AIBU to think my colleague's anti England comment was rude?

[ProudBlackMomma]

What would you make of this? A colleague declared in front of the whole team in the office the other day that she’d never ever support England in any sport due to their history colonialism. Personally I think it’s rude and fails to read the room. Most people had been enjoying cheering on England in the World Cup so to hear this felt a bit like raining on the parade. This woman is African but living in England and reaping all the benefits that come with that. I’m Black too but proud to say I’m English and happy to cheer on the players, who include plenty of black men who I assume also cheer on England!!

Oh, I know it's a 'free country' - but most intelligent and decent people like to aim higher than participating in or endorsing racism or xenophobia.

I wonder, supposing Nigel Farage (and no, I cannot stand the man one bit) had made a similar comment about the entire nation of India as the theoretical one I cited above... would you be fiercely championing his right to say such things in public, as 'it's a free country and he has a right to his own opinions' - and slapping down his detractors as 'just looking for drama'?

Out of curiosity, HOW is mentioning colonialism "racism" and "xenophobia" exactly?

OP. Did you join MN just to make that post?

who's stopping you?

WHO is expecting you to support a specific football team when you don't want to? For whatever reason they made up.

You sound strangely.. involved in all this 😂

Wait until you discover that most people don't actually care one bit about football, even if it was the World Cup finale. Which England didn't even reach anyway

She's posting on two threads about the same thing. Unusually, she has lived in both Scotland and Nigeria. Make of that what you will.

Under two names I should add.

I suppose people loudly cheering for football can be very annoying and forgeting that not everyone shares the enjoyment.

If you feel uncomfortable after the comment, maybe it just shows you how uncomfortable your enjoying football makes other people?

Her comment is valid - the UKs wealth and intetnational position comes from the colonial times and the fact you personally wasn't involved doesn't mean that everything is forgotten. You aren't hurrying to get rid of the advantages you've inherited since that times, are you?

And name changed for it. Why name change if you're proud...

I don’t care.
If an African nation are playing they cheer even louder.
In England we are entitled to cheer for England.
In France they riot on the streets.
In Argentina they scream all night.
If it’s annoying because you are not English, then suck it up, be quiet and put ear plugs in.

She's absolutely right; colonialism is bad.

That's why I'm supporting Portugal
Belgium
France
Spai-

Oh, never mind; I hate football now.

3rd name!

Obviously I’m not saying this one is-but threads like this are often posted to make a space for Restore type racists to post their opinions. So be very careful. The “try saying that in X country” and “If they don’t like it they should leave” type comments show how well they work. Be careful.

Or someone just isn't interested in football and seeing the madness about it is getting tiresome.

Have you been to some of the wealthier parts of Africa.
Millionaires and billionaires, hoarding foreign currency and gold. Why not visit the yacht clubs and polo clubs. Just a word of warning, if you go to the ones in Lagos, you are at risk of passing dead naked bodies in the street, abandoned.
Untouched and left.
Then you can pass the 11 million slum houses. Where people beg to eek a living.
Or might you be distressed by the rich keeping slaves in their own homes.
Where the average wage of many is less than a dollar a day.
Children trafficked and used as sex slaves.
This is the reality of today, not hundreds of years ago.
Yet it goes ignored……

What does that have to do with anything?

I'm not saying anything about Africa.

I just find football annoying.

Because the whole purpose of this thread was her banging on about colonialism and her therefore excuse not to support England.
i am assuming she doesn’t support her own country either, judging by how they treat their own people.

Wow, that is such a 'gotcha'. Clearly she should stop working immediately and claim benefits so England is supporting her. 🙄

You are not making any sense at all

Hmmm.

How do you know she is Nigerian?

It's not 'mentioning' colonialism, though; it's blaming people who had nothing to do with it for supposedly being guilty of it.

Just like the horrific facts of WW2 are discussed and learned about, but only loons would go up to young German people now and shout that they are Nazis.

Wherever you're from, if you're obsessing about people from a certain country doing bad things that they very clearly do not do - even if some of their ancestors may have done them centuries ago - then you are xenophobic and seeking to stir up hatred for no good reason. People like that can at least own their irrational hatred, rather than trying to make out that they are somehow justified in it.

"Having lived in Nigeria and been asked hundreds of times a day to help them get a visa to go to England, I can 100% say this comment would be made by a Nigerian."

She has also lived in Scotland apparently and on her two accounts has posted that she was hated in Aberdeen for being English.

She is African.
i have lived in many African countries and I am assuming this is the case.
But its the same in most African countries and the corruption that causes misery on most Africans.
Op has not denied she isn’t Nigerian.
its as bad today as it was all those years ago

Sorry, it's MANY African countries now plus Scotland.

Again, how do you know she is from Nigeria? Or do you just want an excuse to express your obvious hatred for Nigeria