miércoles, 5 de marzo de 2008

The country that had it all.. but a name.

This is an extract from a newspaper article that I read about 2 and a half years ago, by a reporter from Tampico that is now living in Dallas, Texas called Cesar Fernando Zapata, I took the liberty to translate it and I thought I'd share it with you, but aaall the credit goes to him and only him.

Dallas, Texas - "Once upon a time, there was a far away country that had it all, but a name..."
That's how the story about the United States would begin, a country that, according to a mexican writer, could do it all but come up with an original and unique name.
Well, you can look at it from different perspectives.
Because, for example, if you ask a United States citizen, theres' no turning back. The name of their country is America, period. Or United States, or U.S. But more commonly, America.
That's why, them, the gringos, are "Americans".
What about the people from Mexico? From Canada? Cuba? Brazil? They're "Mexicans", they'd say. Or Canadians, Cubans and Brazilians. Not Americans.
But, instead, if you ask us, the mexicans or a brazilian, things change. They are NOT America, we'll say. Yes, they're a country OF America, but not the WHOLE continent. And we immediately criticize the "wrong" use of the word they give to "American". (OUR word)
[...]First, ¿how is the gentilic of a country determined? As a rule, we use the OFFICIAL name of the country.
That's why, for example, the citizens of the Estados Unidos MEXICANOS are called MEXICANOS. The citizens of the República Federativa de BRASIL are calles Brasileños[...]
Following this simple rule, let me ask you a question. Absurd, if you like, but valid:
What is the ONLY COUNTRY in the world that has the word AMERICA in their name?
[...]Did you guess already? Yes, that's correct. It's THAT country. United States of AMERICA.
Just clarifying: We're not defending anyone, we're not supporting them, nor attacking Mexico nor our own "americanism." We're stating a FACT. That's the way it is, whether we like it or not.
We didn't make it up[...]Anyone can prove it checking books or the internet.
The fact is: No other country has the word America in their official name, in all their documents, in all their decrees. Except the United States.
Then, if the citizens of the Estados Unidos Mexicanos are called "mexicans"(not estadounidenses, not estadouidensesmexicanos, just mexicans using the last word of the country's official name), it's only fair that we call the citizens of the United States of America "americans" isn't it?
[...]I know there are different opinions here. I know that we, latinamericans, consider it offensive that the gringos call themselves "America", or "americans" and take our "americanism" away from us.
How did this atrocity happen? Pure tradition. Costum.
For starters, we give countries their name. So, they're imperfect. They're not exact science.
[...]Why did the gringos dare to encroach upon the name of America and make it theirs? Well, no one prohibited them. In fact, naming any country of this continent "America" is a natural thing. Anyone could've come up with it.
Why? Because it was the name that Europeans used. When an spanish said "I'm going to America" he was refering to the Nueva España (Mexico). Or Peru, or Colombia or Cuba. But when an english said "America" he meant the ENGLISH colonies.
The thirteen founder colonies of the United States weren't just one unity. They were separated colonies, like Nueva España from Colombia. Even if they belonged to the same crown.
When this thirteen colonies became independent from England, they decided to become "States". But not in the sense of the word that we know, of "Province". State, in that time, meant "a political unity that lies in a limited territory, with an organized government and internal and external sovereignty".
That is, "State" meant "Country". France to name an example, was an State. Just like Spain (or kingdom).
These thirteen colonies, as independent States, decided to join into a confederation. And the founding fathers of this confederation (Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, etc.) gave the new country a logical name: United ("Joint") States ("Political Entities") of America (where they were located).
Back then, no one else could claim this name because there weren't other countries in America. All of us were still colonies. They were the first ones to become independent, in 1776, even though England recognized this until 1783.
Theorically, we latinamericans weren't "Americans" in the political sense of the word, because we still belonged to Spain. We were a part of Europe. Just like today, some southamerican and african colonies of France wave the flag of European Union, even if they're thousands of kilometers away from Europe.
[...]In fact, calling the first independent country "America" makes sense. The founders of the United States had ideas of liberty, democracy and independency and they were sure those were going to spread across the continent. A little romantic, a little arrogant. But that's how they thought.
Even one of own founding fathers José María Morelos y Pavón had the same thoughts as the northamericans, when he named the Nueva España as the "America Septentrional" (northern America). Later on, when the Apatzingan Constitution was written, in 1813, this new country is named "La América Mexicana".
Truth is, by that time, the northamericans had been using the name "America" for four decades already.
Later on, we decided to give our country its official name: Estados Unidos Mexicanos... leaving "America" behind.
[...]Anyway, calling them "Americans" it's so widespread all over the world, that in many languages the word "America" equals the United States.
Even the Diccionario de la Real Academia de la Lengua Española takes in this meaning as accurate. If you look for the word "Americano", you'll get these definitions: "Natural de América.//Perteneciente o relativo a esta parte del mundo.// ESTADOUNIDENSE.
[...]At the end of it all, you can call them whatever you want, according to your own political opinions.
[...]I am going to continue using the words that people understand. Because those are the ones that everyone uses, even if a minority doesn't like it. So, for all the practical usage, "Americans" are gringos.
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Thoughts?

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