oh, for heavens' sake

[winterbadger]

as seen on brits_americans

As a US citizen living in London, Christian Cox says she is shocked at the amount of abuse she receives because of her nationality.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4881474.stm

Comments

[pusscat.livejournal.com]

It's not the first time I have heard this kind of thing, but the depth of it surprises me. I don't think the UK is more racist than the US, but I /do/ think it's more openly racist (presumably because British people are a lot less concerned about political correctness and less litigious - although this is changing).

I have never felt like a target of hatred, but it is certainly exhausting when any random Brit who has a negative opinion of the US (be it government, culture, or a bad experience on holiday in Florida) seems to think that they have some sort of obligation to air it to any American they meet. Or those better informed people whom I meet more often in the social groups I tend to run with who speak with great authority and varying levels of accuracy about how things "really are" in the US. I have, however, found a way of dealing with this which both defuses any potential bad feeling, shuts them up, and amuses me. Whatever stereotype or negative aspect of America they are expounding on (which is, of course, usually the government) I endorse it with as deadpan an expression as I can manage. Ranting about Bush? "I voted for him". Proliferation of guns? "I'm an NRA member". Litigiousness? "Yeah, I made my first million in a lawsuit against a small business after I slipped on a freshly mopped floor. As a strategy, I would recommend it.

I still haven't figured out quite how to deal with the people I know - several of whom I have an enormous amount of respect for - who seem to reject various stuff (usually pop culture) out of hand simply because it's American. I mean, I know we have released some duff crap on the world and I know that the UK has exported genius far out of proportion to its size, but anyone who has watched a random BBC sitcom (My Hero, anyone?) will know that British origin does not guarantee quality.

And it doesn't help matters that the Americans who come here as tourists /are/ often overprivileged, overfed, undereducated stereotypes. And many who settle here don't seem particularly interested in assimilating to any great degree. I work with an American child whose parents won't allow said child to have anything to do with Halloween - because they are Christians. Well, frankly if you have that kind of closed minded attitude, why leave the Bible belt? My partner was listening to a podcast the other day and the (presumably massively intelligent) American guy who was lecturing kept talking about EEdenberg. Said guy did not, as far as I know, live in the UK, but imagine choosing that particular subject to discuss and then not even bothering to learn to pronounce it? No wonder the average British "man on the street" thinks Americans are ignorant.

But enough ranting. I'm obviously overtired and the proverbial nerve was touched.

[winterbadger]

it is certainly exhausting when any random Brit who has a negative opinion of the US ... seems to think that they have some sort of obligation to air it to any American they meet.

Yep, I can imagine it would. I had a grand total of one such encounter the last time I was there (which turned inot a rather interesting conversation with a chap who owned the small convenience store--what do you call a tobacconist's that doesn't sell any tobacco?--where I was buying a wristwatch), but getting it day in and day out would be wearing and annyoing to sayt eh least, I can only imagine.

That strategy you describe is quite novel. I can see that it might work very well indeed. :-)

[rejecting stuff out of hand] Yeah, that's a bit of a poser. Of course, the other waya round it really doesn't apply so much, as Americans geenrally tend to assume anything British is good. :-) Though Brits visitign American must get awffully tired of words like "cute", and "quaint", and "little". :-) I would imagine people whose culture gets rejected out of hand in the US would be more, well good heavens, I'm sure the poor French. Talk about people getting abuse: I *really* feel sorry for any French people who come to the US. My housemates hosted a visiting photographer last year who seemed quite a nice fellow; I'm sure he was insulated from most of any obnoxiousness he might have gotten by the fact he spoke *no* English (I can't even imagine the fortitude it would take to travel by yourself in a country where you spoke none of the local language). But the sheer *casualness* of the abuse that gets heaped on anything French ("cheese-eating surrender monkeys") is unbelievable.

And it doesn't help matters that the Americans who come here as tourists /are/ often overprivileged, overfed, undereducated stereotypes. And many who settle here don't seem particularly interested in assimilating to any great degree.

Yeah, that's one of the things that bugs me about a lot of the posting on that other board I was mentioning the other day. "Why don't they have XYZ? Why do they do ABC different from the way we did it *back home*? They're so strange about QRS." Yes, folks, that's because you're living in *another country*! And if you're talking about settling there and still thinking of the US as "back home", there's a problem...

I work with an American child whose parents won't allow said child to have anything to do with Halloween - because they are Christians. Well, frankly if you have that kind of closed minded attitude, why leave the Bible belt?

Eeek! Indeed! Well, there are those who live abroad for work reasons and wish they didn't have to, and those of us who don't have jobs that take us overseasa and wish they did! :-)

Said guy did not, as far as I know, live in the UK, but imagine choosing that particular subject to discuss and then not even bothering to learn to pronounce it?

Couldn't help but chuckle, because that made me think of some stern words magaidhbhan had for a fellow who was making an address at the Scottish Parliament in relation to Gaelic heritage and hadn't even bothered to learn how to pronounce "failte" properly! :-) And she's certainly one in the eye for the "all Americans are berks" brigade: someone who comes over just for a year and learns a language that even most of the natives don't know!

But enough ranting. I'm obviously overtired and the proverbial nerve was touched.

Well, that was a pretty gentle rant, all things considered. :-)

[pusscat.livejournal.com]

Would like to do a longer and more considered response but still need to get showered and to bed in time for work tomorrow. Re: lazy speeches - every year we go to see comedians in the Fringe who either mispronounce the name of the city (though never as Eedenberg, usually as Edinburro. Seems to be the most common incorrect pronunciation and they never seem to pick up on it being wrong - I don't get where the "o" comes from in the first place) or in the case of Emo Phillips a few years back, refer to "Scotch people". Poor Emo. He got away with it a couple of times, although you could pretty much sense the entire audience counting to ten both times, but when he did it a thrid time someone had to shout him down. They were nice enough about it and his act still went down well, but there should probably be some kind of mandatory Fringe guide for performers that explains stuff like this to them and could stop the less talented (and therefore forgivable ones) from alienating half their audience in the first ten minutes.