Why do some common British people ( or the countries with colonial history) say sorry for their colonial past to random people ?

Posted by MapInternational2296@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 58 comments

So two British guys ( college students) visited my hometown in North Bengal , India , me and my friend decided to host them and show them around accommodate in my house . We had a great time , visited a lot of places nearby and overall had a lot of fun, from driving through mountains and jungles to what not .

But only a weird behaviour I have noticed was like , "wow you people are so nice I feel so sorry for what my ancestors did to you 😭😭. I know you cant forgive us but please keep my apology ". The amount of times similar time of apology was mentioned by them for a span of 4 days was crazy .

even recently in a coldplay festival in mumbai Chris martin also mentioned the same thing .

I find this very weird like why would some people take the responsibility of the sins of their ancestors . Also sometimes its either exact polar opposite and some people seem to take "pride" in for the actions of their ancestors to poorer nations and colonial history .

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Euphoric_Albatross89@reddit

Because they are enjoying the wealth their ancestors accommodated from ur ancestors and made ur country poor today.

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Mission-Raccoon979@reddit

I have t much to apologise for. My ancestors were not industrialists, politicians or upper class lords and ladies. They were mostly landless farm workers living from hand to mouth. My ancestors lived under the heel of colonialism too , in a way — on the “home front”.

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Powerful-Papanna@reddit

Glad you think you dont really have much to apologize for. If that gives you peace of mind. All the roads, the buildings, the infrastructure in Europe, the security setup - all this was built on the back of stolen money from colonies. I'm sure you all will still make the argument that you benefited from none of this and were helpless as the 'other guys' ran havoc on poor people for two centuries

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Rugby-Bean@reddit

Like 99% of British people. This is something that isn't mentioned enough.

My ancestors were agricultural labourers aka peasants. And had zero interaction with any nine Europeans.... Neither did there bosses/land owners.

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Dragonfruit-18@reddit

Literally nobody does that. Those guys just sound like idiots.

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VapourMetro111@reddit

The colonial powers all did some pretty reprehensible things in the name of colonialism, which was often little more than naked violent exploitation. If someone knows enough of their country's dubious past, why shouldn't they tell you that they're sorry for it? They don't have to have a personal stake in it to say hey, what my country did back then was not right. Germany still acknowledges and apologises for the Holocaust.

Also, the dominant economic and political structures that were set up in those days are still largely in place today. Thus many post-colonial countries still benefit from the lopsided world economy that the colonial era helped establish. In that sense, colonialism is still alive and kicking...

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AirBiscuitBarrel@reddit

The German state apologising for the Holocaust is a different thing to individual Germans who were born 60 years later apologising for the Holocaust. Of course, they are free to should they wish, but I think it would come off as awkward, performative and insincere.

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prx_23@reddit

They do, and it does

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Careless-Entrance-68@reddit

I would argue that it is broadly a mistake to apologise on a personal level for historical inequality. However, it is helpful to be aware that Britain did profit enormously from empire. British India was for a long period one of the largest economies in the world and something the metropole clearly benefitted from. Crown rule in India and its impacts are a topic still hotly debated by historians, with a wide range of interpretations ranging from Britain simply exploiting the subcontinent for their own gain all the way to a vision of an entirely benevolent rule. There is clearly a complex legacy here to be unpacked.

Is it correct to mention unprompted and without the context of discussion? Probably not.

Is it beneficial to be aware of historical reality and accept that your life has been improved by the legacy of empire? I would say yes.

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BritishBlitz87@reddit

Same way when Nigerians and Indians come to the UK they say good or, if they really can't do orce themselves, neutral things about the British. Because going to a country and being like "Wow this would be a lot better if we were still in charge, what a crap hole" or the alternate "All you guys did was rob and rape and plunder and the reason my country is a dump is because of your country". Are not an acceptable thing to say as guests to your hosts and likely to cause arguments.

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flashbastrd@reddit

Im sorry that happened to you, quite embarrassing.

Unfortunately our youngest generation has been indoctrinated to believe the British Empire was the evilest thing to ever exist, that the world suffers to this day because of what it did, and that the world hates us for it.

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Former_Intern_8271@reddit

We still benefit from our colonial history so a certain level of awareness (possibly guilt) is healthy IMO.

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AirBiscuitBarrel@reddit

Awareness perhaps, but guilt?

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Former_Intern_8271@reddit

were this not geo-politics you would no doubt feel guilt.

If you lived a nice and secure lifestyle up to the age of 20, and you found out its because your father robbed your neighbours family who you just watched struggle for 20 years, you wouldn't question feeling guilty.

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AirBiscuitBarrel@reddit

That's a straw man if ever I saw one. Besides, what benefit have I seen from British imperialism? India's been independent since before my parents were born, and it's not like my shed's full of plundered gold and diamonds.

We should certainly be aware of the bad things done in the name of the British Empire, lest we repeat them, but neither you, nor I, nor anybody on this thread bears any personal responsibility.

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Former_Intern_8271@reddit

The infrastructure of the country you grew up in.

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zone6isgreener@reddit

We were bankrupted twice by global wars and money from colonialism was a fraction of national income. Our infrastructure is from institutions and the people.

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Former_Intern_8271@reddit

Sure was nice to industrialise before the war

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zone6isgreener@reddit

Which had fuck all to do with the colonies. At best raw materials and a customers are an indirect link, but the invention was domestic.

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MapInternational2296@reddit (OP)

I mean being apologetic or guilt will not change the fact the west is rich because of colonialization .

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CharringtonCross@reddit

the west isn't rich because of colonialization. it's rich because it developed quicker.

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MapInternational2296@reddit (OP)

and what exactly helped it develop quicker ? You can surely argue that colonization is not the only reason of growth but it surely is one of the biggest reason .

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CharringtonCross@reddit

no I don't think so. colonisation was a consequence of more rapid development for sure, but growth would have happened anyway. I don't think it was a big factor.

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Former_Intern_8271@reddit

But it can change policy in a way that benefits the people living in the places still recovering from their colonial history.

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honest_thoughts_2024@reddit

Not in the least. I can acknowledge that colonialism was badly done, and that we profited but I absolutely will not feel bad for things done entirely out of my control. I had nothing to do with it, so,I'm,not being made to feel sorry for it.

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FeekyDoo@reddit

How I was framing the empire when in India, I always said how glad that they are free of the people who ran the British Empire, we are still under their rule, they are not really us, the common people and never were.

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LittleSadRufus@reddit

Yes exactly - when my Indian friend referred to my ancestors as having oppressed her ancestors, I had to correct her. My ancestors were more like the first victims of the British empire: I come from a very long line of northeastern coal miners, who spent 12 hours a day, six days a week scrabbling around in the filth underground while rich people would have tea parties and burn the coal to keep their ponies warm.

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FeekyDoo@reddit

I view the British Establishment as the ongoing Norman occupation.

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zone6isgreener@reddit

They sound like right tosspots, just ignore it.

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Dazz316@reddit

So they apologise to Scottish people for the Highlands clearances?

Or is it a colour thing?

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MapInternational2296@reddit (OP)

Not even to the Irish people . Idk why some people will just bring race and colour when it comes to oppression .

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Dazz316@reddit

I remember an American going on about immigration to the UK, they didn't even live here. Lots of American type right wing nonsense.. After I while I noticed a pattern and asked him why every onesingle example he gave were non white.

When asked why and if they were even aware of any large scale white immigration and possible issues or stereotypes, they said they're were none.

Sidenote: I have twice heard how someone thinks it's SHOCKING how we in Scotland pander to the Polish but writing police in Polish on our police cars alongside English I took great pleasure in watching them get embarrassed when I told them it was Gaelic.

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Status_General_1931@reddit

Hell NO

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Fecalfelcher@reddit

White guilt

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C_Sharp_Standard@reddit

Easy virtue points. Apologising for something you had absolutely nothing to do with is very strange.

Noun

wokefish (plural wokefish or wokefishes)

(Internet slang) Someone who pretends to be woke and in favour of progressive political ideologies on a social media or dating platform.Nounwokefish (plural wokefish or wokefishes) (Internet slang) Someone who pretends to be woke and in favour of progressive political ideologies on a social media or dating platform.

That's the only reason I could ever realistically imagine anyone trying that stuff \^

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MapInternational2296@reddit (OP)

I suspect they actually brought some good amount of weed from mountains

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Elect_SaturnMutex@reddit

Woke-hash

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C_Sharp_Standard@reddit

hahaha no doubt!

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Elect_SaturnMutex@reddit

Wokehash

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No_Method_5345@reddit

Tldr: This is a bullshit social media topic.

The bigger issue is social media goes on about this sort of topic way more than necessary in reality. Whether you're proud, apologetic, or something in between, I wish people would stfu about it.

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Ok-Camel-8279@reddit

It's woke nonsense ! Ah no wait I'm kidding, that's bullshit. It's because we Brits know how exactly how vile we've been in the past and want the rest of the world to know our history is not hidden from us like many opressive nations. We learn about it, we can debate it openly and we want you to know that we find it disgusting.
We don't want you to think we agree it was right and that as a nation MOST of us have evolved.

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Odd-Detail1136@reddit

Because they’ve been taught too.

White guilt is a very real thing among left leaning younger people, especially in Britain.

We are taught quite often to be ashamed of our colonial past (if we are taught it at all, the empire wasn’t mentioned in any single one of my history classes and if it was it was a side piece).

This has lead to a lot of prevailing myths (such as Britain being responsible for the African slave trade). And an almost importation of the American guilt regarding slavery (and the importation of some black Americans desiring compensation etc for it)

Imo it’s a sign of ignorance and weakness and hopefully at some point it’s snubbed out (but I highly doubt it)

I don’t expect people to be proud of it like I am but I definitely don’t want people to humiliate themselves apologising to people

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Forever_a_Kumquat@reddit

Virtue signalling ponces thinking they are making the world a better place by showing how kind and caring they are whilst simultaneously using iPhones made by slaves and clothes made in sweatshops.

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v2marshall@reddit

Liberals

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RaymondBumcheese@reddit

Yeah, what hypocrites these made up people are!

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dandotcom@reddit

Jurgen the German vibes

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armtherabbits@reddit

Self-hate is a whole thing in the UK. It's patronizing and irritable and sometimes plays into the hands of tyrants, but it's kind of their hobby.

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DimensionTiny8725@reddit

In before mods close this thread

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JudgmentAny1192@reddit

Because We are not the ones Who are proud of it

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Genesis3099@reddit

Conditioning

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honest_thoughts_2024@reddit

Because some people get brainwashed into thinking thry need to apologise.

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MapInternational2296@reddit (OP)

I mean government appologising I can still understand but straight up to my face in the dinner table infront my family is nothing but funny or literally in a music concert where you made people buy 1.5 k dollar worth of tickets

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