Proud to be Irish. Why not proud to be white?

later12 · 02-09-2011 01:00AM #1

TL; DR: This thread is not about encouraging racial pride, it's about the misguidedness of nationalism.

This evening I was reading an article on the Luas about the public finances, and an elderly man beside me, who I had been chatting with casually, mentioned that the country was gone to the dogs (actually he used more colourful language). Naturally, I agreed, because as another miserable old Irishman once said 'old men have a right to their anger'.

As we sat waiting on the Luas, he started telling me about the College of Surgeons and the pockmarks on it from the 1916 rising. Now we were getting into republicanism. And then he expressed an opinion that I cannot understand, he said he was still "proud to be Irish"

This term angers me because I don't see how it can be any more acceptable to be proud to be Irish than proud to be European, or even proud to be white. What sort of gratification can really be taken from what was, after all, a mere accident of birth, an ethnic identity?

Now this man was about 80, and I'm not going to be so impertinent as to criticise an 80 year old stranger. But the very fact that this sort of sentiment is deemed perfectly acceptable - praiseworthy, even - is what bothers me.

To shamelessly pilfer one user's signature, is it not the case that "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it" (George Bernard Shaw)

What do boards users think, would any of you describe yourselves as 'proud to be Irish'? And why do you think that nationality is something from which you can derive some pride?

jimmycrackcorm · 02-09-2011 01:03AM

I'm proud that I'm not from Cork.

Pdfile · 02-09-2011 01:03AM

im proud that im not french.

AnamGlas · 02-09-2011 01:05AM

Why not be proud of it? It's my home, always has been, always will be.

krudler · 02-09-2011 01:07AM

meh, my parents shagged here, thats about the involvement I had in my nationality.

K-9 · 02-09-2011 01:08AM

Proud I'm not a West Brit myself.

The problem with Nationalism is it is often defined by what some are against, not what they are for.

policarp · 02-09-2011 01:09AM

If you knew the 80 yo mans life story, that may give a clue as to why he said what he said. . .

Hunchback · 02-09-2011 01:09AM

To mask an inferiority complex, perhaps?

Johro · 02-09-2011 01:09AM

later10 wrote: »

Proud to be Irish. Why not proud to be white?

Look around you.

zuroph · 02-09-2011 01:10AM

Proud to be me. Everything else is bull****.

UnknownSpecies · 02-09-2011 01:11AM

I'm proud of our Guiness drinking Leprechaun stereotype!

dlofnep · 02-09-2011 01:11AM

I respect being Irish, and value the culture, heritage and what we as a people have overcome. I don't think being Irish makes us anymore fortunate or superior than any other nationality.

GoldFour4 · 02-09-2011 01:12AM

I'm proud to be from a country with such a small population which has produced renowned authors, artists and generally looked upon fondly by the world.

Saila · 02-09-2011 01:14AM

he just meant "as bad an all as things are, on balance Im still glad I can say Im Irish" as we have an international reputation with ordinary people of being good people who enjoy the craic

Napper Hawkins · 02-09-2011 01:14AM

I'm proud to be from the country next door to the country that produced Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. \m/

DjFlin · 02-09-2011 01:15AM

Pride is a funny thing. I've very little attachment to being Irish, but I still feel that little ping whenever I hear "An Irish person invented X" or "The Irish have the most Y".

DEFTLEFTHAND · 02-09-2011 01:15AM

Until I achieve all my goals in life I won't be proud of anything. National pride and national identity mean very little to me. I'm in this life for myself.

Hunchback · 02-09-2011 01:15AM

Proud to be 'white' almost indicates supremacism because white people are infrequently crapped on for being white ( in this neck of the woods ).

being Irish is slightly different. We have been conquered on more than one occasion and discriminated against on the basis of our nationality. Maybe this gives validation to being proud to be Irish?

Personally, I just like being Irish, cuz it's easy, it's familiar, and by and large I believe we are a good spirited people. Thats why I'm proud.

I also really love my Polish friends. But they are all, without exception, extremely distrustful of other Poles. Point being; it's not necessarily a given that you are proud of your nationality simply because it's where you were born.

jive · 02-09-2011 01:16AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4f9zR5yzY

I love being white. I really do.

Kylo Ren · 02-09-2011 01:17AM

I'm proud of my friend Roger. He can run fast, like real fast. He is also pretty good at the hula-hoop and reads to less privileged kids on the weekend. God I love Roger.

TanG411 · 02-09-2011 01:18AM

Irish are underdogs.

But full of begrudgry and hypocrisy.

AnamGlas · 02-09-2011 01:19AM

ThinksAmoral wrote: »

Irish are underdogs.

But full of begrudgry and hypocrisy.

Least we're best in the world at something

DjFlin · 02-09-2011 01:19AM

ThinksAmoral wrote: »

Irish are underdogs.

But full of begrudgry and hypocrisy.

I begrudge that comment :mad:

:pac:

Terry · 02-09-2011 01:22AM

later10 wrote: »

TL; DR: This thread is not about encouraging racial pride, it's about the misguidedness of nationalism.

This evening I was reading an article on the Luas about the public finances, and an elderly man beside me, who I had been chatting with casually, mentioned that the country was gone to the dogs (actually he used more colourful language). Naturally, I agreed, because as another miserable old Irishman once said 'old men have a right to their anger'.

As we sat waiting on the Luas, he started telling me about the College of Surgeons and the pockmarks on it from the 1916 rising. Now we were getting into republicanism. And then he expressed an opinion that I cannot understand, he said he was still "proud to be Irish"

This term angers me because I don't see how it can be any more acceptable to be proud to be Irish than proud to be European, or even proud to be white. What sort of gratification can really be taken from what was, after all, a mere accident of birth, an ethnic identity?

Now this man was about 80, and I'm not going to be so impertinent as to criticise an 80 year old stranger. But the very fact that this sort of sentiment is deemed perfectly acceptable - praiseworthy, even - is what bothers me.

To shamelessly pilfer one user's signature, is it not the case that "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it" (George Bernard Shaw)

What do boards users think, would any of you describe yourselves as 'proud to be Irish'? And why do you think that nationality is something from which you can derive some pride?

I'm proud to be Irish.
If you feel ashamed to be Irish, then you have your own problems, and should probably check out the PI forum.
I was going to say that if you don't care about being Irish and white, then you have nothing to worry about. However, because you started this thread, I'm of the opinion that you may have some psychological problems relating to your ancestry.

I suggest that you stop listening to early 90's rap and see a psychiatrist.
This may help you overcome your feelings of guilt about being White and Irish.

If that doesn't work, then you should read up on the Cromwellian era.
Mutha fukka (in terminology you may understand) sold Irish people as slaves back in the dayo.

Just as your homies in Compton are the ancestors of slaves, so are the ginger haired niggas of the Caribbean.

Proud to be white? Don't really care about that.
I'm happy that my ancestors ****ed some Neanderthals and gave me my awesome gingerness, but I don't really care about skin colour after that.

Word!

Pure Sound · 02-09-2011 01:25AM

I would consider myself proud to be Irish, it is not out of the hate for somewhere else, it is about being proud of my friends and family and how lucky I am to have them. I like my life and the fact that I was born and raised here is a significant part of that. I understand what you mean tho OP

Micky Dolenz · 02-09-2011 01:25AM

zuroph wrote: »

Proud to be me. Everything else is bull****.

Too right.

I'm proud to be you too.

Bipolar Joe · 02-09-2011 01:26AM

I'm not proud. It's not like I made a choice, I had no say in the matter. You can't be individually proud of something you had absolutely nothing to do with. "I'm so proud of Linus Torvalds for inventing Linux." Why? Didn't have sh!t to do with me.

EDIT: Also, this "You aren't proud so that means you are ashamed!" bullsh!t is absurd. It's not a case of you are with us or against us. Some people don't give a crap either way.

biko · 02-09-2011 01:28AM

I guess you can be proud of what your family and lineage has achieved through hard work and be happy to be Irish but being born white is just pure "luck", no achievement in itself.

*Luck isn't the right word but that's all I can think of this late.

Terry · 02-09-2011 01:31AM

biko wrote: »

I guess you can be proud of what your family and lineage has achieved through hard work and be happy to be Irish but being born white is just pure "luck", no achievement in itself.

*Luck isn't the right word but that's all I can think of this late.

Oh my God.
Biko just said that being born White is lucky.
That means he thinks that being born Black is unlucky.

I call racism.
String him up and so forth!!!!!!!!

Pure Sound · 02-09-2011 01:35AM

biko wrote: »

I guess you can be proud of what your family and lineage has achieved through hard work and be happy to be Irish but being born white is just pure "luck", no achievement in itself.

*Luck isn't the right word but that's all I can think of this late.

I reckon "Chance" would be a better word, as Terry said luck makes it sound like the white race is superior which I'm sure you don't mean

amacachi · 02-09-2011 01:40AM

Looking forward to kev_ps3 getting in.

Proud to be Irish. Why not proud to be white?

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