I'm English

[Rickshaw Phil]

You know the union flag in your avatar is upside down don't you?

It looks ok to me. Red to the mast and white to the last & all that.

 

[martint235]

May I suggest you hit ctrl+alt+<up arrow> , this will turn your screen the right way up.

It looks ok to me. Red to the mast and white to the last & all that.

Sorry I should have added a smiley to my original post. I could just imagine the OP scurrying off to check that was all.

 

[rich p]

It will adjust itself naturally, given time. The other way around too: the foreigners of today will produce proud british in a generation or two.

I lay the blame at the pieds of William the Conqueror. It makes me parlez in Frog half of the temps.

 

[Riverman]

I was a bit merry (probably a bit of an understatement) when I made the topic so apologies if the point was a bit disjointed but I do stand by the general thrust of it.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I was a bit merry (probably a bit of an understatement) when I made the topic so apologies if the point was a bit disjointed but I do stand by the general thrust of it.

I think the original point was well made. Casual abuse of our fellow man for no reason other than they look/sound different is completely pathetic. I think it's the rest of us who have taken the thread off at a bit of a tangent really.

 

[soulful dog]

What I do notice though is that there seems to be an ingrained anti-Englishness that is slightly grating. For example, although in Carlisle you will get English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, etc. stuff in shops, including nationalistic stuff; go a few miles north to Gretna and anything marked as English seems to disappear.

I'm also very wary of wearing things like my Audax England jersey for Scottish Audaxes, in a way that I couldn't imagine would come up the other way round. That may be just in my head although I've seen stories over the years (mostly of areas of Glasgow I admit) where being identifiably English has engendered aggression.

As someone who doesn't really have any strong views on nationality, I find petty and unwelcoming.

Certainly in west central Scotland, while there will be some idiots who'll give you abuse because you might be English, it's probably more likely they'll do so because they reckon you are probably a Rangers fan, who seem to think it's a good idea because of all the Celtic fans walking about in their Irish tops....

While on holiday in England a few years ago I got some abuse for wearing a t-shirt I'd bought in Skye (it has a small saltire as well as saying Skye on it), but that apart, everyone else was really nice, particularly the guy we met in Cornwall who said he wished Cornwall could be a bit more like Scotland and fight for independence from the horrible English .

There probably is some anti-English feeling in the other countries in the UK, but for the most part, there's idiots everywhere, they don't have any consideration for anyone other than themselves and an England top, a different colour of skin, a funny accent or whatever is just a label they can use, and that's all there is to it.

Edited to add: in short, what Rickshaw Phil just said!

 

[Saddle bum]

Are we confusing racism with xenophobia?

There is a difference.

 

[martint235]

Are we confusing racism with xenophobia?

There is a difference.

I tried to make this point in post #14

 

[BigonaBianchi]

xenonphobia..the fear of entry level groupsets

 

[rollinstok]

Can anyone hand on heart tell me of any country in the world whose indigenous population do not hate either their neighbours, those of an alien culture or different religious belief ?
I would say that the English are head and shoulders above any other nation on Earth for our tolerance of other people, I would say that we invented enforced multi-culturalism.

 

[growingvegetables]

Can anyone hand on heart tell me of any country in the world whose indigenous population do not hate either their neighbours, those of an alien culture or different religious belief ?

Yes - a fair number of the 193 members of the UN would be a good start.

I would say that the English are head and shoulders above any other nation on Earth for our tolerance of other people,

Hmmm - you'll understand I'll have a little difficulty with that statement. England's the only country in which I've lived where I've been hospitalised as a result of a racist assault .... and I've visited/lived in a fair few other countries on 5 continents.

enforced multi-culturalism.

What a strange phrase.

 

[lukesdad]

Calling someone a moron is fairly personal, non?

Nah ! Forum's full of them

 

[lukesdad]

Nah ! Forum's full of them

I think its about time for a cull

 

[martint235]

Nah ! Forum's full of them

And I thought you were my friend?

 

[lukesdad]

And I thought you were my friend?

You'd get thru the filter Martin

( Is it really that boring today? I have an excuse )