culture

[quarrel]

One of the worst mistakes I ever made was saying, "White people have no culture" to a Québécois. I mean, really, what was I thinking? We're talking about a group whose provincial motto is "We remember"; a group so attached to specific facets of their national heritage that they're mocked by the rest of their country. I wasn't serious, of course, but that's irrelevant. The very concept is hopelessly, insultingly USA-centric. "Hi! I'm going to spew a thoughtless quip that's only true if you ignore Europe. Aren't I clever?"

It's not the first time I got in trouble over the word. Back in college, in a conversation above my academic caste, I interjected some schmaltzy line about how important it is to experience other cultures. I got raked over the coals for that one. The assemblage turned to me and tasked me with defining "culture". I couldn't, of course. They knew that. The word is ambiguous to the point of meaninglessness. I had said precisely nothing in an effort to sound worldly, and they called me on it. They even trotted out that Hitler quote, "When I hear the word 'culture', I reach for my gun," although it's not his quote in particular (Also, in hindsight, I'm not sure how pointing out similarities to Nazi ideology was supposed to strengthen their position, but that oddity didn't strike me at the time.)