Most proud of/Least proud of?

21 comments

1. Most proud of: creating a system of international cooperation post WWII (see: creation of the UN, NATO, the World Bank, the IMF, the Marshall Plan, choosing to rebuild and become allies with Germany and Japan, etc). However flawed these systems are, and whatever the US motives may have been in creating them, IMO they changed the world for the better. The years since 1945 have arguably been the most peaceful in human history in terms of interstate conflict, and standards of living have risen steadily across the globe. I believe this legacy is a major reason why.

   Least proud of: tie between slavery and the treatment of the Native Americans. Obviously, race relations have improved immensely since our founding, but sadly this is a real part of our history that cannot be ignored.

2. Most: moon landing

   Least: slavery

3. I am least proud of the experiments performed on enslaved women by J. Marion Sims.

   I am most proud of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

4. This is really difficult. 13th Amendment should be up there but they couldn’t get through the first sentence without walking it back. Civil Rights Act of 1964, maybe. For achievements outside of allowing people basic human rights, probably the moon landing or the establishment of the National Parks system.

   As far as least proud of, there’s a slew. Slavery, Trail of Tears, Internment Camps, the list stretches on.

5. Most proud of events like the evacuation of Manhattan after 9/11, our mobilization as a nation during WWII, and other such instances where we came together for the greater good.

   Least proud of the pile of racist shit we’ve done, how long we took to allow women to vote, the fact that we don’t protect women’s bodily autonomy at a national level, ect.

6. This is legit hard, there are a lot of great and terrible things in American History.

   My most proud would be the moon landings I think. But there are a lot of good options.

   Least proud is tough. Of course slavery is a huge one. But I’m actually going to say imprisonment of Japanese Americans during WW2. They were US citizens and their own country imprisoned them just because they were ethnically Japanese.

7. Most: Civil Rights Act

   Least: Slavery

8. Most proud: American contributions to culture, particularly music and film.

   Least proud: tie between Indian genocide and slavery

9. Most proud – Jazz, Blues & Rock ‘n Roll

   Least proud – A tie between genocide against the Native Americans and slavery

10. Thank you for your replies so far! I’m trying to write a book to do with characters who come from different countries and different times throughout history. I’ll be asking this question to different ask countries forums as well.

    I thought it would be interesting to include historic moments that each nationality doesn’t like/feels ashamed of but also historical moments they feel proud of as well.

11. Most proud of: Space stuff

    Least proud of: Slavery and segregation

12. *shrug* I was just born here, I didn’t have any part in that to be proud or ashamed of.

13. Most: American scientific achievements, particularly vaccines. I think the Covid vaccine is the greatest scientific achievement since landing on the moon.

    Least: Jim Crow. Slavery still existed all over the world in 1860. There is no excuse for the way blacks were treated in 1960.

14. Most Proud: Creating the system of Democracy and Capitalism that has created the best living conditions for the greatest number of people in all of human history or the Cha-Cha slide.

    Least Proud: Slavery or not breaking up Germany into several constituent states following WWII.

15. Most proud: World War Two
    Least proud: Slavery and our treatment of the natives

16. The thing I’m proud of is just what America is and that it exists at all. Ordinary people risked everything, came to a place they’d never been, and the ones that survived turned it into something. Yes, that something is imperfect (and this is not getting into the colonialist politics of the governments of their countries), but good for them. They were then joined by generations of ordinary people who uprooted their lives to join them. When I think of America in those terms, I really, really love this place.

    Least proud of: Indian massacres. I understand that there are some contenders, but the US military slaughtering native people and encouraging extermination of the buffalo just to starve them was pretty contemptible and 100% our fault.

17. Most proud: industrial revolution and innovation then to now.

    Least: slavery feels like a cop out, especially since it’s not unique to America. Let’s go with Mai Lai massacre

18. Just another one for the pride pile.

    I felt a swelling of national pride when gay marriage was fully legalized.

19. If you’re looking at specific events, I’d probably be most proud of D-Day. I can’t imagine the insane amounts of bravery it took for our soldiers to carry out that day (and the days that followed). Special mentions for passage of major legislation like the Civil Rights Act, Clean Air Act, 13th Amendment, and others.

    The ones to be least proud of unfortunately stick out a little more. I’d choose the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, which institutionalized separate vs. equal in this country, unnecessarily extending segregation and the shitty legacy of slavery.

20. Kind of arbitrary as they deal with my feelings not the actual moral rating.

    Most would tentatively be the Berlin Airlift. Least, the opium trade.

21. Most Proud: March 21, 1962 – The founding of Taco Bell. Their R&D department has never let me down.

    Least Proud: Star Wars sequels. No explanation needed.