If someone is proud of their history, are they racist ?

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chris1989
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10 Apr 2021, 10:04 am

I seem to think that when someone says they are proud of their country's history, are they therefore unconsciously disregarding the terrible and appalling things such as the Slave Trade that happened and ignoring it because they believe its pure of any taint. To be honest, I'm not proud of everything in my country's history, as I said in previous threads, I don't like Churchill much but I do admire all those who fought against the Nazis for trying to invade Britain and I admire writers, doctors, nurses and scientists who came up with cures for diseases. I acknowledge the wrong-doings of our history and that it should be taught a lot more.



NightMuse
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10 Apr 2021, 10:12 am

I'm a proud Southerner, and I'm not ashamed to say it. I have nothing to be ashamed of, and I will not be made to feel guilty about what may have happened in the past, especially seeing that the North never completely got rid of its slaves until after the War of Northern Aggression.


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Sylkat
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11 Apr 2021, 1:29 pm

I wore my ‘Ireland’ t-shirt quite happily; it’s black, says ‘Ireland’ in decorative lettering, and has Celtic designs on the front, in various shades of green.
The mass starvation of the Potato Famine, the imprisoning and slave labor of pregnant teenage girls for decades by the Irish Catholic Church, the horrors of human sacrifice by the ancient cultures of Ireland; there is so very, very much that is appalling in Irish history.
Telling people ‘I’m part Irish’ is not racist, it is saying my ancestors came over over 100 years ago, times were BAD there.
The USA has allowed them to survive, and I’m grateful to be here, but whenever I see pictures of the stunning countryside of Ireland, I wish that I could just once walk through the land of my ancestors.
It has nothing to do with feeling better than anyone else, or believing any racial group to be less than anyone else.


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MidnightRose
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11 Apr 2021, 10:18 pm

Not inherently, but it is kind of weird. You really have nothing to do with your ancestors, except for some genetic similarities. I live in America but was born to an English family that lived in England for generations. There is a part of me that feels connected to my birthplace and its culture, which reflects in some of my interests. But it isn't really inherently my history, it's just what I was raised in. If I were born and spent my early childhood in Kansas, I would probably feel that way about Kansas.



kitesandtrainsandcats
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11 Apr 2021, 10:35 pm

Q: If Someone Is Proud Of Their History, Are They Racist ?
A: Is someone has nothing but contempt and loathing for their country does that by definition make them a person of high virtue?


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chris1989
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12 Apr 2021, 6:16 pm

I don't think I'd feel proud of my country if racists such as the KKK or neo-Nazis hijack the patriotism. I think its a good thing that we live in a society that is accepting and tolerant of anyone no matter what their gender is, their religion is, their race is and so on rather than live in a misguided and ignorant society that preaches venomous hatred against other people different from themselves.



Last edited by chris1989 on 12 Apr 2021, 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

funeralxempire
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12 Apr 2021, 6:23 pm

What aspects of their history?

If you're proud about great cultural achievements that's not the sort of thing that might suggest one is racist.

If you're mostly proud of how your people dominated a bunch of other people, stole from them and made them second-class citizens on their own lands that almost certainly is racist.

If you're proud about how your ancestors used to own people, that's racist.

If you're proud about how 'back-in-the-day' those people knew their place and you're deeply nostalgic for that 'glorious past', yeah, that's racist.


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