Not really British??? Grrrr!!! (rant warning)

It's up to you to define what you are - not other people.

When I get my citizenship, I'm not sure that I would feel comfortable saying that I'm British, even though I know the culture, pop-culture, history, etc. My husband has even said that he'll never consider me English (and he's a lefty socialist like me). It annoyed me at first, but now I'm not too bothered, especially since he also says that he forgets I'm American sometimes. I'll probably never say that I'm British without a qualifier like naturalised, it just seems ridiculous to say anything else with my (heavily transatlantic accented) American voice. But we'll see if things change once I get my citizenship.

I had three teams to celebrate 

Well that's it. If you bet on all the horses you will always win!

I think people should do what they're comfortable with. But my dad has been a US citizen for over 20 years and I got really offended at the insinuation that he isn't a real American or that his citizenship should have some sort of asterisk next to it because he wasn't born and raised there. I've only been living here for about 5 years. Not terribly long. But I was 23 when I moved so at some point in my 40s I will have been living here longer than I lived in the US. I'm sure according to some people I still won't really be British, even then!

I've only been living here for about 5 years. Not terribly long. But I was 23 when I moved so at some point in my 40s I will have been living here longer than I lived in the US. I'm sure according to some people I still won't really be British, even then!

I had a professor at Uni who had immigrated to the States but had lived in the US longer than some of the students she was teaching.    She still had an accent, but she considered herself just as American as the American-born students.    She still felt connected to the international student community, but she very proudly said she was American. 

It's all about what you feel you are. 

When I get my citizenship, I'm not sure that I would feel comfortable saying that I'm British, even though I know the culture, pop-culture, history, etc. My husband has even said that he'll never consider me English (and he's a lefty socialist like me). It annoyed me at first, but now I'm not too bothered, especially since he also says that he forgets I'm American sometimes. I'll probably never say that I'm British without a qualifier like naturalised, it just seems ridiculous to say anything else with my (heavily transatlantic accented) American voice. But we'll see if things change once I get my citizenship.

I feel exactly the same way, City of Villages.

Well that's it. If you bet on all the horses you will always win!

LOL

Diana and TravelingFrog, your stories confirm my suspicion that this is a transatlantic thing. If I were a naturalized American citizen, I would be really offended if someone implied I was not as American as someone born there. But the assumption in Britain (and perhaps in other European countries, I don't know) is quite different. There isn't a long tradition here of citizenship tests and ceremonies and the kinds of "acquring nationality" they have in Canada and the USA.

The person who told me I wasn't really British was an American from my hometown in the US, not a Brit. I think she was either just being insensitive or trying to wind me up deliberately.

There isn't a long tradition here of citizenship tests and ceremonies and the kinds of "acquring nationality" they have in Canada and the USA.

I'm admittedly not familiar with the process of naturalization in the US and Canada, but the UK definitely has a citizenship test (Life in the UK test) and citizenship ceremonies.... are they not as rigorous in the UK as in the US and Canada?

There is a test, but it's only been in place recently.  Definitely not a long tradition as the previous poster correctly stated.

There is a test, but it's only been in place recently.  Definitely not a long tradition as the previous poster correctly stated.

I'm admittedly not familiar with the process of naturalization in the US and Canada, but the UK definitely has a citizenship test (Life in the UK test) and citizenship ceremonies.... are they not as rigorous in the UK as in the US and Canada?

Thanks, Geeta. There certainly is a Life in the UK test (I even passed it!) but it only dates from 2002, the ceremony even more recently. The USA and Canada have been administering citizenship tests and oaths for far longer. I don't know that one is more rigorous, there is just much more of a tradition in North America that an immigrant can, given time and jumping through the right hoops, "become American" for example. Obviously, Diana's acquaintance doesn't think so, though.

I'm British by birth, but also a naturalised US citizen (at age 21). When I lived in the US and people would ask if I was American, I always answered, "Sort of." While, technically, I was and am a US citizen, I never really thought of myself as American and never identified as such. To me, I guess, you're the nationality of the country you're born in. But that's just me.

It can get very complicated! I'm Brasilian and American by birth, British by naturalisation, gave up the American citizenship (though I suppose I could still be considered 'ethnically' American, whatever that might mean, by blood), and consider myself a Brasilian and a(n adoptive) Scot. My identity here is strongly tied to Scotland and I don't feel particularly British, though that is probably an effect of my politics as well as my self-identification.

I know this started off as a rant (and I'm all for The Airing Cupboard!) but I have to say I'm enjoying this conversation. It just goes to show there is no one answer. "Where you were born," for example, seems simple enough, but in a lot of countries, you can be born there without even being a citizen--it depends on your parents' status in the UK.

Thanks for sharing all your perspectives. I know how complicated it is for me to explain to people who have just one nationality and have lived there all their lives. When someone here asks "Are you American or Canadian?" I just say yes 

Diana and TravelingFrog, your stories confirm my suspicion that this is a transatlantic thing. If I were a naturalized American citizen, I would be really offended if someone implied I was not as American as someone born there. But the assumption in Britain (and perhaps in other European countries, I don't know) is quite different. There isn't a long tradition here of citizenship tests and ceremonies and the kinds of "acquring nationality" they have in Canada and the USA.

I think that's the heart of the thing, the idea of the multicultural mixing pot that exists in the US (even if it is more theoretical now) doesn't exist here. The US may be a nation of immigrants, but Britain does not consider itself that at all and so I think a lot of Britons (regardless of race sometimes) bristle slightly at interlopers saying that they are, especially if they don't understand the minutia of culture, language and the rest. You have to prove yourself here in a way that you don't in the US because we are vain enough to accept anyone who admits in their hearts that America is the best (joking, joking).

I also have Mexican nationality because of my dad. I always considered myself primarily American but I do feel a special connection with Mexico and I spent a lot of time there in my childhood. If someone were to refer to me as Mexican, I would be fine with it and would consider it accurate. I feel at home in 3 different countries, so consider myself pretty lucky!