Un-American, Is Patriotism Dead?
"Un-American" what a word! Is it even a word? According to Noah Webster it is, and it is defined as uncharacteristic of America. What does that mean? Where did this word come from, who came up with it and why did the government and society use it so often? I believe that American politicians loved to make up words just so they could feel important in the eyes of society. "Un-American" was of course the "brain-child" of the politicos who worked in Washington. They used the word to describe the "evil people" who existed in society, those who believed in new and radical ideas or protested against something that they saw as wrong. Define "evil people", well, that could take awhile considering anyone who was not a conservative or had any beliefs outside what the government or conservative society believed in, then you were defined as "Un-American". The groups that defended the use of this term were the extremists in the country who were working to rid the nation of communists and communism. That is how
the terminology of "un-American" was born. Of course this word was not only popular among extremists but found it's way into the vernacular of everyday people. They could use this word loosely among each other to describe anyone who did not fit into their realm of thinking. The reasoning behind why this term became so popular is because it started as a defense against communism. People in society wanted to label someone as "un-American" so that person could be ostracized from their community. It was a way to single out people who were different or had different beliefs. Unfortunately since there were other social uprisings during many times in history it was used to encompass all kinds of speakers, politicians, writers, actors, etc., and it was no longer used for just communism. It began to be used to label liberal authors, who wrote of their opinions on the civil rights movement, anti-war protestors who picketed against the Vietnam War (Conflict), women burning their bras in protest for women's liberati
Some common words found in the essay are:
Noah Webster, War Conflict, United States', , believe people, women's liberation, people word, believe word un-american, un-american course, times history, believe word, evil people, word un-american, society believed, label un-american,
Approximate Word count = 685
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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