American Lie

It has been 8 months since I left the US to study in India. I'm back for a month this November – a month which I thought would be a test of my own temptation to resettle back in the US. It's been an interesting month - with Obama getting elected, Bombay burning down, and the American Retailer almost having a heart attack in anticipation of their beloved consumer's behavior.

But what I'd like to talk about is my exchange with a true blue (white) American from the midwest, who was a friend of a friend, and who was also a self-proclaimed Republican. This person had recently been to India, and practically ran back to the US almost as if she was running away from a Warzone. She had an earful for me about how crazy, crowded and uncontrolled India was, and how they are so bad about maintaining their parks and public places. In the conversation that ensued, I understood, for the first time in 9 years, the Lie that the "heartland" of America lives under. The best way to communicate my frustration is to give some nuggets of my conversation:

• Me: "Did you know that India has 1.2bn people, which is 4x the US population of 300mn, and India has one third the area of the US?"
  
  • Answer: "The US has 300mn people? I didn't know that"
    
  • OK – now – where do I start with someone who doesn't understand that different countries have different population densities
    
• She: "I saw how crazy the Indian drivers were. Now I understand why all the cabbies in NY City drive like crazies – they are all from some third world country, and this is how they drive there"
  
  • OK – all cabbies anywhere in the world drive like they own the road.
    
  • Most of these cabbies learned to drive after coming here… not back in Somalia or India.
    
• She: "I just went the museum in xxx town (in the US). They had excellent funding and resources for kinds activities … which neither the Museum of Natural History in NYC didn't have. I think it is because xxx town has a large black population – the government gives them additional funding"
  
  • This comment ticked me off so much that I could only walk away from there.
    

I've heard of Americans living a Lie earlier, but having this conversion in person shocked me about the level of racial stereotyping that is prevalent in the Heartland of the US.