I have thought about this topic for quite some time: should anyone be proud of the national origin. I don't think so. To me, it only makes sense to be proud of something you've done. Being born in a particular country is about as much of an achievement as being left or right handed. There is no effort, only chance.
None of that is to say that you should be ashamed of your country. I don't think this is the case either for the same reason. All countries have done something bad at one point, so unless you personally took part in it, feeling shame towards it is feeling guilty for what someone else did. This is an idiotic proposition in my mind. We should learn from the past generations and seek to improve upon what they did, but punishing yourself or others based on physical traits of heritage helps nobody and doesn't resolve any problems.
