Stoddart and Connolly, Two Brits in trouble for being British; Bukhara
I was listening to a radio phone-in yesterday that touched on the media’s favourite issue: immigration and asylum. Amid much of the usual intransigent ranting between those with extreme views, one comment stood out. The callers were discussing the right of those fleeing persecution to seek asylum in the UK. This caller’s view was that as a former imperialist power who for centuries has exploited, pillaged and enslaved people from around the world the UK had a unquestionable duty to offer these people a safe harbour; it was now payback time.
This got me thinking. As a Brit travelling abroad, how am I perceived by the people I meet? Obviously my own behaviour and appearance will go a long way to determining how I am treated, but what about that first impression, if people see my passport and react instinctively to my nationality alone? Do people really see my country’s past when they see me? (I usually don’t bother to mention that I am the child of two immigrant parents and that I don’t have a British ancestor anywhere in my bloodline)
There are certain national stereotypes that persist about the British. In America we are often portrayed as polite but formal and stiff, while in Australia we are ‘whinging poms’. But what about elsewhere: how are the British viewed, and does this actually affect the treatment we receive?
I have found friendly welcomes wherever I’ve been in the world, and my nationality has more often than not served as an ice-breaker, even in those countries where Britain has a dark legacy. People typically make a few jokes about the British and from that point we get along fine. But going back to that caller’s point, is there a resentment that is still harboured about the behaviour of the British in previous generations?
For example, I have had the dubious pleasure of being over-charged for products and services in many countries around the world; some previous British colonies and others that were subjected to rule by other European powers. Does their willingness to try and make a quick buck from a passing tourist stem solely from a survival need, or is there a deeper cultural factor: one of righting previous wrongs? I’ve certainly heard that argument made before, and hearing yesterday’s discussion brought it to mind again.
I would be interested to hear others’ perspectives on this. Do people we meet on our travels (whether we’re Brits, Americans, French or any other nationality) take us purely at face value and act in their immediate self-interest? Or do deeper cultural legacies play a part in how we are treated? And if so, should we adapt our behaviour to counteract these prejudices?
501 Places is 2 years old; so what next? 
5 star toilets on your travels
As an Irish person (with our own history of Britian!!) living in Egypt…..my personal experience (and I have thought about this quite a bit from time to time) is “no, the history does not come into it” I tend to take people at face value but in the first few seconds of meeting and greeting I can generally tell what kind of interaction and experience I am going to have with my guests. I watch the Egyptians in the restaurants and bazaars and I believe it is the same. I am pretty good at “reading” people on first impression but the Egyptians are experts at it.
After 7 years here I have noticed a pattern – more or less – among the different natiionalities…..each is unique and different, and the more I experience this the more it influences (unconsciously) my interaction with the different natiionalities.
So while history doesn’t come into it (for me anyway) the history of personal experience does influence reaction……by the way….I LOVE when I see japanese reservations on my fax or emails…they may be my favourite, because they are, as a nation, so appreciative, friendly, courteous, quiet, open and genuine. Because they are so open I especially want to show them how to avoid “being had” outside by people who love them for the same reasons but with a different agenda!
Thanks for your thoughtful reply Mara, you put it well. The history of personal experience: it does form a prejudice, but when it’s based on a sample of many then it can act as a predictor of behaviour,as long as we accept that there are people who will always fall outside of what we expect. Yes, there will even be a rude Japanese person out there (I haven’t yet met them either!)
Look forward to visiting Egypt someday and experiencing what you describe for myself. Thanks again.
The only time I remember seeing Britain’s past in the faces of Brits abroad (note – I’m an American) was when I was traveling through India. And even then, for me it was far more about said Brits’ behavior. Every time I heard a British tourist whine about the food, the quality of their accommodation, or some other service oriented issue, I thought “fucking colonialists – just go home if you hate it here so much”. Which probably was not very charitable, but after a while it just got OLD. Coming to a new town, meeting the local travelers, many of whom were inevitably British, and watching them bitch and bitch and bitch as if they expected to be treated like colonial overlords by fawning coolies. It made me wonder what, exactly, British people think India is going to be like, and how much of that comes from the historical relationship between the two countries.
It all reminded me, to be perfectly frank, of how Americans act in places like Mexico and the Caribbean, which our country has historically treated like colonies even if they have never formally had that status. I haven’t traveled widely in that part of the world, but I know that we Americans are definitely seen in a certain light by the locals in those countries. And, yeah, it’s probably well-deserved.
I can picture the Brits you describe (and the Americans) and cringe at the thought. Quite agree, if you’re going to winge about everything when you go somewhere, then you’re best to stay at home, for everyone’s sake.
Maybe it’s not so much the past as it is the present. The average income of many countries in the world is still well below those in the West.
A few years ago, a friend and I (both Black, born and raised in the US) were in a Mexican gift shop. We bought some figurines and returned to our tour bus. We were talking about the price and the White (American) tourists seated in front of us turned around and shared that they had been charged almost 40% more for the same items. The sales people knew we were American (they asked). A lot of cultures base their pricing on perceived ability to pay, and Whites are generally considered to have more money than other races. So honestly, if you look at current economic position as an effect of the past wrongs of a country/culture…then yeah…maybe it is a kind of payback.
Similar happening in China. We noticed the Chinese would approach us before White tourists (European or American) and I’m sure that was out of curiosity. I don’t believe that locals were acting out of self interest in either case, but instead were upholding the “rules” they lived by on a daily basis. Those rules just dictated different behavior with different races.
Thanks for a very interesting perspective Megan. I can follow how, as Black Americans, you would be viewed in a different light to the majority of White Americans on your tour. There is a perceived hierarchy of wealth and in all cultures the perception is that Whites are more affluent. Is is a form of payback, or is it pure economics, and as you say, what people can afford to pay? In any case, glad to hear you made the most of this and got some good bargains!
Great post, and it’s certainly a subject I’ve thought of recently as well. I’m not so sure that our distant pasts have as much of an impact as our immediate ones. As an American, I traveled in Europe the summer after W was re-elected, and we were definitely viewed differently. Everyone was always eager to talk with us, but they only wanted to talk politics and try to figure out how he got elected AGAIN (as did many Americans). At that point it was hard not to trash our own country and citizens as we were angry and confused as well.
Fast forward to November 2008, and we were in S. America during and after the election of Obama. It was the complete opposite of the way we were treated just three years prior. Everyone was excited (yet still only wanted to talk politics-which was fine and understandable), and that rubbed off on us. For years we, and many Americans, sheepishly answered “We’re from the US” when meeting people abroad. Suddenly it seemed as though we could say it with pride, simply because W was gone and we did the total opposite by electing a young, black man as president.
It’s funny that I’ve never thought about the distant past, but there has to be some feeling of resentment among citizens of certain countries towards countries like the US and the UK, who have such an exploitative history. Good post and very interesting to think about.
Thanks for your throughts Adam. Like you I’ve noticed the ebb and flow of sentiment towards Americans has moved along with the presidential elections. W polarised opinion as no-one else has ever done before. Now that he’s gone it must be easier in some places to travel without the need to defend your nation against the same criticisms.