Americentrism

American education, if it is centered on anything, is centered on itself. It is “Americentric.” Most American students today have never studied any world history, they know very little about Europe, and even less about the rest of the world. Their minds are rooted solidly in the here and now. When the Berlin Wall was opened in the fall of 1989, journalists discovered that most American teenagers had no idea what it was, nor why its opening was such a big deal. Nonetheless, Eurocentrism provides a better target than Americentrism.

1992, Diane Ravitch, “Multiculturalism: E Pluribus Plures”, in Daniel Bonevac, editor, Today’s Moral Issues: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives, Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing Company, →ISBN, part II (Utility), “Education” section, page 170, column 2

Like those writers, the [Jesus and] Mary Chain never explicitly declares that “it’s okay to be working class and from Great Britain.” But by singing in their own accents and dealing with real-life situations in their lyrics, the band’s members do offer an alternative to the “Americentrism” of, say, Madonna or Bruce Springsteen.

1993, Rachel Felder, “Feedback Bands”, in Manic, Pop, Thrill, Hopewell, N.J.: The Ecco Press, →ISBN, page 120