Humble manner not associated with US (6)

I believe the answer is:

demean

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'humble manner' is the definition.
'demean' can be an answer for 'humble' (demeaning is a kind of humbling). I am unsure of the 'manner' bit.

'not associated with us' is the wordplay.
'not associated' becomes 'dean' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' indicates putting letters inside.
'us' becomes 'me' ('us' can mean 'mean' in some UK dialects).
'dean' enclosing 'me' is 'DEMEAN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for demean that I've seen before include "Lower in reputation, shame" , "Degrade, humiliate" , "Lower in reputation, humiliate" , "Stoop" , "Discredit" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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