Racism and Cultural Insensitivity Theme Analysis

Despite living and working in another country, most members of the American Foreign Service hold racist views and lack awareness of the cultures they live amongst. Rather than embodying a progressive and democratic society, America’s representatives showcase the worst aspects of American superiority and ignorance of other cultures. Naturally, such attitudes disrupt productive and healthy cooperation between American diplomats and their Southeast Asian counterparts. The Ugly American depicts the American Foreign Service as rife with racial prejudice and cultural insensitivity and demonstrates how such ignorance sours diplomatic relations between America and its hopeful allies.

More often than not, the American Foreign Service workers (and their European allies) exhibit racial prejudice against the Asians they are supposedly fostering relationships with. Ambassador Louis Sears, the head of the American diplomats in Sarkhan, exhibits clear racial prejudice against all non-white people. When he is initially assigned to work in Asia, he tells his superiors, “I’m not prejudiced, but I just don’t work well with blacks.” While serving as Ambassador, he privately thinks of the Sarkhanese as “strange little monkeys,” demonstrating that even the leaders of America’s effort to build relationships with other nations dehumanizes them through their own racial prejudice. When the famed Foreign Service worker Joe Bing advertises employment in the Foreign Service to a group of American recruits, he says, “You’ll have to work among foreigners, but we don’t expect you to love ‘em just because you work among ‘em […] you’ll be living with a gang of clean-cut Americans.” Bing’s assurance implies that he thinks living with non-Americans would be naturally distasteful, suggesting that not only does racial prejudice exist in the American Foreign Service, but the government practically expects it.

French and English diplomats exhibit a similar racial prejudice against non-white people. In a conference discussing nuclear armament with representatives from India, the American delegate Solomon Asch realizes that the English and French only want to talk down to the Indian representatives. Privately, an English delegate tells him, “[Indians are] not used to talking about such intricate problems as armament” and advises offering simple, minimal solutions, suggesting that he believes Indians are not intelligent enough to understand complex issues. Such frank racism suggests that prejudice is widespread not only among the Americans, but among all the developed Western powers.

In addition, many members of the American Foreign Service make no effort to understand the cultures of the people they’re working with. Joe Bing often offends his Southeast Asian counterparts through his ignorance of their customs and culture. He serves only liquor at his social functions, even though Muslims and Buddhists can only drink milk, fruit juice, or water, effectively banning their participation. Moreover, Bing refuses to learn the local language and make no effort to understand the cultures he works amongst, but instead believes “it’s better to make the Asians learn English.” The fact that other Americans highly regard Bing in spite of his cultural insensitivity suggests that such ignorance is widespread throughout the American Foreign Service, not regarded as a serious problem. In Sarkhan, astrology is taken very seriously and occupies an important role in the culture. The American Colonel Hillandale recognizes its significance and studies astrology himself so that he can use his knowledge to ingratiate himself to Sarkhanese dignitaries. However, George Swift, the American protocol officer, completely disregards astrology as “fake[,] a vaudeville stunt.” Swift denigrates a major aspect of Sarkhanese culture based on his own opinion of it, failing to even see its diplomatic value. Swift’s total rejection of an important cultural institution suggests that his own American cultural ideals make him completely dismissive of other cultures.

The Americans and Europeans’ racism and cultural insensitivity disrupt their diplomatic relationships with Asian countries, underscoring that such prejudices are not harmless, but have real detrimental effects on international diplomacy. The Sarkhanese people regard Ambassador Sears as an ineffective, offensive joke, and despise him as much as Sears despises them. Similarly, Burmese reporter Ruth Jyoti notes that although Americans love Joe Bing, most Southeast Asians find his insensitivity to their cultures offensive. Both men, as public figures, tarnish the reputation of all Americans across Southeast Asia. Similarly, Asch warns the English and French that if they talk down to the Indian representatives, negotiations will grind to a halt. He says, “unless you feel they're equals and act on that feeling, they'll never respond. […] Make someone feel inferior in a negotiating situation, and he'll be the toughest guy around the table.” Asch’s prediction proves true, as the Indian representatives perceive that they’re being condescended to and refuse to cooperate, since the Western countries will not treat them as equals. Also, Swift’s disregard for astrology loses the Americans a major opportunity to strengthen their relationship with the Sarkhanese government and grow their influence. Although Hillandale agrees to privately read the Sarkhanese King’s palm—which is a great honor—Swift fails to do his duty and formally arrange the meeting, because he thinks astrology is stupid and finds Hillandale’s interest in it irritating. Swift’s superior, Ambassador Gilbert MacWhite severely reprimands Swift for his failure, counseling, “Your business is not to judge whether or not things [like astrology] are fakes, but who believes them and why and what it means,” suggesting that cultural sensitivity and understanding is essential to working in another culture, since it helps one to understand why other people act and believe the way they do. Such cultural insensitivity is thus the worst trait that a foreign diplomat could possibly possess. Among the many faults of the American Foreign Service, The Ugly American suggests that America’s diplomatic efforts are severely impeded by simple racial prejudice and Americans’ inability to take other cultures seriously.