Anti-Americanism in Canada

Submitted by Alexander (Canada), Jan 20, 2003 at 16:22

After 9/11, the images of the towers falling and the rejoicing of the Palestinians vividly imprinted in my mind, I felt ashamed to be a Moslem. A little later, discussing 9/11 in class with my students, I was saddened to hear many well-to-do, white, Christian students voicing the view that "The Americans just got what they deserved..." As a professor of Canadian Literature, I have always resisted the anti-Americanism strain in our literature and tried to teach my students to go beyond that. 9/11 showed me how little I have accomplished in this area over so many years.

Any intelligent person can see that this resentment toward America is just that, what the French call _ressentiment_, envy. What is most pitiful is that so many citizens of America's closest neighbour harbour such bloodthirstiness in their hearts.

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