Is it possible? Is it wrong to be proud of ones heritage and to adorn a building with the national flag, is this somehow a sign of racial intimidation....is it possible?
Well I guess it is. I left my country of birth about six years ago to start a new life with my American wife. At no point did I cease to be English, nor did I wish to forget where I was born and raised. Yet, I feel now that I am more patriotic to my homeland than ever before. Why? Simple, I live in a country where being proud of your nation and displaying that pride in bold and illustrious ways is an everyday occurrence. Whether it be fighter jet fly overs or just wearing a depiction of the stars and stripes, Americans are very, very patriotic on the whole. But the English are discouraged from such displays. Even our national flag, the St Georges Cross, is apparently a symbol of racial hatred. We, as a nation, do not even have our national day as a holiday.
Today this is important as it is St Georges Day. A day which was, until the 18th century, a day of feasting and general national celebration. It is argued that after the inclusion of Scotland and the overall 'creation' of the United Kingdom, interest in the national day wained. But today we have no 'official' celebration, no feasting and not even much waving of flags. All that my memory suggests is that children are told the story of George and the Dragon.
Its a little odd for me living in the US, mainly because most people are interested in where I come from and I guess in time Kasia will have to explain how and why she is half English. I want to always tell Kasia of her heritage in a positive way but it can be hard when the people of Britain are expected to accept 'new' cultures to the island but at the same time show little in the way of national pride. What am I to tell Kasia when we go to England and we are not allowed to wear England football shirts in pubs? How do I explain that the St Georges Cross is our flag but you will rarely see it displayed?
This subject reminds me of one of my favourite/hated conversations here in America. Having to try and explain the difference between: Great Britain, England, The United Kingdom, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its a confusing and somewhat entertaining discussion but it allows me to reiterate in my own mind what is so special about home.
Maybe Kasia won't be interested in her inherited culture, maybe she will or maybe she will be as confused by us (British people) as most Americans seem to be. We share a language but our cultures are vastly different...just look at the way we treat national pride! It's a funny old game.....
Jakey loves the story of George and the dragon, he also loves the song/hymn 'When a Knight won his spurs' which is apparently meant to be sung at the feast! However when I enquired at his pre school a few weeks ago if they were going to be celebrating St Georges day today they didn't even know the song! Needless to say they said said no, even though they celebrate Diwali and the Chinese new year . . . it baffles me! I love our multi cultured society and unlike many I am pro immigration. I have Celtic and German blood aswell as English but I definitely consider myself to be patriotic Brit, and as such cannot understand why more people in England celebrate St Patricks day than St George's. You've done a great job trying to tackle this sort of problem in your blog, I wonder if it's easier or more difficult to be patriotic in the U.S than it is over here?
ReplyDeleteAnyway I told Jacob's key worker this morning that I wanted him to do something whilst at school to celebrate the day, he came home very proud having made his own St George's cross flag and showed it off to Daddy with a big smile (then told him he was the knight, Johnny was the dragon and he was gonna kick his butt) ;-)
Also you know Cranbrook, come the world cup we will all be in the pubs wearing our England shirts with pride, that is until we get knocked out in the first or second round... Never fear Martyn, some things will never change! XXX