Poll: Proud to be British

[Danzaivar]

I was never asked directely. here's more or less how people found out:
British Person: Hey, nice tan (this was around september). That natural?
me: yeah.
B: So you from around here (also dont have the British speech, since it wouldnt be an accent to you)?
M: no.
B: where you from?
M: I'm American. Native American.
B: oh. So... How's it feel to know my great grandfather made your people civiliz.. blah blah blah.

So yes, British people did ask me, cause i tan better then most people (Combination of Spanish and Cherokee blood. I can get dark).

If you was tanned they probably expected something like California or Florida or Texas etc. Instead you said you was a Native American, implying you'd want to talk about being a native american, and the only thing most Brits would know about native Americans is that they got wiped the hell out quite early on.

I can't tell if that last bit is because the conversation was really strenuous and that's all they had to go on with (likely assuming your one word answers were accurate), or if they was trying to be funny and you just didn't get it. Can see why you could think there was any malice behind that though, a bit.

 

[Redemption003]

Well, I was going to screw up your poll and say "no", which, as an American, is the only logical answer I could give. Fortunately, I'm not that mean.

So, yeah, go UK, and such. Don't much care for many of your country's policies (Can't have a gun? Can't protect my own property? SCREW THAT!), but overall I think you're a fun bunch.

However, could you please tell your college students to cool it? They're freaking the rest of us out.

Hehe, thanks mate.
And I am a college student! Just one that believes that the EMA cuts have to happen, and that tuition fees need to be put up. I'm not happy about it, but my philosophy is that I'd rather spend a year or two more paying my loan back, then servicemen in Afghanistan die because the Armed Forces had cutbacks, or someone dies due to NHS cutbacks.

Oh my god! Somebody else who agrees with the tuition fee rise! Most people I know can quite easily see and empathise with my own agreeing with the fee rise, but tend to disagree. Also, the protesters need to stop disrupting my gorram lectures...

On topic: I don't know whether I'd call myself proud of being British or not (I do despise a lot of our "popular culture" along with a lot of the people) but I wouldn't change my nationality if I were given the choice and am quite happy to live where I do. Also, I rather enjoy SOME of the accents

 

[Shock and Awe]

I small percentage. and not really, i wasnt born there. I run on the american basis of provable 2%-ism (mainly its you have ot be 2% to be considered seriously of that race/ethnicity.

I'm (rounded numbers):
6% Native American.
24% Italian
15% German
36% Polish/Pollack (i'm told there's a difference, but i dont see it)
14% Irish
4% mixed (pick a country in europe, chances are I'm part of it geneologically)
and
1% British

Its a waste of ink to even say i'm british.

So in other words you're (rounded numbers):

6% Native American
90-94% European (Depending on what 'mixed' means (mixed sweets maybe?))

And that makes you a Native American. Wow.

It makes me Native American cause i was BORN IN AMERICA. I'm Cherokee before anyhting else, American second, then American-Italian decent and then i go down the list by largest number of percentage in my blood. Besides, the Cherokee has had more influence on my life then aynthing else.

Excuse my curiosity, but I am sitting somewhere around 15% Muskogee and I consider myself American far before I consider Native American. May I ask why you consider yourself Cherokee first despite your Cherokee heritage being in the realm of "my great-great grandmother married a Cherokee"? Grow up in nation?

 

[AcrylicHero]

However, could you please tell your college students to cool it? They're freaking the rest of us out.

have a look for videos of the poll tax riots and miners strikes, If the gov keeps this up the students could only be a prequel to the fun

I don't think our protests were anywhere near the stuff Italy and Greece had this year.

snip

Sounds like they were taking a sarcastic jab at you. Sarcy comments and disses is how we brits communicate.
Me and my mates fling racial slurs and racist comments casually every day. It's just how brits roll.
It wouldn't have have mattered where you were from, they will take a jab at you. We do it to ourselves the most. If you're from cornwall then you're an inbred, if you're from birmingham you're a diry brum scum, if you're a scouse then you're team is nothing more than a mid league team with a very average squad.
Alot of people who aren't accustomed to this get taken back abit, but most of the time there's no real menace behind those words. It's just how we talk.
Plus there's really no such thing as a native british. To most people (excluding etonian twats and EDL), colour and heritage is hardly an issue. If you go and talk to brits about another brit, they won't assume that he's white. What really matters here is what team you support.

 

[AfterAscon]

Again, look into the trade policies you had with the Confederate States of america at the time and how ready you were to defend your cotton supply obtained from slave labor.

Also, you started the colonies and the process. France didnt take that approach and they had just as much stake in the country. So you started the ball to get it rolling.

Yes, European countries started the process of colonisation, but they stuck to the uninhabited coastal regions. It wasn't until the US got independence, and needed to expand, that it started moving west and clashed with the locals. Britain had alliances with the Natives during the war of 1812 and even sought policies to benefit them during the peace talks, but the US ignored them.

The problem with people criticising the Empire is that it wasn't doing any 'wrong' by the standards and morals of the time (I'm sure in several hundred years time we'll be looked down upon because of various reasons). Slavery, colonisation etc were all justified under 'our divine right', which every other country in the world was also doing as well (Remember African slaves were originally captured and taken as slaves by other African tribes. Even Native Americans dealt with slaves). The one big thing that the empire did was to go against the rest of the world and put an end to things like the slave trade and colonisation by supporting stuff like the Monroe doctrine and attacking other nation's ships to free slaves. The might of the empire ended these. Yes there are a lot of bad marks on the empire (like any country), but people tend to see the word Empire and just look at it from a very superficial level.

Am I proud to be British? Proud is a bit strong of a word, I'm glad I'm British because there are a lot of worse places to be from than Britain, despite all the whining people do.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I was never asked directely. here's more or less how people found out:
British Person: Hey, nice tan (this was around september). That natural?
me: yeah.
B: So you from around here (also dont have the British speech, since it wouldnt be an accent to you)?
M: no.
B: where you from?
M: I'm American. Native American.
B: oh. So... How's it feel to know my great grandfather made your people civiliz.. blah blah blah.

So yes, British people did ask me, cause i tan better then most people (Combination of Spanish and Cherokee blood. I can get dark).

If you was tanned they probably expected something like California or Florida or Texas etc. Instead you said you was a Native American, implying you'd want to talk about being a native american, and the only thing most Brits would know about native Americans is that they got wiped the hell out quite early on.

I can't tell if that last bit is because the conversation was really strenuous and that's all they had to go on with (likely assuming your one word answers were accurate), or if they was trying to be funny and you just didn't get it. Can see why you could think there was any malice behind that though, a bit.

Well, I'm not sure how I should take it when someone says something like what you just said, where you only know my people ebcause tehy were almost wiped off the face of the earth, or when they say things like how without country's interventions i would still be a mindless savage running around the woods with sticks. Or how my people where demons and monsters because we tried to protect our lands. So excuse me when the humour falls on thin patience. I'm pretty sure any jew would react the same if i walked up and siad, "my, its a shame hitler didnt wipe you off the face of the earth. But hey, least now you got something to write about and make money"*

besides, I find it rather rude of someone to just ask me blantently where i'm from without me talking to them first just cause i look/talk different. I dont do that to others, I'd rather like if people did not do it to me. I'm much more open and friendly when someone wants to be civilized and say, "hey, how are you," or, "whats up?"

*NOT, I repeat NOT!!! how i actually feel about that instance in history or the jewish people in general. I find them to be rather good people.

 

[FightThePower]

I'm not proud because I think Patriotism is illogical. I'm not proud to be British simply because I was born here.

 

[Lord_Panzer]

I small percentage. and not really, i wasnt born there. I run on the american basis of provable 2%-ism (mainly its you have ot be 2% to be considered seriously of that race/ethnicity.

I'm (rounded numbers):
6% Native American.
24% Italian
15% German
36% Polish/Pollack (i'm told there's a difference, but i dont see it)
14% Irish
4% mixed (pick a country in europe, chances are I'm part of it geneologically)
and
1% British

Its a waste of ink to even say i'm british.

So in other words you're (rounded numbers):

6% Native American
90-94% European (Depending on what 'mixed' means (mixed sweets maybe?))

And that makes you a Native American. Wow.

It makes me Native American cause i was BORN IN AMERICA. I'm Cherokee before anyhting else, American second, then American-Italian decent...

6% > 24% > 36%
The American education system, everyone. Give it a hand.

You were born in America, not Native America. You're American. You're welcome to acknowledge the small percentage on your heritage that is Native, but that isn't what defines you ethnically.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Again, look into the trade policies you had with the Confederate States of america at the time and how ready you were to defend your cotton supply obtained from slave labor.

Also, you started the colonies and the process. France didnt take that approach and they had just as much stake in the country. So you started the ball to get it rolling.

Yes, European countries started the process of colonisation, but they stuck to the uninhabited coastal regions. It wasn't until the US got independence, and needed to expand, that it started moving west and clashed with the locals. Britain had alliances with the Natives during the war of 1812 and even sought policies to benefit them during the peace talks, but the US ignored them.

The problem with people criticising the Empire is that it wasn't doing any 'wrong' by the standards and morals of the time (I'm sure in several hundred years time we'll be looked down upon because of various reasons). Slavery, colonisation etc were all justified under 'our divine right', which every other country in the world was also doing as well (Remember African slaves were originally captured and taken as slaves by other African tribes. Even Native Americans dealt with slaves). The one big thing that the empire did was to go against the rest of the world and put an end to things like the slave trade and colonisation by supporting stuff like the Monroe doctrine and attacking other nation's ships to free slaves. The might of the empire ended these. Yes there are a lot of bad marks on the empire (like any country), but people tend to see the word Empire and just look at it from a very superficial level.

Am I proud to be British? Proud is a bit strong of a word, I'm glad I'm British because there are a lot of worse places to be from than Britain, despite all the whining people do.

Thats great to say you odnt practice it, but it looks rather foolish when your main trading partner is a country that still finds slavery "right" and when you were ready to go to war with them against a country that was fighting against slavery so you could protect cotton.

I'm not saying colonialism is wrong, but look how the French did it. Sure I dont know if it would have continued, but at least they had healthy respect for the Natives of the land.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I small percentage. and not really, i wasnt born there. I run on the american basis of provable 2%-ism (mainly its you have ot be 2% to be considered seriously of that race/ethnicity.

I'm (rounded numbers):
6% Native American.
24% Italian
15% German
36% Polish/Pollack (i'm told there's a difference, but i dont see it)
14% Irish
4% mixed (pick a country in europe, chances are I'm part of it geneologically)
and
1% British

Its a waste of ink to even say i'm british.

So in other words you're (rounded numbers):

6% Native American
90-94% European (Depending on what 'mixed' means (mixed sweets maybe?))

And that makes you a Native American. Wow.

It makes me Native American cause i was BORN IN AMERICA. I'm Cherokee before anyhting else, American second, then American-Italian decent...

6% > 24% > 36%
The American education system, everyone. Give it a hand.

You were born in America, not Native America. You're American. You're welcome to acknowledge the small percentage on your heritage that is Native, but that isn't what defines you ethnically.

it is when its what i take my largest influences from. Really I'm more Native American in my Customs and more Polish in my eating habits, so I'd say I was Cherokee-Polish if someone pushed my to say whats shaped me ethnically as a person. and 6% > 1%. I didnt say I disliked the rest of Europe. only Britain has left a bad taste in my mouth with how i was treated there.

 

[JackandTom]

Sure, us Brits can't carry around guns but doesn't that make it safer? One thing i wish us Brits didn't have is Chavs. And David Cameron.

 

[JoshGod]

Why should i be proud of being British? I didn't earn my nationality, i was British by chance.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Of course I'm proud to be British.

We've got a decent government who won't take shit; a nice little history and hell, when royals get married we get lucky and score a day off work.

I'm in the lower end of the middle class, barely being able to pay the bills every month and I get paid a shit wage. But hell, at the end of the month I look into my bank after paying all my bills and go "Well, at least I don't live in a third world country!" and I realise how fucking good I have it!

Also, I never knew there were this many Conservative haters out there. And seriously, Maggie Bashing? Well that's just low, when John Major left office we had a booming economy... and then along came Labour...

 

[emeraldrafael]

Snip

No. I didnt get the... um... opportunity(? I've heard from some who grew up on Resevoir [yes, I know i misspelled that, some words give me more trouble then others] that its a good thing, from others its a bad thing) to grow up in a nation, but when i grew up, my mom (had the Cherokee in her) taught me all the customs more then "american" customs and the ancestry and beliefs more then anything. So its had more of an influence on my then anything else (besides my Polish/pollack) so thats why i consider myself that.

 

[Danzaivar]

I was never asked directely. here's more or less how people found out:
British Person: Hey, nice tan (this was around september). That natural?
me: yeah.
B: So you from around here (also dont have the British speech, since it wouldnt be an accent to you)?
M: no.
B: where you from?
M: I'm American. Native American.
B: oh. So... How's it feel to know my great grandfather made your people civiliz.. blah blah blah.

So yes, British people did ask me, cause i tan better then most people (Combination of Spanish and Cherokee blood. I can get dark).

If you was tanned they probably expected something like California or Florida or Texas etc. Instead you said you was a Native American, implying you'd want to talk about being a native american, and the only thing most Brits would know about native Americans is that they got wiped the hell out quite early on.

I can't tell if that last bit is because the conversation was really strenuous and that's all they had to go on with (likely assuming your one word answers were accurate), or if they was trying to be funny and you just didn't get it. Can see why you could think there was any malice behind that though, a bit.

Well, I'm not sure how I should take it when someone says something like what you just said, where you only know my people ebcause tehy were almost wiped off the face of the earth, or when they say things like how without country's interventions i would still be a mindless savage running around the woods with sticks. Or how my people where demons and monsters because we tried to protect our lands. So excuse me when the humour falls on thin patience. I'm pretty sure any jew would react the same if i walked up and siad, "my, its a shame hitler didnt wipe you off the face of the earth. But hey, least now you got something to write about and make money"*

besides, I find it rather rude of someone to just ask me blantently where i'm from without me talking to them first just cause i look/talk different. I dont do that to others, I'd rather like if people did not do it to me. I'm much more open and friendly when someone wants to be civilized and say, "hey, how are you," or, "whats up?"

*NOT, I repeat NOT!!! how i actually feel about that instance in history or the jewish people in general. I find them to be rather good people.

Did Native Americans even run around woods with sticks? I thought they lived on plains (Or them old films lied!). Never heard of the demons/monsters thing (That has an element of religion to it, sounds American more than British).

And if I asked someone "So, where are you from?" and they said "I'm a Jew" I don't even know what I'd do, probably just think they're not listening to what I asked and try end the conversation quickly. (So I guess mocking them over the holocaust would probably resolve the conversation pretty sharpish...)

GOOD JOB INVOKING GODWINS LAW THERE BY THE WAY

Frankly I don't even know what to take from this now. You make some good points but it sounds like you're pulling a lot of this out of your arse, it's hard to survive as an intolerant brit like the ones you make out in todays society.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

look how the French did it. Sure I dont know if it would have continued, but at least they had healthy respect for the Natives of the land.

There's a lot of North Africans and SE Asians that would disagree with you there.

 

[RewardMe]

I was never asked directely. here's more or less how people found out:
British Person: Hey, nice tan (this was around september). That natural?
me: yeah.
B: So you from around here (also dont have the British speech, since it wouldnt be an accent to you)?
M: no.
B: where you from?
M: I'm American. Native American.
B: oh. So... How's it feel to know my great grandfather made your people civiliz.. blah blah blah.

So yes, British people did ask me, cause i tan better then most people (Combination of Spanish and Cherokee blood. I can get dark).

If you was tanned they probably expected something like California or Florida or Texas etc. Instead you said you was a Native American, implying you'd want to talk about being a native american, and the only thing most Brits would know about native Americans is that they got wiped the hell out quite early on.

I can't tell if that last bit is because the conversation was really strenuous and that's all they had to go on with (likely assuming your one word answers were accurate), or if they was trying to be funny and you just didn't get it. Can see why you could think there was any malice behind that though, a bit.

Well, I'm not sure how I should take it when someone says something like what you just said, where you only know my people ebcause tehy were almost wiped off the face of the earth, or when they say things like how without country's interventions i would still be a mindless savage running around the woods with sticks. Or how my people where demons and monsters because we tried to protect our lands. So excuse me when the humour falls on thin patience. I'm pretty sure any jew would react the same if i walked up and siad, "my, its a shame hitler didnt wipe you off the face of the earth. But hey, least now you got something to write about and make money"*

besides, I find it rather rude of someone to just ask me blantently where i'm from without me talking to them first just cause i look/talk different. I dont do that to others, I'd rather like if people did not do it to me. I'm much more open and friendly when someone wants to be civilized and say, "hey, how are you," or, "whats up?"

*NOT, I repeat NOT!!! how i actually feel about that instance in history or the jewish people in general. I find them to be rather good people.

You would not be a mindless savage if we did not colonise, but you would not of been born. Thanks to that british guy who married your grandmotherx5 you are here today.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I said no, because I'm not British. I'm American, but not really proud of that...

 

[flamingjimmy]

I am not proud to be British because I have nothing to be proud of.

Yeah we have a history with some good and some bad, but none of that was anything to do with me, I've only been on this planet for 23 years, so I'm neither proud nor ashamed of being British. It is just a label signalling where my home is.

 

[dombot]

besides, I find it rather rude of someone to just ask me blantently where i'm from without me talking to them first just cause i look/talk different.

im sure if you explained that you found it rude people would have been sorry for taking an interest. accents can be a major source of conversation in britain as out accents are so varied. maybe people just didn't have anything else to talk to you about, it just seems as if you approached the trip to blighty with an attitude of i am going to hate this place

the jewish people in general. I find them to be rather good people.

generalisation much?