RANT
"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is ENGLAND" - Sir Winston Churchill.
I was born in England. England is part of Great Britain, but Great Britain is NOT England. And I can call myself English, or I can equally call myself British. English is British but British is NOT English. Mainly, I call myself British. Why is that? It's a thing I've been pondering over a lot of late. I thought about it when I had to fill in my nationality with the hotel when we went to Cadbury World at the weekend, before I chickened out and put "British". Why is it that it seems dirty and shameful to call yourself "English"? The Scots and the Welsh are encouraged to be proud of their national identity and culture - so why aren't we English folks? Why do we have to become "British" by default? Why do people feel "British" and "English" are fully interchangeable? They're not.
Stemming on from that, why do people, especially anyone who isn't British, feel it is acceptable to cast public stereotypical aspersions on a whole nation, especially England? Yes, I'm biased towards England - get over it. I read something last night that was a complete slur on English people, and it really, really angered me, because it was false, ignorant in the extreme, offensive and insulting. If the commenter had said "black" or "gay" or "Jewish", there would no doubt have been an outcry. But because it was "English", it's apparently okay to be rude and discriminatory. And racist. Yes - I went there. Racist. The United Nations defines racial discrimintion as:
"any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."
It doesn't say "but not if you're white, or English, or both."
This was in a forum where some people really should have known better, and the fact that they not only condoned it, they also carried it on further really disappointed me. So I did the only thing I could - I voted with my feet.
Before I am accused of not having a sense of humour, let us not forget: "A joke is a very serious thing." - Sir Winston Churchill (yes, again - the man spoke a lot of sense. Deal with it).
So I say it here and and I say it loud - I'm English and PROUD. And no, we don't, as a general rule, leave our socks on when we have sex. Do you?
I was born in England. England is part of Great Britain, but Great Britain is NOT England. And I can call myself English, or I can equally call myself British. English is British but British is NOT English. Mainly, I call myself British. Why is that? It's a thing I've been pondering over a lot of late. I thought about it when I had to fill in my nationality with the hotel when we went to Cadbury World at the weekend, before I chickened out and put "British". Why is it that it seems dirty and shameful to call yourself "English"? The Scots and the Welsh are encouraged to be proud of their national identity and culture - so why aren't we English folks? Why do we have to become "British" by default? Why do people feel "British" and "English" are fully interchangeable? They're not.
Stemming on from that, why do people, especially anyone who isn't British, feel it is acceptable to cast public stereotypical aspersions on a whole nation, especially England? Yes, I'm biased towards England - get over it. I read something last night that was a complete slur on English people, and it really, really angered me, because it was false, ignorant in the extreme, offensive and insulting. If the commenter had said "black" or "gay" or "Jewish", there would no doubt have been an outcry. But because it was "English", it's apparently okay to be rude and discriminatory. And racist. Yes - I went there. Racist. The United Nations defines racial discrimintion as:
"any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."
It doesn't say "but not if you're white, or English, or both."
This was in a forum where some people really should have known better, and the fact that they not only condoned it, they also carried it on further really disappointed me. So I did the only thing I could - I voted with my feet.
Before I am accused of not having a sense of humour, let us not forget: "A joke is a very serious thing." - Sir Winston Churchill (yes, again - the man spoke a lot of sense. Deal with it).
So I say it here and and I say it loud - I'm English and PROUD. And no, we don't, as a general rule, leave our socks on when we have sex. Do you?