I was raised in public schools of suburban neighborhood outside of Atlanta. It was subliminal but I was taught that the USA does things the “right” way and other countries do things the “wrong” way. So, naturally, I believed the United States of America was the best place on earth.

Today, I am 15 years older and have more travel experience. I still take pride in my country, but I wouldn’t say that it is the best in the world. In order to say that, you have to know the rest of the countries in the world. Traveling has opened my eyes to alternative ways of living. For, who am I to say what is best?

I will say, however, the United States of America is not perfect. In fact we could do a lot better in a multitude of areas.

We’re educated, but we’re not always educated about the rest of the world. Throughout my college and graduate school career, I’ve been asked if I speak Nigerian, Ghanaian and/or African. Excuse me? Nigeria and Ghana are English-speaking countries in Africa and Africa is a continent.

We eat too much over-processed food; it’s sad. Some people are literally eating themselves to death.

People believe countries in Africa are violent, but what they don’t know that it is only in America that a  young man would walk into a movie theatre and open fire. Yes, people get kidnapped in Nigeria, and there is violence in other parts of the continent, but to my knowledge, no civilian has ever gone buck wild with a gun in a movie theatre anywhere in Africa. (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.) This type of situation barely happens in Europe. Gun crime is out of control in this country, yet people are strongly attached their deadly weapons.

I could write for years on this topic, but here’s an article that supports my points about the American stereotype: The 10 Most Embarrassing American Stereotypes That Are True.