To be ashamed of being British?

well put Eleothan.

I am neither proud nor ashamed to be British. I am pleased about some of what this country does and displeased about some other things.

On balance, I think this country is more tolerant than many other countries but I don't think there is any room at all for complacency. The fact that racist incidents have increased recently is certainly a matter for concern.

I think making a positive contribution to the country you live in, in terms of your general conduct and actions, is of more importance than empty flag waving-type gestures.

It’s a strange thing, but a lot who voted Remain seem to think that anything to do with the EU and other countries in Europe is all sweetness and light.Britain still remains one of , if not the best country ( considering how diverse the population is ) in regards to race relations and generally getting along together, it’s as if they know nothing of other
Countries and their problems in this area! Especially when you consider how small a country, but how heavily populated we are.

The EU as it is at present encompasses many racist extreme right wing parties the like of which are reminiscent of the 1930s at it's very worst. I can't help thinking if it hadn't become the unwieldy federal union it is today that this resurrgence of nationalism wouldn't have happened.

I feel exactly the same way Terribull. I was in a large discussion group the other day and exactly the same point was raised.
The EU has a lot to answer for.

The EU question has also divided the UK. It arouses strong feeling and has pitted one against the other. However, I know of no Leaver who wishes anyone else any harm or who is racist. It's a cliche to say that now now when many can see how people all over the continent of Europe are unsettled and rising up. The political climate has opened the doors to unrest.

If we don't show a better side, and defend ourselves - and the majority of our fellow-countrymen - from stereotypes, then the bad image goes unchallenged,

Well said Elegran

I do think a sense of proportion is needed. The majority of people everywhere are kind, considerate and not full of hatred.

Modern media would have us think every man a molester or sex fiend, every voice of dissent a harbinger of doom, every care home a place of abuse, every hospital inefficient and every immigrant hard done by. It's just not true.

Most people tend to be decent. Life is still good.

SOME people - individuals - are beyond the pale. It has always been thus.

We are in danger of sensationalising everything and some people on GN are guilty of emphasising the bad in this world.

I remain proud to be British.

Why should I be ashamed to be British?
Compared with many other countries we have a stable and more or less liberal democracy (whether or not we like the government in power.)

We still have the remains of a welfare state (which the current government appears to be trying to demolish) but we could just be in a worse mess .

Britains large role in the slave trade was certainly shameful but we cannot keep beating our country up for our bad deeds of the past. It is not an excuse but many other countries behaved in the same way. We just need to remember our colonial past enough to remind ourseleves that we must never reapeat it.

What is more, our little island is beautiful. We have so much wonderfully varied scenery packed into such a small country.
(I am totally hooked on our landscape for which I cannot claim any credit whatsoever.) When I have come back from the meditteranean and come out of the airport think thank heavens to be back where everything is green and lush.

I do agree Varian,

Surely none of us can deny that the UK has changed for the worse in the last two years. Our country has never been so divided.

I'm not ashamed to be British, either, and I really loathe the term 'Little Englander'. The sort of people who use it, and like to sneer at their compatriots, would not usually dream of sneering at any other nationality showing any shred of patriotism, be they French, Spanish, Welsh, whatever. It often stems IMO from a feeling of guilt/shame about our imperial history, but other European nationalities had empires, too, and don't feel they have to beat themselves up forever about them.
Denigrating one's own country is a peculiarly English thing IMO. And anyone who's been around the world at all, or just around Europe, will be aware that racism occurs all over, and is frequently more generalised than it is here. Just for starters I know someone married to a black African woman who used to live and work in Spain - he said the racism suffered by his wife there was far worse than anything she's ever met in the UK. The French are not exactly renowned for their natural love of diversity, either. Of course it's wrong and nasty wherever and whenever it occurs but anyone who who thinks it's particularly bad in the UK is just naive.

When you belong to a family, tribe or nation, and that is a part of your identity, you will feel proud if your fellow family members or fellow countrymen do something good.

When they do something you consider to be bad, you are likely to feel let down, or even ashamed.

In the last two years so much in the UK has changed for the worse, and to many the future looks bleak. No wonder some feel ashamed to be British.

I took this literally - in possession of UK nationality either by birth or naturalisation

Who knows what 'being British' means any more?

I also think pace Serkeen that Donald Trump is not really part of this equation.

No Varian this thread purports to be about attitudes and poses the question “(Are you I assume) ashamed of being British” which is what I was answering.
The yeas and nays of Remainers and Brexiteers have nothing to do with misplaced or well-placed pride in one’s nationality as I assume that all those who voted were if the same UK nationality.

Will we ever learn that not everyone wants to intergrate , we hear - immigrants must learn to adapt to the British way of life. As if all British do in Spain, Turkey etc . My sister in law built a house in turkey, was interviewed by the Sunday Times , why did you not build in the British sector? She replied - because I wanted to live in Turkey .

We must remember though that there is often racial hatred/intolerance on both sides.

TeganI am not a political person but I do feel that Trump has drummed up a lot of hatred

Denial

So can someone tell me the reason why there has been such a rise in racially motivated hate crime; as someone said recently, brexit isn't the elephant in the room, it IS the room....isn't it sweeping it under the carpet if we pretend that there are other reasons for it?

Cindersdad as I have a family friend struggling with alcohol ADDICTION/ILLNESS I found it un pleasant to read your post stating that you feel that people that take drugs are to be ashamed of

What they need is help ..

Yes I second that MawBroon, the old adage "not all leavers are racists but all racists voted to leave" has been rolled out so many times now it's become a hackneyed cliche. The EU as it is at present encompasses many racist extreme right wing parties the like of which are reminiscent of the 1930s at it's very worst. I can't help thinking if it hadn't become the unwieldy federal union it is today that this resurrgence of nationalism wouldn't have happened.

Maw is not a Leaver.

This thread is about the Panorama programme which revealed a marked rise in racism and bigotry as a result of the referendum. If you want to leave out the referendum you are missing the point of the discussion- or perhaps proving the point that leavers prefer not to acknowledge.

There are plenty of threads on other subjects.

I second that request Maw ?

Could we leave the Referendum out of at least one thread please.......?