AIBU to wonder if anti-English feeling is mostly about sport

[Batsratscatsgnats]

If you support anyone but England in football or other sports do you dislike English people generally or is it just in sports?

It’s not just Ireland though.

I’m sure all those grand 18th and 19th century houses and buildings in Glasgow and Edinburgh had nothing whatsoever to do with the colonial economy.

no - I am trying to explain why it might feel different to the different nations but if you don’t want to hear the why then you won’t ever understand . nations whose identity - language and culture - was stripped by the English

A lot of Scottish people want to ignore the dark part of Scotland’s history and foist all bad parts of the British empire onto England. And because a lot of people are not well-read they fall it.

The Scottish history in Jamaica is diabolical as is the role of Scottish universities in pushing racial pseudoscience (used in justifying the Atlantic slave) with impacts still observed today.

But nope it was just England - London really. Nothing to see in Scotland, nothing to do with them!

😄😄

• not one of us here was involved in the colonial economy and every single one of us has benefitted

but it still feels different - the English did a huge amount of harm to the smaller nations and it really doesn’t matter that they also let us share some of their profits.

I hear it and I think it’s stupid to dislike people in the modern era for events of the past.

You seem not to realise that some of us feel that way despite us being from nations that had our “identity, language and culture stripped by the British (the Welsh, English and Scottish)”.

I know that's why I said "I'm assuming similar in other countries" but I honestly can't speak for them. I really don't know enough history 😂 Just giving my understanding of a background negative attitude towards "English" that I experienced in my Irish upbringing.

I recall my dad saying to us as a child while on holiday in France, make sure you say "Je Suis Irlandais" because if the French don't like the English. I don't know why " the French don't like the English" but that was 35yrs ago and my dad doesn't follow football at all. I must ask him where his understanding of that came from

They did not merely let you share the profits, Scottish people were enthusiastic participants.

It’s disingenuous of you to try and highlight English evildoings while trying desperately to downplay Scotland’s participation in all aspects of the British empire.

We were told the same. Je suis Ecosse.

I have heard this before. People never see me as English so its moot but I always say I am. I have never given into racists and xenophobes and not starting now.

The obsession from the media. Even before it started they were banging on about 1966 and how England were going to bring it home. Barely any mention of Scotland, they spent more time going on about 1966 than the current Scottish team, I say that as a Welsh person as well. I don’t actually know any English people who do this but the media are definitely obsessed with it.

For those who want to know more about Scottish people’s enthusiastic involvement in the British colonial project, Empire podcast did a few episodes on it (starting episode 190). In related topics, they also did England/Britain’s treatment of Ireland (starting around episode 231)

Having returned to England many decades ago after being raised in another country (I was born in the UK) I went to a university in London, also stayed at student digs. My natural inclination was to make friends with English people (being the same ethnic group as myself) but I found it difficult and they weren't very friendly. I ended up having great friendships with people whose ethnic roots were from other countries (and religions). I also later discovered the north/south split and found northerners very friendly and had a best friend from 'oop north'.

Meanwhile, I met students at other universities and colleges who came from other countries (mainly Europeans and some Asians) to study in London and all of them weren't impressed by the English, finding them less friendly and more cliquey. Nothing to do with football whatsoever. I was surprised just how pervasive that feeling and experience was.

I don't hate the English but I do find many are very reserved and take quite awhile to open up. Just have to persevere.

Given that 19% of the UK is not white(source Wikipedia 2021 census,Felicia) and principally from former colonies hating because of colonialisation is racist.

Do Brazilians hate Portugal with the same racism? Do inhabitants of french colonies hate the French? What about the countries originally colonised by Germany, which the UK got after ww1?

And if you were enslaved by other African tribes/groups/nations and sold to Arabian slave traders, that's ok, it was just when the Arab slavers sold you to whites that it becomes a problem? Racism.

The England football team is 50% non white - specifically black. You have a problem with that? Racist?

England - the place where so many want to come to, whether legally or illegally.

Loving the people on here not understanding that people the world over don’t like English people. Shows a lack of knowledge and understanding of English history. I live in England- I’m Scottish- and I don’t hate English people per se but I despise the racists and xenophobes, those who are stuck in thinking it’s the best country in the world, the forelock tuggers who just love to look up to Aristos and royals who wouldn’t pee on them if they were on fire and, of course, English sport commentators and the boorish and thuggish element of England football supporters. The rest are ok🤣 But you guys really need to learn to laugh at yourselves- so many po-faced English people who refuse to see humour in anything even slightly aimed at England and the English.

I agree with every word - but I'm afraid if it came down to England and the USA I would be fiercely on the side of the USA.

(from a fellow sufferer in NZ)

We were away for the DR Congo match last week. Hotel split was pretty evenly English and Scottish guests. A young lad of around 14 sitting next to me was cheering enthusiastically for DR Congo, we had a chat and a laugh about it and when I told him my family were originally from Glasgow we had the Celtic/Rangers debate. Lovely young man, but when his dad came to join him his hatred of the England team was radiating from him, and he made me feel really uncomfortable for chatting to his son.

On the other hand, a Scottish family we had met a few days previously joined us to watch the match and were cheering for England the whole time. My parents are both Scottish and were up cheering for England last night.

Not all Scottish people hate us, and not all England fans are thugs.

This has been researched, and it's not the case.

you may choose to believe it but if you look into it there has been academic research that has actually assessed this for any win/lose bias and there isn't any.

the only trend was he tends to be referred to as Scottish in Scottish outlets

Yeah because racists and xenophobics don't exist in Scotland. Hilarious.

This is exactly what I was coming here to post!

There is very real information on generational trauma. It's not as simple as letting bygones be bygones. The OP asked a question. People are explaining why there are generational views of England.

Ireland pretty much lost it's native language . People were beaten if they spoke irish. English is our first language now. Irish were literally starved to death by the British rule when the potato crop failed. They were not allowed to own property in most cases. Please read the novel "The Hungry Road" as a way to understand some of the famine history. Again I'm not a history person and I do not know a lot about it but that book was so disturbing and a realisation how recent that history really is.

However I agree it's ridiculous to blanket hate people who had nothing to do with that.

But generational trauma is woven in AND........an attitude of seeing the person in front of you as an individual takes maturity which at least 50% of adults don't have 😂 (I totally made up that 50% stat
istic....id expect it might be higher actually 😂)

Mostly this. With a bit of long term colonial resentment thrown into the mix.

There is very real information on generational trauma.

Ha ha ha! Good grief, Jesus Wept…

You’re not telling me anything I don’t know. I still think disliking people in the modern day for events of the past is stupid.

But I know part of the “anybody but England” in sporting events is partly based on historical reasons.

I said 2 in my very first post.

Also, there's just lots of scumbags too!

I'm not a sport person but within Ireland there's a bit of 'anyone but Dublin" 😂