The curious use of the word ‘Un-American’  I have written before
about the dangerous consequences of American exceptionalism, the
belief that the country and its people are imbued with some
special undefined quality that makes them and their cultural and
political values better than those of others. This attitude can
and does lead the US to think that it can impose its will on
other nations and peoples, by force if necessary.  One of the
flipsides of the belief in American exceptionalism is the use of
the term ‘Un-American’. It is used pejoratively against those
who are perceived to have deviated from the ideal and are even
possibly traitorous. It is telling that the infamous
Congressional committee that was formed in 1938 to investigate
private citizens and government employees for disloyalty was
called the House Un-American Activities Committee.  The use of
the formulation ‘un-X’ where X refers to a nationality is not by
itself unusual. In fact it is quite common. But whenever I have
seen it applied in vari