How proud you are to show “Britishness”, when you’re an American…
Mandy's haul of Union Jack goodies... so far!
I have my sister staying with me at the moment, she’s flown over from where she lives in the United States – and how lovely it is to see her. My sister (Mandy) has lived in the States for about 15 years, in the charmingly named Libertyville (I’ve just about got past accidentally calling it Amityville) and visits every couple of years.
So she’s very familiar with where I live on the edge of the Cotswolds, with all its quaint old stone villages and rolling countryside. Nevertheless, every time she’s here, we spend a goodly amount of time taking pictures of thatched roofs and old houses with wonky windows and finding anything and everything that has been made with the Union Jack on it; tea towels, egg cosies, cushions, hats, biscuit tins, tie pins….. Not for her benefit, but for her friends at home. Because many of her American friends are absolutely besotted with all things British.
It’s quite extraordinary how completely fascinated they are by our little island. Most of them have never been here – and their perceptions of the UK are pretty much driven by British themed episodes of programmes like Friends (one of them is particularly keen to land at Heathrow, stand in the middle of the arrivals hall, throw her hands in the air and yell “London, Baby”!) – and I suppose part of their continuing thrall is because they don’t live in a conurbation that is overrun with us Brits. In fact Libertyville is probably about as Olde Worlde and traditional as you can get in America – it’s a lovely, largely Victorian town full of clapboard houses. So Mandy gets lots of attention for her Britishness. Bizarrely, friends will invite her round and then just make her talk – for ages, about anything, just because they want to listen to her accent. She works in an opticians, where they make her record all the store announcements and push her to the front of the shop to greet all the customers – and they react with amazed excitement when she comes out with a new “British” expression that they haven’t heard yet, which they then repeat endlessly in their best “British” voices.
I’ve paid more attention this visit – partly because of the sense that our national pride and identity are waning; that the issue of nationalisation is resulting in fragmentation and disharmony. Certainly my own emotional attachment to the Union Jack and all it symbolises is no longer particularly strong and I’m not sure how engaged I am yet with St George’s flag. I feel rather sad that I don’t have the same sense of pride I had growing up and as a young adult – and I also feel frustrated that it seems expressing opinions about it is difficult; it feels like we aren’t allowed to be open about how we feel for fear of offending, or being accused of offending, others.
Almost as if being proud of our nationality is somehow not acceptable. Am I typical in that feeling, or am I just over sensitive at the moment because of Mandy’s obsession with taking things home that are quintessentially British? Maybe I just need to make a visit to Libertyville again and give myself a shot in the arm of British fervour to keep me going. Personally. I don’t believe National Pride comes at the expense of others; I don’t believe that, in itself, it excludes. It should be perfectly ok to live in a multiracial society and still feel a sense of national pride, right? Somehow it seems as if that’s no longer the case here.
I’d love to hear you views and your own stories about love of “Britishness” I’ll be popping back in to find out how you feel in between going out with my camera to find a red telephone box, a post box, a Beefeater….
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*waves* Hello Mandy – hope you are having a fab time and polishing up your accent
I would love to live in a town like Libertyville, Victorian houses etc. I love the big houses in the US with a veranda and the rocking chairs, the attics etc.
National pride is a very difficult thing here, I think it's due to our innate, oversensitive fear of offending others. To many are quick to condemn people – the last government and St George's cross flags – prosecution and threats at every opportunity. Then we have the world cup, and Essex was filled with patriotic fervor until we were knocked out. Not seen a flag since.
Vancouver back in Feb was very refreshing, they love the Queen, the love having her on some coins etc, their uniforms yet over here you have people banging on about their privileges and taking them away etc. Our history is loved by lots except for us it seems.
I think the Archbishop of York hit the nail on the head with this- STOP APOLOGISING FOR BEING BRITISH!
It is a real shame when people feel they can't take pride in their heritage because of a few bad apples and don't get me started on the PC police. Are we going to end up with a whole generation of people without a sense of identity!
I have some thoughts about this whole issue that I will not share here as i fear I may land myself in a whole lot of trouble! So will end here:(
My Welshness is a considered to be a huge source of entertainment in our house – I've currently got my Welsh flag packed for our holiday as we'll be in Paris when the Tour de France ends and our boy Geraint is doing jolly well just now.
However, it turns out that my husband is actually jealous of my passionate Welshness. He's half Polish half Irish and was brought up in Scotland but has never felt like he belongs anywhere, or has any particular affinity with any country. In the meantime, I shall continue to be Welsh, loud and proud!
My sister sent a greetings email on Canada Day (June 30th for the uninformed amongst us). It had an image of the Canadian (maple leaf) flag attached with a picture of her dog's head (I could swear it was laughing) tucked in the corner…
I had to phone Montreal, Canada the following day on business and was told something might be delayed a few days as so many people had taken holidays. “But it's only ONE day!” I bewailed. “Yes; but it's more important than Christmas”…
And this is a country where immigrants used to describe themselves as French Canadians, Irish Canadians, Polish Canadians and so on…
Have they moved forward in terms of (justifiable?) national pride in their adopted country while we've lagged behind in pride in our home grown one?
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks
Hello,I was born and raised in England & came here to the States when I was in my 20's ,back in the '80's ! I go home..(yes England is “home” to me) every few years & I notice far less nationalism there than I do here Here,.people fly the American flag outside their front doors.Children pledge their allegiance to the flag every morning in school.Honestly,I prefer the the more understated national pride of being British (except when we're playing in the world cup!) compared to the “God Bless America” mentalty that is seemingly everywhere over here.
After hearing many accounts of people's lives in other countries, and why they emigrated to the UK (often leaving behind loved ones in order to eventually provide them with a better life), I feel we have a lot to be grateful for and we should be proud to be British and not at all worried about showing it. None of my students have ever said they felt threatened by pride in British national identity, on the contrary they often tell me that people here have no idea how lucky they are.
Twitter: StudyingOnline
I'm hoping Mandy will wave back from her home back across the pond; and we may get some feedback on how the fab gifts went down too!
It's true that we are oversensitive too – maybe a time fo a resurgence of pride!
Agreed Ida; and we really need to halt the loss of identity!
Good on you Kate; hope you're singing Welsh praises too!
I may have to find some Union Jack greetings cards Linda;)
Hello Angela – I know what you mean about the slightly over the top approach – and I don't advocate that particularly, but I must say that I sometimes envy that very open expression of National Pride; maybe just in a little more moderation:)
It's refreshing to hear that your students don't have a problem with it; I guess it may be another case of being too influenced by the media etc. I certainly feel it's time for us to be more assertive about our pride in our identity.