Redefining “American Culture”

As an Exonian who attends a school that boasts of its diversity, I’m embarrassed to tell people back home that the largest club at school is the American Culture Club.Before anyone calls me "oversensitive," let me be clear: I’m fine with a club that tailgates, plays country music and flies the American flag all the time. I recognize that the American Culture Club allows any student to join and attend their events. I am even fine with students who create affinity groups or culture clubs for white American students who wish to explore and recover their lost identities and cultures as multicultural Americans. A club that claims to represent the entirety of a single "American culture," however, is not possible in practice; it is too difficult to portray the complexities within American culture. Phillip Exeter Academy’s American Culture Club demonstrates this difficulty through its close-minded portrayal of "American culture" on campus.Last year, The Exonian featured the American Culture Club in its Life section. In the article, one of the previous year’s coheads Griffin Py ‘14 told The Exonian, "The main goal of the club was to show international students about real-life American culture. Not like the tourist stuff, not like the going to New York City and climbing the Eiffel Tower. Real, American culture, like tailgates, baseball games—stuff like that. Simple, everyday American things." Students often make the argument that clubs such as Chinese Student Organization or French Club exist on campus so it’s only fair that American Culture Club also exists.These students, however, fail to see that it makes sense for cultural clubs of different countries to exist here at Exeter because most other countries have historically been comprised of one uniform nationality and do not necessarily pride themselves on their diversity and multiculturalism like America does, which is a nation comprised of immigrants. Additionally, these cultural clubs often teach Exonians about holidays such as the Day of the Dead or the Lunar New Year since they are not recognized holidays in America.Of course, there are aspects of "American culture" that are unique to the United States: fireworks on July 4, turkey on Thanksgiving, Super Bowl parties and Black Friday shopping are all very American. American Culture Club doesn’t raise awareness for holidays and events like these, however, because they are already largely recognized by the school and the country. We have entire breaks and vacations that revolve around these events. This obvious presence of American culture at school might explain why Py’s original intent was to show international Exonians "simple, everyday American things" as trademark American culture is already over-represented on this campus.Why is this offensive?Firstly, the American Culture Club’s own skewed view of American culture detracts from its credibility as a legitimate cultural club. The culture of "simple, everyday American things" does not exist in the "simple" way that Py and American Culture Club exhibit through "tailgates, baseball games and stuff like that." America is a country composed of multifarious ethnic and religious identities; it’s a melting pot of different cultures. This diversity is what makes America so special.In some ways, like the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, there are unique aspects of American culture, but the white American culture that Exeter’s club demonstrates fails to acknowledge the diversity of cultures within of our country. I’m American as well, but this exclusive type of simple "American culture" that American Culture Club shares obviously does not apply to me because I am a second generation American, and frankly, my parents are not WASP’s—White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. If American culture is simply comprised of tailgating, hamburgers, baseball and country music, it goes against America’s self-given title as a nation of diversity.While other countries' populations are historically comprised of single nationalities, America is multinational, and with that logic, multicultural. A child born in America with immigrant parents is supposed to be just as American as any other citizen. America is a fairly new nation and its inhabitants come from all over the world. If anything, an "American Culture Club" would be a club that showcases America’s ability to fuse different cultures, including, but not exclusive to, the white American culture that Exeter’s American Culture Club demonstrates.Secondly, the club’s premise to teach international students about "American culture" does not coincide with Exeter’s own mission and values. The American Culture Club wants to spread "American culture," predominantly white American culture, to international students, but in doing so, its members fail to see both the diversity within America and the true reason behind Exeter’s diversity initiative. Sterling Weatherbie ‘15 noted in the same Exonian article, "The reason [American Culture Club’s founders] started it was to introduce international students to the United States and the American way of life." The school’s efforts to increase the population of international students on campus gives Americans a chance to learn perspectives and cultures from students around the world. International students have already taken the large leap of coming to learn here at Exeter, a predominantly white New England town in America.By being so immersed and caught up in teaching others aspects of an oversimplified "American culture," Exeter’s American Culture Club restrains from learning about other cultures while ignoring the diversity within America itself. Why should the club teach international students about "American culture" when students deal with white American culture every day of school? The fact remains that Phillips Exeter Academy is situated in a small, New England town. International students are even required to take Exeter’s United States History course series, and again, have to deal with the fact that our school’s vacations like Thanksgiving Break even revolve around American holidays.To be fair, I understand that the members of the American Culture Club just want to have a good time. The club apparently prides itself in its acceptance; it allows any student to attend their events like the annual autumn tailgate and encourages international students to join. If the club’s members just want to have a nice community of friends to tailgate, listen to country music and play baseball, I won’t criticize their fun, but they should reflect on their primary mission to teach international students about "American culture" and look into creating a name that would correspond with its practices. While I firmly stand by the belief that a club that teaches international students about white American culture is gratuitous on Exeter’s predominantly white American campus, the more pressing problem with the club is that their name impossibly claims to represent all the complexities of American culture.With all of this said, I don’t necessarily blame the coheads or the founders of the club for their ignorance. Being an American often means that you are comprised of many cultures; it also then means you lack a close connection with any single culture. White Americans with families that came to America during colonial times have ethnicities that are especially mixed with many countries. These white Americans have often lost touch with their cultural identities. Without a distinct culture from their family’s country, multicultural white Americans have created their own culture and set of values shaped by their diverse western backgrounds creating the "American culture" we see today. Exeter’s American Culture Club has essentially become a stand-in for White American Culture Club.Of course, non-whites also enjoy tailgating, playing country music and playing baseball, but these aspects of American culture were created by white Americans and are not often practiced by second generation Americans. The current danger of Exeter’s American Culture Club is that they focus too narrowly on the lives of a fraction of white Americans, although I would say that even most white Americans would not define their culture as tailgating and listening to country music. If the club is to continue to simply tailgate, play country music and organize baseball games, it is imperative that they change their name to a title that will accurately reflect that their practices are only a miniscule fraction of America’s complicated culture. I understand that members of the American Culture Club might just be looking to claim these things as American culture and educate others about it, but labelling this single white culture of America as the culture of America ignores the fact that America has inhabitants from all around the world. America as a nation makes this mistake, so it isn’t necessarily American Culture Club’s fault that they have fallen under the same trap. In these respects, perhaps Exeter’s American Culture Club is just an accurate reflection of America’s track record as a WASP-dominated society.What troubles me the most about American Culture Club is that the administration approved of the club and that the club has existed at Exeter for a few years now. The mindset that comes along with this disturbing fact is that the ignorance of American Culture Club is somehow fine and accepted on campus. When prospective students ask me about the clubs on campus, I tend to stay away from talking about American Culture Club even though year after year Exonians sign up and increase its presence on campus.The school’s diversity initiative is supposed to steer us away from the narrow-minded white male school we used to be. American Culture Club enforces the dominance of a particular type of white American culture on campus; I’m embarrassed to tell prospective students that the largest club on campus seeks to teach its international community all about American culture and believes that the "American culture" is simply comprised of tailgating and baseball.Exonians need to speak up to constantly shape Exeter into the best school that it can be. Phillips Exeter probably does the most out of all the boarding schools to ensure that its campus is fair and maintains its diversity, but sometimes it’s hard to believe for so long without any consequences.