Is it a crime to be proud of your ethnicity or nationality?
I’m not usually one to moan about comedians. I’m of the impression that of course humor can make us face the issues that are too serious to get enough attention these days. But as a friend of mine posted this on Facebook, I think I will have a little ramble about it.
Here’s what he posted:
To all those who say ‘Proud to be Indian’ or ‘Asian Pride’ or whatever the f***:
“I saw a slogan on a guy’s car that said ‘Proud to be American’ and I thought, ‘What the f*** does that mean?’
I’m fully Irish, and when I was a kid I would go to the St Patrick’s Day parade and they sold a button that said ‘Proud to be Irish’, but I knew that on Columbus Day they sold the same button, only it said ’Proud to be Italian’, then came ‘Black Pride’, and ‘Puerto Rican Pride’. And I could never understand national or ethnic pride, because to me pride should be reserved for something you achieve on your own.
Being Irish isn’t a skill, it’s a f***ing genetic accident.
You wouldn’t be proud to be 5’11″. You wouldn’t be proud to have a pre-disposition for colon cancer.” – George Carlin
It is logical what George Carlin is saying. That pride is usually something we have for something we have attained. And being proud of genetics isn’t something that is attainable.
But saying ‘Proud to be American’ means being proud that you are a member of a nation that is built on the foundations of freedom and justice. And being proud of a nation that is made of people from all over the world, who came to America in search of dreams that have been attained (for some). Then isn’t that something to be proud of?
Granted there are a few things that Americans wouldn’t be proud that their nation has done. You know the drill…killing Native Americans, George Bush, the invasion of Iraq. But when we’re being proud of our identities, we usually leave out the bad parts.
In the same way that comedian George Carlin has left out the good parts of being Irish in his stand-up joke, for the sake of humor. He says You wouldn’t be proud to be 5’11″. You wouldn’t be proud to have a pre-disposition for colon cancer. But wouldn’t you be proud of Irish humour? Irish music? The great green expanse of the Irish land? And having survived so much oppression from the English?
Regardless, the definition of the words ‘pride’ or ‘proud’ don’t mention at all that one has to be proud of something attained. It is a feeling, that nobody can determine the cause of for each different person. As long as that pride doesn’t cause the person to look down on others, everybody has the right to be proud of who they are, whether it was attained or not. Every nation and ethnicity has good and bad parts, as does every human being.
