What does it mean to be unAmerican?

Not decorate your in- and exterior of your home with American flags?

How about a Muslim ban?

~ Saying no to the last piece of pie.

It means you don’t share my political views.

Chomsky on the concept of “Americanism” and “anti-Americanism”:

“You might take a look at that word ‘Americanism,’ it’s an unusual term, it’s the kind of term that you only find in totalitarian societies as far as I know. So like in the Soviet Union, and anti-Sovietism was considered the gravest of all crimes… and the Brazilian generals had some concept like that anti-Brazilian, but try, say, publishing a book on anti-Italianism and see what happens in the streets of Rome or Milan People won’t even bother laughing, it’s a ludicrous idea,”

“As far as I know, the United States is the only free society that has such a concept. Americanism and anti-Americanism and un-Americanism and so on … these are concepts which … induce hatred and fear among people.”

The fact that the term exists says much about US culture.

^ This.

Although, I tend to consider the best things about USA-ness to be the original principles of liberty, freedom (including religious freedom), the pursuit of happiness, equality, fraternity (hopefully, in a non-sexist sense), opportunity. Ironically, that tends to have me judge things typically called “un-American” as very er… against the original good things about the USA.

I also notice that the people trying hardest to claim “patriotism” and “American” as aligned with their political views, tend to be authoritarian and rule-bound, valuing obedience, conformity, working hard at a job, silencing protestors, corporate power, imposing Christian doctrine and morality, locking up rule-breakers, immigrants, dissenters, whistleblowers, non-capitalists and putting them to work in for-profit prisons, sexism, favoring white people, etc…

Being un-American means that some right-winged conservative Neanderthal disapproves of you based on his reactionary opinion.

Being un-American would be to hate every single thing America stands for and to despise people that live in America to the point where you want them dead, in my opinion.

The people who did 9/11 are un-American.
Basically, Terrorists are un-America.

Somebody who disagrees with your political opinion on Facebook (or anywhere) is NOT un-American.
People who are not insanely patriotic are NOT un-American.
People who don’t stand for the National Anthem are NOT un-American.
People who know we aren’t anywhere near perfect and that we need to change things are NOT un-American.

I think living in the U.S makes you an American and your viewpoints or lifestyle doesn’t change that. It’s when you are somebody who is so against this country you want to kill innocent people.

No, hating every single thing America stands for would be ANTI-whatever-(someone-thinks)- America-“stands”-for (whatever that is).

Un-American should mean just not being “American” (whatever that means).

Really it should just mean “not American”, literally.

But American popular expressions tend to not mean what would make sense literally. I think that’s stupid. Someone probably thinks that’s un-American of me. I think that’s dumb and wrong of them. Assuming anyone really thinks that.

It’s a largely useless term. We have terms like “unconstitutional” in reference to problematic laws and policies. We have words like “traitor” for people who actively support the nation’s enemies. But “Anti-American” is a term used to put people who think differently than you in an “enemy” box and for that I can’t take it seriously.

Good answers y’all.

A person who is un American doesn’t believe in “truth, justice, and the American way.”
(And they probably don’t like “hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.”)

@kritiper Agree, but Ford not Chevrolet. Haha!

You forgot baseball @kritiper.