I grew up believing that the British had a special contempt for the Irish. That is how my Irish grandmother and Scot grandfather thought and I picked it up from them. But when I run across articles like the one below, I realize that the British had the same special contempt for any people they abused and exploited:

http://www.monbiot.com/2005/12/27/how-britain-denies-its-holocausts/

If we say that "the British" did all these things, who are we really talking. Do people necessarily have to own what their government does? I hope not because I'm not taking any of the blame for what those people in Washington are doing.