Anti-French sentiment in the United States: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:49, 30 May 2004

Revision as of 03:00, 30 May 2004

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[[Donald Rumsfeld]] famously referred to France and Germany as "old Europe" while referring to the many [[Central European]] countries which pledged diplomatic backing of the US war as "New Europe," raising long-extant fears that expansion of the European Union would be used by the US to keep Europe politically divided.

French president [[Jacques Chirac]] became the target of widespread hatespeech even in first class U.S. media. [http://www.iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id=94336&owner=(NYT)&date=20030424180813] [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=6005] French foreign minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] emerged as a prominent critic of U.S. action in Iraq.

=== Cultural friction ===

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==Popular anti-French insults and allegations==

Because of the sometimes-heated relationship between the two countries, some Americans, including editorialists and congressmen, relish in anti-French jokes. Some of these allude to events of the [[Second World War]], alleged French military weakness and cooperation with the [[Third Reich]]. Such argumentation has been used by conservative editorialists to dismiss the French opposition to the [[War in Iraq]] as fear and appeasement with respect to radical [[Islamism]]. The French were also accused of ungratefulness for the US intervention in World War I and the American liberation of France in World War II. The French feel that gratefulness cannot mean that they should not have an independent foreign policy. Such argumentation was especially developed during the course to the [[War in Iraq]] [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/14/60minutes/rooney/main540729.shtml]. There are also some allegations regarding French domestic policies, some claiming that they thatare a [[anti-semitismsocialist]] was wide-spread was widespread in France or that it was a [[socialistanti-semitism|anti-semitic]] country.

Many anti-French American insults deal with the French culture. In some cases, these considerations are based on ''[[cliché]]s'' as they exist everywhere and towards every country. Regarding the French, examples of clichés are that they are lazy, arrogant, homosexual, emotional and flamboyant, rude and disrespectful to tourists and that they have defective personal hygiene and enjoy foul or disturbing delicacies. In other cases, allegations center on the French political institutions, for instance claiming that France does not have some findfreedoms that Americans enjoy ([[presumption of innocence]]...) and thus is not qualified to discuss some matters of civil disgustingrights.

==Related articles==