Superbowl XLVIII was had its fair share of adverts, most of which were centered around man's best friend, sex appeal, beer, and patriotism. The following commercial, created by Coca Cola, opted for the patriotic route. It features individuals from different racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds singing verses to "America the Beautiful." Coke writes, "The only thing more beautiful than this country are the people who live here." But it was not rife without controversy.
The number of dislikes and type of comments are a litmus test to the public's reaction to this much-talked-about advert. The reactions of the anonymous public reminded me of what I was taught in grade school -- of America as a melting pot (whereas our neighboring country Canada views itself as a mosaic and a tapestry). Herein lies the problem of racism and intolerance that is still so prevalent in our country: we view the American culture as a melting pot, with the expectation of acculturation and assimilation. What is so inherently disturbing about having the best of both worlds, juggling more than one culture, speaking two or more languages?
In our multicultural/pluralistic society class this semester, we have been talking ad nauseum about embracing the importance of being bilingual. In an increasingly globalized society, the importance of being multilingual is something of an asset, rather than something to be ashamed of. It helps in building cultural competence and empathy, in the fluidity of traveling freely between countries, in expanding communicative horizons to a dialect beyond Standard American English. Because news flash...the rest of the world is born into a rich, multilingual environment. So this is an open letter to America the Beautiful: let us embrace the importance of being bilingual. Surely it is something to be treasured.
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