America: Change and Hypocrisy

American Ideals

This photo was taken during President Obama's first inauguration on 20th January 2009. It was an historic landmark for the USA and in turn, the World.

The United States of America is often envisaged as the land of prosperity and opportunity for those who are willing to work. The dark history of the USA, where non-white people were discriminated against and not offered the same opportunities as their white counterparts, could be a contradiction of this depiction. But another key element of the USA's philosophy is change. This photo symbolises the change that the USA has endured in the last 50 years or so, since the days of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement. The fact that Obama, a mixed race American, was able to become the leader of one of the biggest and most powerful nations in the World, suggests that the US has significantly progressed socially with less prejudice towards minority groups. In addition to this, the fact that homosexuals are now able to marry, reinforces this concept of change in the USA in a positive manner.

It can be argued that Obama's presidency has opened the door for other members of minorities in the USA to occupy roles of immense power, such as the presidency. Obama's inauguration photo serves as an important milestone for the USA historically, as well as a crucial indicator for what's to come in the future.

Challenging American Ideals

This photo was taken on June 8th 1972, by Vietnamese photographer Nick Ut during the Vietnam War, where the US assisted the South Vietnamese government in their conflict with the Communist North Vietnam. The image depicts several children fleeing a cloud of napalm, a chemical weapon supplied to the South Vietnamese forces by the United States.

There is often a certain level of hypocrisy when it comes to the United States and their international affairs. During the Korean and Vietnamese Wars, they entered with the intention of finding a peaceful solution. However, domestically the US itself had it's fair share of issues, in particular, race. Mohammad Ali, who refused to be sent to Vietnam, famously stated, "why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" This quote highlights the USA's main problem in this period. They expected to unite a divided nation, such as Vietnam, without realising that they themselves were divided due to the extreme racism and discrimination that was rife in America during the 20th Century.
Moreover, the USA saw themselves as a peacekeeping nation, but it was never that simple. The US government always maintained an agenda and in Vietnam's case, this was the containment of Communism, which the USA was certain would spread if they didn't intervene. These agendas often distorted the USA's original goals and philosophies, meaning people, often innocent people like the children in the photo, had to suffer.