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 in all your posts. It’s not auto correct.

I don’t even know why you butted into a conversation anyway.

Because it was!

You don’t believe me check out AI

Between 1760 and 1830, roughly 25% of all East India Company patronage went to Scots, making them heavily overrepresented in relation to Scotland's population. By 1792, Scots comprised about 1 in 9 civil servants, 1 in 3 military officers, and over 50% of Company writers. 1, 2]
Following the 1707 Act of Union, Scots aggressively pursued careers in India as a path to wealth and political influence. Their presence was so pervasive that the first three Governor-Generals of India were Scottish, and politicians like Henry Dundas (President of the Board of Control) actively "Scoticised" the Company's administration. 1]

It is colonialism. So odd that this can't be accepted. It wasn't so long ago and caused lasting harm. It is amazing that anyone would expect that not to be the case. I have been in parts of Africa talking to people that haven't heard of Ireland or Scotland but remember the British and unsurprisingly not many people are interested to learn the difference between England and Brits. Scotland at times put up a fight for independance maybe that separates them. Maybe that bit isn't fair but what that amounts to is saying another sub nation should also be unpopular. It doesn't change the overall reason.

It was a mistake. I’ve apologised.

I meant a joint endeavour with the occupied nation and am not saying that Scotland was colonised

I’m saying colonialism in all its forms was a bad thing - I personally think this is about the upper classes exploiting the working class. Nationalism plays into the hands of the oppressors.
The ruling classes, including the middle classes of Scotland and Ireland engaged very enthusiastically with colonialism abroad. I find the attempt to blame the English for all the ills of colonialism and make the other nations of the U.K. and Ireland entirely innocent victims is childishly simplistic.
People blame the English for the sins of Empire and many Scots and Irish (the Welsh don’t seem to make as much noise) are happy to let the English take the blame. If you’re not big enough to own the good and bad bits of your nations past that’s a real shame.
I’ve got Irish heritage but I’m English. My country has done good and bad things - every country has. If people want to hate the English knock yourself out but you’re just not facing up to the reality of British colonialism beyond the British Isles.

Playing the permanent victim is not healthy in individuals or nations.
Enjoy the football.

I didn't choose two random countries as an example, so I'm not sure if you're missing my point deliberately. I chose two that are connected by a physical border. Scotland and England have different laws, education system, currency (try getting Scottish bank notes accepted in England - make sure you have a card or English notes as backup), taxation, national health services, many Scots speak a language that English speakers in the rest of the world do not understand. There's plenty to separate us and that's not hate, far from it, We are indeed ruled by Westminster, in a voluntary political union, just like the European countries are.

There's really no hate or animosity from me, in fact I was happy to get up and see the result this morning knowing I could enjoy seeing the reaction from English colleagues. But that's as far as my happiness extends, otherwise I really don't care.

But then when you look at other nations that were colonised by Britain many inhabitants are far less opposed to cheering on British teams.

"Were colonised" that's the difference, many in Ireland still consider part of their country colonised, so it is still very current they are still living in what they consider a partitioned country and want a United Ireland.

I didn't say that. Or anything like that.

I said hanging on to I'm descended from.... when it's largely irrelevant is tedious.

As for "converting to what?" obviously from Catholic to Protestant. Surely you being so Scottish would know that Sottish Catholicism in the North East, survived the Reformation largely in secret- so they didn't convert.

They are random because they don't share a language, a culture or a government. There is no comparison with the UK.

A difference between upper class repression of lower classes and colonialism would be attempting to destroy a language. They are not the same thing. I never said every Irish person was perfect but I disagree totally that the Irish are partly responsible for their own occupation because some Irish people benefitted. isn't childishly simplistic to say that. You don't have any idea what my background is. Interesting that you assume it must be Irish. I don't hate the English or like football. I am not saying I am a victim. I am saying the English/ British are unpopular internationally because of colonialism.

A recurring one

You did

I really wish people would stop calling the Great Hunger a potato (or even a potatoe) famine. It wasn’t a famine.

But the same is true of many of the countries I have speaking of. With many not true nations in a real sense. Just inventions of European straight lines and pens. (And many still have the British monarch as their head of state.) So that doesn’t really explain the difference.

I did not say anti Catholic prejudice is tedious. Stop making things up

You asked about my family. I said as far as I knew they had always been in the North East but tbh I find the whole idea of clinging on to "I'm descended from blah, blah," a bit tedious.

But the point is it cannot just be that as the Scottish team would be equally loathed.

I think you have a point in some people are ignorant and Scotland have been happy to pretend that the Empire was just England.

I think it is just that but people are less aware of Scottish involvement as it was very much an English look. Scotland didn't have an empire in its name in the same way. In other parts of the world lots of people haven't even heard of Scotland

I don’t know any who makes that distinction. It would be a funny distinction as London is one of the least English parts of England!

England didn’t have an empire in its own name either - it was the British empire. Even in countries / regions where the Scottish imperialists were disproportionately represented a lot seem to overlook them.

But in fairness people who are acknowledgeable of British Imperialist history (as in people who read extensively) seem more aware that it wasn’t an English only affair. It’s just the people who were not aware that “England” and “Britain “ were not synonyms who don’t seem aware. So maybe it’s an ignorant understanding of empire that drives the anti-Englishness.

^^

That and Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart”.

Some people are happy to pretend that and some people get very annoyed and claim that pointing out Scotland's involvement is a slur on Scotland.

Wikipedia lists 77 Scottish slave owners and 147 English which given the population proportions means the Scots were more involved than the English.

At best you are looking for Scotland to be equally unpopular by that thinking so it wouldn't really change anything

Yes the Scottish history in Jamaica is well known with Jamaicans having an exceptionally high number of Scottish surnames and it’s not because loads of Scottish men decided to randomly marry Jamaican women….