negative messages. Not all Americans are like that, but  those who raised their hateful voice contributed to the negative image of America in the world. Because of people who are allowing ignorance and false patriotism take over everything that is good and diverse in America, this country “is going down the toilet right now.”  Way to go ‘Merica.