If you are from the United States, chances are you believe your country is the center of the world. I hate to break it to you, but it isn’t.

U.S. Exceptionalism encapsulates the belief that the United States is superior to other nations and is exceptionally different, making it the hope for humanity. With this belief, it develops a savior complex where it interjects itself into every foreign issue, on the pretense of protecting its allies and maintaining world peace. However, this entails harmful ramifications for global relations and affects how other countries view themselves.

Delving first into some of its etymological aspects, U.S. Exceptionalism promotes the idea that “America” automatically refers to the country of the United States, and the demonym “American” refers to its citizens. However, many would beg to disagree and argue that America represents the continents, not just the United States.

The prevalence of referring to U.S. citizens as Americans wasn’t popularized until the turn of the 20th century when the U.S. became an imperialist power with its colonization of the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico and the annexation of Hawaii. 

To think of America as solely referring to the United States is to ignore the identities of other Americans living on the continent, such as Paraguayans, Colombians, and people from other countries in the Americas, and reinforces the imperialist mindset that the concept of U.S. Exceptionalism aims to aggrandize and endorse. 

This mentality was further augmented during Trump’s campaign and administration with the theme “Make America Great Again.” Because of this, numerous platforms like “Asian Boss” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” decided to do a geography test to measure U.S.-Americans’ knowledge of other countries, aside from the United States, and review their global awareness. 

In a three-video playlist entitled “Can You Name a Country?,” the team of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” asks passersby to name any country on a map. Some people referred to Asia, Europe, and Africa as countries, while some couldn’t locate the United States on the map. When asked to locate the United States, one pointed to Russia, assuming it was the U.S. because of its size. 

But putting the comedic effect aside, the test “Jimmy Kimmel Live” did on U.S. Americans presents one of the dangers of U.S. Exceptionalism: it fosters global ignorance among its citizens. The idea of exceptionalism and any form of centrism (like Eurocentrism and ethnocentrism) is fraught with a deluded sense of self-importance. When someone believes they live in the center of the world, they lack the motivation and curiosity to explore the wondrous diversity and culture around them, instead expecting others to learn about them. 

Growing up in the Philippines, I always had to self-study to learn more about our history because it was removed from our curriculum starting from 8th grade and was focused more on U.S. history than Philippine history. The type of media and popular culture I grew up consuming was mainly from Hollywood. I rarely find representations of my country in the media I consume, but when I do, it is often stereotypical and one-dimensional. 

This reveals another danger of US Exceptionalism: stereotyping.

As the Hollywood industry dominates the media and popular culture, they dictate how certain groups should be portrayed and represented based on their understanding of such groups. However, this representation is often rife with bias and ignorance, which could lead to cultural insensitivity. Cultural insensitivity promotes assumptions and biases against a group of people’s background and identity, thus reducing them to a single story. 

My first time coming to the United States, I met a girl with whom I got along very well. When she introduced me to one of her friends, that friend asked her what her first impression of me was to which she immediately replied, “She speaks English so well; she understands everything I say!” 

Dumbfounded by the remark, I began questioning the types of beliefs she, or the people around her, had about non-native English speakers like me. 

Celebrating one’s country, culture and identity is an integral part of human nature and social coexistence. It allows us to foster a sense of shared community where our existence is valued and heard. However, when taken to the extreme, it could lead us to the danger of losing respect for others and stripping them of autonomy and dignity as members of a global community. It is important to balance one’s pride in their country with sensitivity and open-mindedness towards the people with whom we share the world.