Posted on 02/21/2003 4:13:03 PM PST by Dont Mention the War
A British citizen is stunned by the response to a heartfelt letter he impulsively submitted to American newspapers last week.
In “An open letter to America from one European,” published in the Feb. 13 edition of the Daily Mail, British resident James Black scolded his European neighbors for “their total lack of respect for the greatest friend they will ever have — the United States of America.”
More than 400 e-mails later, Black said he is overwhelmed by the worldwide response. Texans are offering him pints at the local bar. Hawaiians want him to come luau with them. Australians offer praise for his courageous stance in supporting America.
The letter was posted on the Daily Mail Web site and several others, including www.lucianne.com, www.vodkapundit.com and www.freebritannia.co.uk. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran the letter Feb. 16.
It has received nearly 13,000 “hits,” or viewings on the Daily Mail Web site. To read it, go to http://dailymail.com/news/Opinion/2003021320/.
It all began simply enough.
“Dear America, you quirky mix of 280 million misfits that have somehow blended into the strongest nation in the world, I write to offer you four apologies and two vows,” Black wrote.
Black’s letter went on to apologize for his past stereotyping of Americans. Not that Americans don’t eat too much and aren’t spoiled, he said. And our president, while big-hearted and true to course, isn’t exactly the sharpest knife around, Black said.
Black, a father of four, spent two weeks in the United States on vacation in January. In his letter he apologized for making flip comments about Americans.
Black has become one Englishman besides Prime Minister Tony Blair who will stand by American officials in their cause to disarm Iraq. And he says there are millions more Europeans like him.
“We’re not your lapdogs; we’re your friends,” Black said in a telephone interview. “We’ll be there at the start and we’ll be there at the end. It’s not about oil. It’s not about simple economics. It’s about the future. Whether or not we all want to go around having to duct tape our windows. Which is what is happening in America, right?
Americans have stood up and said, ‘We’ve learned that lesson, thank you.’ We won’t wait until cyanide is in reservoirs. We’re not going to get into the position where you give dirty bombs to terrorists to go on holiday in New York,” Black said.
“I really do appreciate Americans and think that the way you’re going at the moment is the right and correct route,” Black said. “I see a future and it’s quite scary.”
Black, who works for London’s Daily Mail, said his inspiration came from a picture of American GI s during World War II splashed across the front page of his paper and a headline that read, “Monstrous Ingratitude.”
“I just saw that pic and thought about all the Americans I interviewed that did all kinds of jobs during the war,” Black said. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to write something to America,’ ”
Despite his emotion, the letter still needed to be very British, Black said.
“I didn’t want to just go ‘America, I love you, you’re fabulous,’ ” Black said. “It had to get the idea across that the French, Germans and Belgiums were being so disrespectful to America.”
Two hours later, his masterpiece in hand, he found he had nowhere to send it.
So he started searching the Internet for American newspapers. He picked 10 papers at random and submitted his letter to them. The Charleston Daily Mail was the first to publish it.
“The next morning I said, ‘I can’t believe I really sent that letter. You’ve done it. You’ve sent it.
“People will read that. If this gets back to Britain, they’ll make fun of me. But I did it and I stand by it.”
Black, who writes a column that provides answers to a wide variety of reader questions for his own paper, said he didn’t consider asking the London Daily Mail to print his letter.
“Firstly, it is too ‘from the heart,’ secondly, it is too verbose, and thirdly, I wouldn’t offer it over as it is as far removed from my ‘pigeon hole’ within the newspaper as you are likely to get.”
Now what does Black think?
“There seem to be an awful lot of people that can cry in America,” Black said. “I’ve heard the expression ‘moved to tears’ before,” but Black said he had not actually experienced it.
Responses like those from former Charleston resident and attorney Jim MacCullum, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, make Black even more proud, he said.
“I was reduced to tears,” MacCallum said of the letter. “I was inspired by it. It captures the spirit of America. He made reference to the fact that our country operates from the heart. He captured it.”
“We Americans feel so unappreciated in this crazy world,” another Charleston resident wrote Black. “When the French look down their noses at the American cowboys, do they not remember Pershing, Patton, Eisenhower and the thousands of youth who made the ultimate sacrifice on their precious soil?”
Georgia resident Maurice Burton summed up a different emotional response when he said, “I take offense to having my intelligence insulted by the self-serving elite. Screw the French — who gives a damn what the French think?”
Black just wanted Americans to know they’re not going it alone, he said.
Writer Melanie Jarvis can be reached at 304-348-4850.
The original FR posting: An open letter to America from one European
We can call it "By a Brit a Beer Day, then go help him find and kick the ass of a Socialist B*stard."
Think it'll fit on a hallmark card? I think it "sings"...
Those would be the Socialists, my dear. ; )
I wonder how to tell the difference at a glance. I mean, over here it's pretty easy. There are clues to look for. In the under-fifty crowd, we look for pony tails, socks and sandals together, goatees, extremely frail shoulders and tofu in the shopping cart, women with buzz cuts and no make-up, big fringed shawls, earrings from Guatemala, that sort of thing. Older men in bowties are also a red flag.
But over there, is it the same, I wonder? Or are there a whole different set of signals? Do the capitalists have better teeth? Hmmm...
But sharp enough to know that nobody can do it alone and to hire top notch help!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.