Terrorism? War? Disease? Crime? Not being able to communicate? For the places I'm likely to go, the biggest danger is none of these, but in being an Ugly American. An Ugly, Ignorant American.
Consider, for example, the experience of a friend, who recently returned from East Africa.He was hiking, with a group of fellow tourists, under the direction of a native guide, and overheard the following conversation between the guide and an American elementary school teacher.
I'm not sure which is more disconcerting: The ignorance of this person; that she is a teacher, and has doubtless passed her ignorance on to many innocent young children; or that telling this story has revealed other people who don't know that Kwanzaa is not of African origin, but was invented in 1966 by an American who wanted "to give a Black alternative to the existing holiday [Christmas] and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."Teacher: What religion are you? Do you worship spirits? Ancestors?
Guide: I'm a Roman Catholic.
Teacher: Oh. Do you celebrate Christmas?
Friend: (Inarticulate noises, recognized by his father as the signs he is trying hard to stifle both laughter and rage.)
Guide (bemused, but polite): Yes, I celebrate Christmas.
Teacher: Oh. You don't celebrate Kwanzaa?
Friend: (Indications that rage is winning out over laughter. His father attempts to lead him away from the scene. Too little, too late.)
Guide (confused, but still polite): What's Kwanzaa?
Teacher (incredulous): It's an African holiday!
Friend: (In a mixture of incredulity and embarrassment that he bears the same nationality as the Teacher, erupts with a heated exposition of the history of Kwanzaa.)
