Becoming a Better American

How Leaving the United States made me a better American

 

Hi and welcome to the July issue of Making History Today, the newsletter for people who want to change the world. I’m Robin, the editor of this great and groundbreaking newsletter. I’m so happy that you are receiving Making History Today and listening to this podcast.

 

As the editor in chief, I have the privilege every month of writing a few words about a current event or an important issue that I think will be helpful, interesting or even intriguing to the Making History Today community. This month, I made an interesting observation about myself. It’s something that I notice every year. Mostly in July. You see every July, I return to the United States for a vacation. That’s when it happens. I notice the same thing. I notice a change in myself and in the United States.

 

But let me back up a bit and tell you the whole story. It’s not long but it’s important because then you’ll understand that when I left the United States, I actually became a better American. And that’s the subject of my editor’s note for the July issue of Making History Today.

 

In 1994, I moved to the Netherlands. It was not supposed to be a permanent move to leave the United States. I was going to study at a Dutch University for my Masters degree in European Law. I was planning a year-long adventure of living abroad, learning another language and travelling around Europe. My program was scheduled to end in May 1995 and then I would return to my life and law practice in California.

 

I DID complete my program in May of 1995.

 

But I didn’t return to live in the United States.

 

What happened?

 

A lot.

 

I had developed a different worldview. And my view of America had definitely changed.

 

Let me begin by saying that I love the United States. I always have. I can still get misty-eyed when reading the Declaration of Independence. I read the U.S. Constitution for the sheer joy of it. I love the cultural diversity of the country, the can-do attitude and the everything-is-possible belief. I could make a long list of the great things in and about the United States. But what I experienced in Europe during that study abroad year was a game changer for me.

 

I met so many new and interesting people from around the world—each of us defined PRIMARILY but NOT SOLELY by our nationality. But as an African American woman, I never thought of myself as fully, mainstream American but more as “on the fringes” American.   Yet when I spoke with people from Spain, Poland or South Africa, I realized how fully American that I really was or am. At first, this was a shocking realization. Then it became a teachable moment, an epiphany—it became my opportunity to grow and learn how other people live, think and experience life. That’s when I discovered how fully American that I really am. And—perhaps more importantly—that Americans are not living as fully as we can.

 

What do I mean?

 

I mean that Americans (myself included) accept certain things as “acceptable” or “just how things are”. Or that this is the best way to do something. Or we simply can’t imagine something different. And these are things that we should NEVER accept.

 

Here’s an example: I became sick while I was in the Netherlands. I was a student and didn’t have much money and no Dutch health insurance. I needed to spend the night in the hospital and have tests. I was worried that I couldn’t afford all of that. The hospital never even asked to see my insurance information. (In contrast, the hospitals and pharmacies that I have visited in the United States spend lots of time asking about insurance, deductibles, exemptions and a host of other financial information that has NOTHING to do with medical treatment!) The Dutch hospital was clearly more interested in my treatment rather than my ability to pay. Everyone spoke English. And I was treated with professionalism and kindness.

 

Months later, I was sent a bill that was less than $500, (and this was for an overnight stay in the hospital and a complicated test). I sent the bill to my American health insurance provider who refused to pay any part of it.)

 

This was not the only experience that I have had with the medical systems in different European countries. They all have provided excellent service at a fraction of the costs of the American system. Most non-Americans simply don’t understand how the American system can cost so much money.

 

The same is true for the educational system, particularly at the university or graduate school level. I paid about $1,000 for my post-graduate program at a fantastic law school in the Netherlands. This is a fraction of the costs of American schools.

 

But everything is not just about costs. It is much more.

 

 

 

I’ve witnessed what people expect from their government such as transparency and accountability. Real debate and progressive discussion happens on issues like GMOs, stem cell research, gun control, race and ethnicity, women’s rights, abortion, LGBTQ rights and same sex marriage. Yes, there are far-right and far-left parties but they aren’t dominating the mainstream (even though they might want to do so) and they’re not controlling politicians to make or support laws that serve only the privileged and powerful few. Lobbying and political action is regulated and transparent. Pharmaceuticals are regulated. Even television is different. Whenever I visit the United States, I become acutely aware that advertising is dominated by food and pharmaceuticals. Not the same in the various European countries that I have lived in.

 

Of course, European countries have their problems and issues. Having lived in Sweden, England, Belgium and the Netherlands, I have been frustrated sometimes with the amount of regulation (mostly the paperwork!) and the higher taxes. But I have been more impressed with the access to health care, excellent and affordable schools and the civil liberties.

 

Europeans ask me why so many people are imprisoned in the United States, why so many people are allowed to have guns, how people can afford the health care and why Americans have such limited paid medical, maternity and family leave. They ask me why stem-cell research is so controversial, why abortion is such a heated issue, why there is so much gun violence and why American universities are so expensive.   I don’t have answers to these questions except to say that Americans view health care, affordable education or employment security as privileges. Europeans view them as rights. Americans accept the death penalty, life sentences and mass incarceration as a standard response to crime.

Most European countries don’t have the death penalty or the high incarceration rate of the United States. Yet European countries have lower crime rates than the United States. You know, the United States houses 22 percent of prisoners around the world though it makes up less than 5 percent of the world’s population. Today I find that shocking. When I lived in the United States, it seemed “normal.”

 

Yet I do consider myself more American than ever before. And my increased “Americanism” is leading me to demand more from my government than ever before. I want America to be that “more perfect union” that it can be.

This could be what happened other African Americans travelled or even lived abroad. People like James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Chester Himes and Josephine Baker moved to Europe and experienced a different world from the oppressive racism, random violence and segregation in America where they were born. WEB Dubois went to live in Ghana and learned the real greatness and grandeur of African history and culture in contrast to the “dark continent” view of Africa that he learned in school. And Paul Robeson studied in England and visited the Soviet Union. He said in Moscow, "Here I am not a Negro but a human being for the first time in my life, I walk in full human dignity."

 

This was also true for many African American soldiers who fought in the first and second world wars experienced better treatment, higher social status and more rights and liberties while living abroad. And yes it was very difficult to return to the racist society in America who was not grateful for their service and sacrifice but was determined to strip them of their rights and put them back on the bottom of the social order.

 

 

 

Yet many African Americans did return to their birth country. And, like the Black veterans, they were different people. Having seen how the world can really be, they returned to demand that America live up to its own rules and standards—as stated in the constitution—and to create a better country for all of its people.

 

I also needed to leave my country before I understood that things could be different. They should be different. I needed that view from the outside. Moving abroad gave me that awareness.

 

I remember James Baldwin once said,

 

“I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

 

I do too.

 

And I feel that America can become a better place AND I can be a better American. That means holding American society and government to higher standards.

 

Americans CAN have affordable health care, employment security, maternity and paternity leave, safer and less violent communities, programs that support the more vulnerable and less abled segments of society, racial equality and justice, a clean environment, a strong infrastructure, social and economic fairness and meaningful political participation.

 

But we will have to work for it. Demand it. And sacrifice for it.

 

Change at the most fundamental level will require airing out dirty laundry for the world to see. But I’ve learned that people already see our dirty clothes hanging in the wind. And I am now more aware than ever that the emperor is not wearing any clothes.

 

But I’m also ready to wash America’s dirty laundry and point out the emperor’s nakedness.

 

Awareness, for me, is the first step towards change. I feel that makes me a better American: awareness and a willingness to work for change. Incidentally, that is one of the reasons why this Making History Today newsletter is so important: it’s a vehicle to channel the activist feelings and drive to change America and, actually, change the world.  

 

I’m gonna wrap this up with another quote from James Baldwin:

 

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

 

Yes, living abroad has helped me to see the problems and develop the strength to face them. I want America to become that more perfect union that it can be—and I’m prepared to work for it.

 

So, am I saying that the only way to become a better American is to leave it? Definitely not. There are lots of ways. In my next Editorial note of Making History Today, I’m gonna discuss a few other ways—some require big changes but others are small changes. I’ll present a few and I would like to hear your journeys too. You know, we can’t change our country or our world until we can change ourselves. See you in November!