Agree with you one hundred percent.

'Personally I can only be proud of something I've done, not something that happened by chance.' Thanks for a clear, simple and unambiguous statement on this entrenched attitude.

It's just another form of tribalism which I abhor... except for sports fandom.

What the person proclaiming pride in one's heritage is doing is saying indirectly that he or she identifies with the values and beliefs of that culture. . When an American southerner says the he or she expresses pride in his or her southern heritage, he or she is says (in a masked manner) that he identifies with racism, prejudice, discrimination, extreme religiosity, and disapproval of our federal government.

It is for that very reason that I , whose family roots in the deep south go back 280 years, absolutely reject my so-called southern heritage. That heritage does not exemplify who I am or want to be.

Agree 100%
To be proud of ones country or heritage or similar is not just stupid, it is often also damaging and dangerous because it keeps that virus of nationalism alive that has been responsible for so many wars and conflicts.

It all depends upon the situation, but if you’re an American, you’re heritage is so broad that to be proud of it is questionable. If I was a second generation Iranian, then perhaps being proud of ferdowsi would make sense, but a family that’s been in the US since the mid 18th century, it seems silly. I’m Scottish by name only.

I find this rather annoying as well. Though, occasionally, I am guilty of referring to my Sicilian heritage, but only half-heartedly, and normally with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Almost everybody I know constantly refers to their '(fill in blank) blood'. We are who we choose to be, not who people were before us.

This is annoying to me, because I feel you can't be proud of something, you don't have control over, I feel you should only be proud of accomplishments..I refer to George Carlin on this subject

It doesn't bother me. I wish I could say I'm proud to be an American but with that piece of shit in the White House I am not. I think I could say I am proud of my Jewish cultural background -my grandparents coming from the Ukraine-the music, the foods, the dancing, etc.

I agree with this so much.

However, this points to something I get into alot of trouble about. I understand that people shouldn't be ashamed about their immutable traits. I understand that the opposite of shame is pride. I understand that fighting shame is the motive of the gay pride movement and I am happy it exists, but it irritates me on an intellectual level.

Thinking about it has lead me to a slightly different opinion on pride. I am proud of being Indian American AND joining the military. The immutable facet of my life makes the action slightly more difficult because they are rare and Indian American's in large part are not supportive of the choice. Margaret Hamilton envisioned a way of approaching programming that changed the world and lead a software development team at NASA in the 60's AND was a woman. Her being a woman in 1960s America enhances her achievement somehow. Hidden Figures has a similar story arc for black women.

I think that when a strong, successful woman or black woman says she is proud of that immutable facet, it is shorthand for their full story. I think Irish Americans and Italian Americans had similar challenges decades ago and some of that meaning has been diluted as the added challenges have been reduced, but I try to think of the big picture when I run across it.

Personally, I think it's pretty silly.

Glad you raised such an interesting point here. I am in agreement with you with regard to something that I have done and not where I was born. However, as we both know many people seem to derive some sense of identity and belonging when they refer to their national heritage, whilst conveniently ignoring the facts that their national heritage has a long list of wars in which there was murder - rape - pillage and plunder.

I'm proud to be a part of the family I was born into because they have made good choices over the years, imho.

I totally agree and often argue with patriotic types over this. I feel no pride at all in having been born completely by chance on one particular bit of mud and rock sticking out of the ocean.

I completely agree. I can't help where I was born or what colour.

I can see your point, but have to say I am proud (for example) of what my father did during WW2.

I try to stay away from pride entirely. To me it smacks of "I can do this and you can't, so I'm better than you.". That is of course pertaining to the "pride is for what you've done, not what you are" model, which I wholly endorse. I'm not "proud" to be American, or female, or intelligent, or anything else I didn't have a say in.

I'm not even "proud" to be talented or creative, or of the fruits of such foregoing labors, because I feel such pride is unnecessary, unskillful, and encourages a sense of division from and superiority over others. There are so many beautiful, skillful feelings to have--im not missing out. Pleased, grateful, gratified. But not "proud".

"Proud" is (in my view, as it applies only to me) a way of putting youself above others, and I try very hard not to do that. When I play a piece of music or write a poem or draw a picture that people enjoy, I can feel many pleasant feelings that don't reinforce the idea that I'm separate from and better than.

So we all evolved from monkeys, why not to be proud of being cousins of monkeys. lol

What bothers me is when an American born says "I am Italian, Irish, Polish, Ecuadorian....." basing his / her answer on the ancestors' nationalities.
Now, when somebody says "I am proud of being blonde." I CAN'T HELP BUT TO LAUGH.

Sorry, don't meant to offend anyone or annoy anyone. I am Proud I may have in my DNA descendant of original tribes dwellers of the caribbean islands. They are just "Tags" Man don't get hung up in too many negative things. We all are proud of our heritage. Were we come from.

I laugh a lot when I hear a person saying "I am proud of being British / Italian / Irish / Polish...." when their passports -if they have one- and birth certificate clearly state they were born in USA. Add to this the fact that in most cases their great-grandparents were the ones born overseas.
To mix heritage, nationality and religion as if the three were synonyms is wrong.

I guess there is nothing wrong with having an actual or perceived connection to a specific group, I guess it's just a little bit of Tribalism. At least, as long as you feel pride for only the truly positive things that have come from your lineage

I agree. It's like saying I'm proud that I still have all of my hair at 57. I'm not proud. I'm just lucky.

Two thoughts for you:

1. In many cases, nationalistic identification points to the noble ideals of a particular polity or culture. For instance, we Americans in the United States can point to the high ideals of democratic participation that were a motive force in our Revolution, our rejection of monarchial autocracy, and our ongoing efforts to perfect the universality of legal rights for all humans.

We've been far from perfect about that over history, and things are not headed in a great direction at this precise moment, but over the arc of history, we're definitely improving and I firmly believe our current state of political affairs will prove to be a single step back from which we will take two steps forward in the near future.

In any event, our national ideals and achievements in pursuit of those ideals are worthy of pride.

2. There are people who are from oppressed or denigrated groups. They've been told that their ethnicity or their origins or even, yes, their religions are cause for shame. This is unfair and wrong, and saying "I'm proud to be ___" is a way of rebutting and rejecting that shame.

We non-religious people are among that number in quite a few places in the word. Who among us hasn't been told that our rejection of religion is a cause for shame? Yet my non-belief is not a thing I've done, it's simply a part of who I am. I'm not ashamed of being an atheist. If someone were to challenge me by trying to shame me for my atheism, I very well might say, "I'm not ashamed. You know what? I'm proud to be an atheist."

As John Lennon would say, imagine there's no country... the world will be a better place. just human beings sharing the world.