Being An Englishman Abroad And At Home

Back to the old keyboard once more for a quick view into my brain.

Recently I've been stuck for ideas for this here blog and I had lots of suggestions as to what I should write about. Now, I'm going to completely ignore all those suggestions and go with this. Enjoy!

For the past week at Arcada (where I'm studying) we have been doing an International Week. Basically various lecturers have come and talked to us about various subjects all based around the overall theme "Ethics". Now that sounds like my cup of tea doesn't it? Well it's been an interesting mix. Some of the lectures have been really quite interesting and have really made me think. Others have made me sleep. Some lectures that particularly stood out for me were conducted by Mehrdad Davishpour. The titles of the lectures seemed at times completely impenetrable such as:
The Welfare State's "Stepchildren": An intersectional perspective on ethnic relations and discrimination in Sweden.
Huh?
However, the subjects they dealt with (discrimination, power relationships between groups, immigration and attitudes to it) were really fascinating particularly as I've been thinking about these sorts of subjects myself for the last year because I am now an immigrant.

One point that was made in one of Darvishpour's lectures was that if an immigrant or foreign person is subjected in their new society to discrimination or even simply a clash of cultures with the "native" people of that new country, it can lead to the foreign person retreating further back into their own culture. He used the example of some families from a very patriarchal cultural background becoming even more conservative in their beliefs as a reaction against the "opposing" culture and becoming even more controlling of their wives and daughters. Now I thought this was interesting to consider: Has my view on what my culture is changed since coming to Finland? Have I become "more English" to react against Finnish culture?

I think one interesting thing is that I have now become much more insistent on having a good cup of tea. The most quintessentially British thing (except for the Queen) is a nice cup of tea. Have I been trying to reassert my Britishness or Englishness by clinging ever tighter to a good cup of tea?

I don't know but I think it's something for me to think about, consider and be aware of. I don't want to find myself withdrawing back into my protective shell to try and hide from cultural conflicts and conflicts when thinking about other people's view points.

What you may have noticed in that above paragraph was that I jumped about from "British" to "English" and back again which is really what this post is about. Where am I from?

Last year I was asked by a (now very good) friend do I prefer being called English or British. In that moment I became very aware of the massive divides within the (supposedly) United Kingdom and how my experiences of patriotism and nationalism have shaped my idea of who I am.

I really should of considered writing this sooner, I guess, as on numerous occasions living in Finland I've had to describe where I'm from and I've floundered about as to whether I should say Britain or England. Those people reading this who are not themselves British or English might wonder why this is a problem but I cannot stress enough that the way you describe where you are from in this situation can really reveal a lot about you.

In Finland, very often, they celebrate Flag Days (liputuspäivät). A day of national importance such as the birth of the famous Finnish writer Aleksis Kivi or a particular day celebrating Finnish literature or (and perhaps especially) the day Finland gained independence all have their own day where government buildings and a large number of public places have the Finnish flag flying. Now in Finland this is normal and shows how proud people are to be Finnish and really celebrates Finnish culture.

Imagine the same scenario in England. The St. George's Cross flying on every government building. For me it sends a very different message. When I see the St. George's cross flying, I see racism. I see discrimination. I see oppression. I see hatred. Why is this?

Because of the UK's status as a country made up of countries, there has almost always been some form of infighting between them. Even if not infighting there has certainly been stereotypes and prejudices flying about ("There was an Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman..."). What this means is that those that choose to pick out their individual flag (the Welsh dragon, the Scottish saltire or the St. George's cross) and fly their own colors are separating themselves as distinct from the UK. Now when I see the Scottish or Welsh flag flying I don't get the same tightness in my stomach, the same rising stress levels, the same fears that the English flag conjures up. This is because Wales, England and Scotland's (relating to what another of Darvishpour's lectures I saw this week was about) power relations are not equal even if they are supposed to be in practice.

I think this became quite apparent during this year's Scottish referendum. At times it did seem that Scotland weren't saying they wanted independence from Britain, what they were asking for was independence from England as it feels that England calls all the shots.

So when the Scottish or Welsh flag is waved I feel like it is more focussed around keeping an identity alive within a mixed group of countries. Each group of people have their own identities and it's good that people still feel strongly about who they are. So why is it so wrong for English people to start waving their flag around?

To understand this you have to look at how the St. George's cross has been used. Go watch the film This is England. Go on, I'll wait here. When you come back you'll get what I'm talking about. You don't have time to watch it? Ok fine.

This is England follows the story of a young kid called Shaun growing up in England in 1983. He makes friends with a group of skinheads who take him under their wing. Everything is going great until an old friend of their's comes out of prison and quickly reveals himself as a hardcore racist, member of the National Front and actively violent against what he thinks of as "the foreign invaders". Things quickly spiral out of control. What is shown again and again in the film is the use of the St. George's cross in negative connotations. It is used to represent the angry, racist, white working class; it is used as a banner to proclaim the superiority of white Englishmen. They quickly come to refer to themselves as warriors "fighting in the streets to take back their country". It finally ends with Shaun renouncing everything he had come to stood for. How was this rejection of racist, discriminatory beliefs symbolized? He throws his English flag into the sea.

Almost every right-wing or racist party or group that has existed in England has used the St. Georges cross in some shape or form. Racist skin heads during the 80s and 90s, the National Front, the English Defense League (EDL) and others. It is now tainted in my eyes.

Does the Union Jack have the same connotations? For me, not exactly. The Union Jack is used on national holidays and celebrations (particularly events to do with the Royal Family) and it does in essence represent the uniting of all the differing groups within the UK but that hasn't stopped it being used against those coming from outside the UK.

The British National Party (BNP) have the Union Jack on everything. If it's possible to put a flag on it they put one right on it. It's used to represent the superiority of Britain at the expense of all others. "Britannia rules the waves". So how has their racism not sullied the Union Jack? Well it has but not nearly to the extent that English flag has been sullied. The St. George's cross has come to represent everything I don't like about England in particular. Discrimination, hatred, imperialism and a superiority complex that could outshine the Sun.

So how do I see myself? Am I English? Am I British? I have a partial right to declare myself Scottish. Should I say I'm Scottish or just 1/8th Scottish?

Technically I can say all of them. I'm a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Britain, England, The Midlands, Worcestershire, Worcester. I think if you still live in the UK this description is a bit over the top. No-one really cares that much but I feel outside of the UK I have a duty to be accurate because a lot of people don't understand the distinctions and the implied meanings they have. If I say British it seems most people assume I mean English (and that I live in London) which I feel marginalizes Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (if you want to know why I have only mentioned Northern Ireland once in this post, look up "The Troubles". Yeah I'm not even going to try and talk about being English in regards to Ireland. Sorry but I just don't feel qualified).

For myself if I say "English" and say it in such a way that I sound too proud I start feeling weird and uncomfortable because being strongly proud of being English is so weighted down in meaning for me and for pretty much everyone in the UK. Which is sad. It's sad that I can't proudly wave an English flag in the same way a Finn can wave the Finnish flag. That's not to say that the Finnish flag hasn't been misused in it's time but in my understanding it hasn't been misused to quite the same extent. I think also the fact that Finland had to fight to be independent has in some ways allowed them to be proud of being who they are. England has throughout history been the oppressor. Other countries have independence days from us!

So how do I answer "who are you and where are you from?"

Hi, I'm Joe and I live in Helsinki.