What determines your nationality?

I identify myself as British.

Other people identify me as Indian or Pakistani.

I know like diddly squat about those places and strongly dislike the culture of both.

I'm pretty much fed up of the 'Where are you from' questions I keep on getting, and if I reply 'Im from Bradford, in the UK, up north somewhere in Yorkshire', and then the person just stares at me with a completely confused and gobsmacked look. Some of them then proceed to ask 'No no no, where are your parents from'?

>would insert facepalm picture here here, but hotlinking not allowed<.

Surprisingly, 90% of the people who ask it are brown asians themselves and dont identify themselves as British (the ones who think I'm a traitor to their culture / religion or whatever). Only very few cases are by white people, and Ive never had a black person ever ask me where I am from.

It should be legalised to be able to punch people in the gob if they ask you 'where are you from'. I always wondered if the people who ask me it also ask the same thing to white people they see.

The other thing is when people come up to me and ask directly 'Are you Indian / Hindu / Muslim?' (this one has only been asked by other asian people). I simply wonder, but dont say it 'If you see a person with white skin, do you ask if they are English, Scotish, Welsh or Irish (etc)? If you see a person with Black skin, do you ask if they are Jamaican, Nigeria, Ethiopian, or Kenyan (etc)?'. I very strongly doubt that they do.

I'm fed up of it, I think people will end up with red liquid pouring out of them after it happens a few more times and I eventually crack and go mad.

Actually, I think I'll pretend to be Cambodian or Nepalese from now on, I reckon that the people who ask have never ever heard of those places. Or say 'Actually, my dads a bouncing Heffalump from Pluto, and my moms a giant Kraken from Saturn'. I'm memorizing that line now :D.
 
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Ultimately, does it really matter?

If you look at a map a country is defined by a line somebody pencilled in. Look at how boundaries have changed in Russia and Eastern Europe, born on the 1st of the month and you could have been x nationality, born on the 2nd and your nationality could have been y.

Far to much emphasis is place on race and nationality.
 
center_half said:
As far as i understand it (which could be wrong) if your parents or granparents were born in a diffrent country to the one you were born in the you are eligible to play for them.

For example two of my grandparents were born in Ireland, one in Wales and one in England. So i could play football for Ireland or Wales through my granparents nationality and could play for England as thats the place of my birth.

Although, if you have never played international football before and have resided in a country long enough to apply for residency then you would be entitled to play for that country. Recent examples in the press have been Almunia at Arsenal who is Spanish, but has resided in England long enough for residency so could infact represnt England if picked.
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This true as long as you have not played for the senior international team u21 17 etc is fine
 
My wife, from a Pakistani family living in Uganda, was born in Uganda, then came to Britain when she was 4 years old. Which nationality would people say she is?
 
OldCoals said:
Far to much emphasis is place on race and nationality.
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At the end of the day we're all the same underneath. Even if you're German :p

(Un)interesting fact: I've always wanted to learn German. It just kicks ass. Sadly, I have no reason to go to Germany :p
 
Parents are both Austrian, I was born in Jersey, I am British(hold a british passport) but do not have the same rights to work in the EU as a British person, but in other areas not related to work I do. It's rather complicated.
 
Well there's more than one element to nationality, the legal and cultural one. Being born somewhere really doesn't mean anything. Legally holding a passport to a particular nation also doesn't mean that you will necessarily hold the same values as that country, plenty of people may get one (naturalisation for example) just for convenience.
 
Hades said:
My wife, from a Pakistani family living in Uganda, was born in Uganda, then came to Britain when she was 4 years old. Which nationality would people say she is?
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Wrong?









Just joking,

Thats a tricky one, I think its down to beliefs more than anything, if you believe in the country you were born in, which I doubt she does or people do, some people swear by the country they are from, I cant comment I am English through and through but I know a lot of people from Indian/Pakistan that claim they are English but observe the opposite way in culture and practice.
 
xJcBx said:
IMO where your genetics come from.
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i) How far would you go back?
ii) Why that far?
iii) How could you tell, anyway?
iv) Have you had your DNA tested? Bet you haven't.

Besides, currently available evidence strongly indicates that all human DNA comes from sub-Saharan Africa, probably in the great rift valley, probably towards the east, probably modern day Kenya or maybe Ethiopia.

Good morning, fellow Kenyans!
 
xJcBx said:
Nononono, That read very wrong, I apologise!

I am not racist, but I don't understand the difference between race and nationality?

So I thought that nationality was your race, and your race it where your blood line comes form (more recent than Africa, which is where everybody comes from (I think?), thank you LOAM.)

Please do educate me if I'm so very wrong it's painful.
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Race is a thing made up from nothing much stuck together with bits of prejudice and the common human tendency to attach too much importance to visual patterns. Biologically, race doesn't exist. It's just trivial differences swamped by both the variation from individual to individual and the similarities between all humans.

Nationality is a thing made up from borders that were made up as a result of politics, geography and usually war. People with extremely close genetic relationships can easily be of different nationalities. My maternal grandfather and his parents, for example.
 
bhavv said:
I identify myself as British.

Other people identify me as Indian or Pakistani.

I know like diddly squat about those places and strongly dislike the culture of both.

I'm pretty much fed up of the 'Where are you from' questions I keep on getting, and if I reply 'Im from Bradford, in the UK, up north somewhere in Yorkshire', and then the person just stares at me with a completely confused and gobsmacked look. Some of them then proceed to ask 'No no no, where are your parents from'?

>would insert facepalm picture here here, but hotlinking not allowed<.

Surprisingly, 90% of the people who ask it are brown asians themselves and dont identify themselves as British (the ones who think I'm a traitor to their culture / religion or whatever). Only very few cases are by white people, and Ive never had a black person ever ask me where I am from.
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I'm not surprised at all by that.

By my definition, you're obviously British. To me, it's down to where your home is. Not necessarily where you live, but where your metaphorical heart is.

[..]
Actually, I think I'll pretend to be Cambodian or Nepalese from now on, I reckon that the people who ask have never ever heard of those places. Or say 'Actually, my dads a bouncing Heffalump from Pluto, and my moms a giant Kraken from Saturn'. I'm memorizing that line now :D.
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Maybe something that's not so obviously untrue would mess with their heads more. Could you say, with a completely straight face as if you mean it, something like "my origin is classified"?
 
i was Born in Zimbabwe, and lived there for the first ten years of my life, but i don't have a zimbabwean passport/citizenship.

i do have an Irish passport, and it says "nationality: Irish", although i've never actually set foot on the island of Ireland.

so, to those saying it's where you're born, you're stone dead wrong :p
 
Hades said:
My wife, from a Pakistani family living in Uganda, was born in Uganda, then came to Britain when she was 4 years old. Which nationality would people say she is?
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I would say it depends on her. I've met people who were born in Britain to parents who were born in Britain and who have never left Britain...and they're Pakistanis who loathe Britain. I've met people who were the first of their family to ever be in Britain and who had only been here for a few months...and they're British.
 
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