what does it mean?

[cos]

Please comment on this post before you read anyone else's comments.

This weekend, I saw a bumper sticker that said,
Straight, White, English-Speaking
Proud American
For a moment, I was offended ... then I started thinking of several different possible intentions, meanings, and contexts for this slogan. After a bit of confusion, I settled on curiosity. What does it mean? What did the people who sold it intend for it to convey, and what did the person who put it on their car intend to say by it? I can think of several different possibilities or nuances, and maybe there are more.

So tell me, what do you read in this bumper sticker slogan? And if, like me, you see several possibilities, which one came first, before you thought about it?

Comments

prejudices and reactions in reflection

[cos]

Oh, you're right! I missed the fact that there was a second page of comments when I first looked to see if you'd posted. This is the first time I ever remember being way behind on reading my own journal :)

Those actually were my first thoughts. I am a conservative and as such am attuned to the kind of viewpoint that would buy such a sticker. The fact that 70 people decided that this person was bigoted and/or a jerk without any evidence except this sticker makes me sick because it means that they have prejudices against the majority of Americans proclaiming thier identity.

Having now read your first thoughts, I think that was a very useful addition to this discussion. However, surprised though you may be by it, you're far from the only conservative who reads my journal. The fact that you say that "70 people decided [etc.]" shows that you haven't actually read most of the comments here, only skimmed a few that seemed representative to you, and that really touched a sore spot for you and led you to jumping to conclusions about everyone. Which, in itself, actually serves to illustrate one possibility of what may be behind that bumper sticker - and what may be behind some of the commenters that so annoyed you. Their comments, and this comment of yours, feel like flip sides of the same coin, though with varying degrees of self-awareness about it.

Which, once again, makes your comments a very useful addition to this discussion.

But, I do recommend you go back and read more of the comments. Also, aelisdeliria's spinoff post that spurred on some more discussion.

Re: prejudices and reactions in reflection

[soulchanger.livejournal.com]

Actually, I read all of the comments, when the comment count was 80. Most of them were variations of "he's bigoted," "he's an asshole," and "who cares." Maybe there were more than ten that varied, but 70 seemed like a good estimate without actually counting - which I really don't have time for.

Re: prejudices and reactions in reflection

[cos]

Since your post interests me, I took the time to count. I went through those first 80 comments (which, it turns out, covers all but one of the people who commented) and tried to judge each one in terms of your claim above, that I was initially reacting to here:
70 people decided that this person was bigoted and/or a jerk without any evidence except this sticker

First of all, when people make assumptions about what this sticker means, they're not doing it purely from what the sticker says and nothing else. Their assumptions come from putting the sticker in a cultural context, which involves a lot of other information. Your reaction to the sticker also comes from putting it in a cultural context, as you described in your first comment. So even if someone does jump to the wrong conclusion, there's more going into that conclusion than you imply. However, I want to simplify this and wave all that aside - let's forget about context for a moment, and just look at the comments and whether or not they jump to the kind of conclusion you saw in them.
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