You get to be proud if your country or your people are a force for good in the world; doing things worth being proud of. Being proud that your parents were from Alabama and hooked up one night and you just so happened to be their spawn makes no sense. This applies no matter where you’re from.

Do you get mad every time someone plays Country Roads? When you live somewhere that place, the people in it, the way they live and your connections to them becomes a part of who you are. I think it’s alright to demand that southerners not use the confederate flag for that because of its inherent racism, but basic respect for the humanity of someone who came from a different place means also respecting the fond feelings they may have for it and the way that place is part of their identity.