By Steven J. Grisafi, PhD.
The recent passing of the bicentennial anniversary of the British army”s burning of the White House (August 24, 1814) has reminded me of yet another story I learned as an undergraduate as to why Einstein”s theory of relativity was so readily accepted. What astonishes me today is that when I entered college forty years ago these stories were rampant throughout the undergraduate classes. I seem to have been the only one listening. But I wasn”t the only one to have heard them. Here is another reason one of my professors gave to his class as to why we all came to accept relativity theory.
In the aftermath of World War II, and the burgeoning development of the Cold War, the generations who reached adulthood in those times grew insensitive to the extreme effect World War I had caused to the generation that reached adulthood in the aftermath of that war. The Great War was indeed a horrific experience for the generations that experienced it. So much so, that their altered class structures became our new normal. Our professor related to us that, in the aftermath of the Great War, the British were very eager to make amends with the Germans, with whom they, one may argue, felt a stronger affinity, because of their Anglo-Saxon heritage, than to their war allies, the French, whom they viewed as being of a more Latin heritage. This eagerness to rebuild a sense of trust and amity with the Germans extended beyond mere diplomatic and political relations between the two peoples but also into the communities of scientists and science. Supposedly, according the the story of our professor, the British were very eager to embrace the theories of Albert Einstein because they felt this could only help to rebuild the friendship of the German and British peoples. However, the fly in the ointment, according to our professor, was that the Germans did not view Albert Einstein as German. To them he was “different”, he was a Jew.
In a recent post at Bloomberg View, Noah Smith relates the story of Arthur Chu and his feelings of alienation from his fellow countrymen, the American people. My reaction to Arthur Chu”s expression of discontent was to wonder: Who among us Americans does not also feel that alienation? Arthur Chu, in my opinion, along with many other Americans, mistakenly attributes his testimonial of alienation to a difference of skin color. Actually, in my opinion, to be more accurate, he ought to attribute it to differences of culture. I live here in Pennsylvania and I love Pennsylvania. I never thought of myself as anything other than an American until one day when I was a sophomore in high school. This was in the year 1971 when I, as a member of our school”s wrestling team, first met one of our school”s New York State wrestling champions. He asked me how do you make an Italian. He raised one hand and said “You take one pile of shit”, then he raised his other hand, and said, “You take another pile of shit” then he slapped his hands together and shouted “Wop!” Despite being a weight class beneath me this guy could beat the crap out of me anytime he wished so I just smiled. Actually, I wasn”t offended. I was astonished. I never considered myself to be anything other than an American.
Here in Pennsylvania my mother lives in a residence devoted to senior citizens. From the very beginning of our American nation, Pennsylvania has always had a large population of people of German ancestry. My mother has told me that some are still very bitter about America”s involvement in World War II. One woman told my mother that we “killed her people.” I wonder what the woman would say if she had known that two of my mother”s uncles were Fascists fighting in the Italian army. Yet, my father, his brother, my Godfather, and all of their cousins (one of whom who returned only in a casket) had their loyalty to the United States of America tested by their service in the United States Army. News media in the United States has dubbed World War II the “Good War.” This is despite the great reluctance most Americans had toward joining the war. At the time of the outbreak of World War II, Americans of German ancestry were the largest ethnic minority. The second largest group were the Irish; and Ireland remained neutral throughout the war, primarily due to their difficult history with the British. There are no differences of skin color here. Many, if not all, Americans can lay claim to some cause for feelings of alienation.
While I was a graduate student, a good friend of mine was another student from Taiwan. One day he explained to me that he did not consider Taiwan to be his home. He said China was home. No matter where he lived, he considered only China to be home. What this actually means is that China is his culture. And this is where I do agree with Arthur Chu. To the extent that he wants eastern civilization to be his home he will never be at home in the United States of America. This is something all who come these shores must expect and accept. Ours is western civilization, this is embedded within our constitution, our system of laws, and this will never change. This is the prerogative of the conqueror. It is the legacy of our ancestors who struggled to preserve our way of life, and we, their descendants, shall not surrender it. Yet our American culture evolves through assimilation of the cultures of immigrants to America. Our constitution cannot do for America what the British Royal Family does for the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II and her family define what it means to be British. No American President does that for the American people. Since we choose to embrace multiculturalism, all there is that defines us as a people is our adherence to the Constitution and our pursuit of the dollar. There is nothing else that defines us as American.