NRR: Why do Americans claim to be from other countries?

on the runs wrote:

Then where did Tom Hagen come from?

Not so fast, my kraut-mick friend.

heyyo wrote:

I usually name the state I from at which point they say no-no like which country. I'm from AMERICA.

If someone must press as to your ethnic background tell them what I say - I'm a European mutt, a Heinz-57.

Well what drives me crazy is everyone in NYC that is so proud to be Puerto Rican. If you love Puerto Rico so much then move back there. Its even better when they have the Peurto Rican Parade in NYC and suddenly there are 2 million people who claim to be Peurto Rican. It is by far the most annoying people. You walk around and they have that damn Rican flag plastered everywhere. If its so great why are you here?

Understanding that your ancestors came from elsewhere is a huge part of being an American. And most of those immigrants did not plan on living here permanently. (I picked this up in a Social History of the US course I took in college.) They planned on making a pile of money and going home which means that they thought of themselves as Sewedes or Poles living in the US rather than as Americans. To some degree, that sort of thinking passed onto succeeding generations. My dad's side of the family was in the US for 38 years before anyone started speaking English, a pretty clear indication that they expected to be out of here soon and likely raised their kids to think of themselves as Germans rather than Americans.

When immigrants arrived and settled they most likely did it among others who had immigrated from the same place. This was their best form of social support. I went to a Catholic school and parish that was created specifically as an IRISH parish. It was created by Irish immigrants. It was built onto a stretch of land eight blocks long and two blocks wide and inw hich there were six other Catholic parishes all with their own ethnic identities and created for the same reasons my parish was.

Now those parishes are being consolidated into one and local historians are worrying that a big part of the area's history will be lost, specifically some ideas about where people came from and what that means for how they live or live.

I suspect that when people say that they're Norweigan or Slovak or whatever they're using a linguistic shorthand and are telling you that their ancestry is from those places. Obviously you don't care what those people's ancestry is which is your business. But equally obviously they do and a reasonably civil person would simply note that as a feature of some Americans and not dismiss it as "stupid shit."

I'd be interested to know when the English stopped differing between Angles, Saxons, Normans, Celts, Danes, Norse, etc. Same goes for Germany with their various tribes of Saxons, Goths, Alemanni, Vandals, Franks, etc.

Once white Americans eventually distance themselves from their European heritage, we will find another way to differentiate between each other.

The funny part about this thread is all the people over here saying "we're all americans, no matter where we're from" as contrasted to all the assholes over on the 5000m AR thread bitching about Lagat and Kannouchi NOT being Americans because they're not from here. WHAT?

Mrs. M wrote:

If someone must press as to your ethnic background tell them what I say - I'm a European mutt, a Heinz-57.

Exactly the point of the thread.

You are NOT European.

You are white, Caucasian, from South Carolina, Virginia or else. Don't feel bad about it! Pretending to be "European" doesn't make you any more sophisticated or worldly...

I'm a second generation American white (British) so I'm not as mixed as most probably are.

Maybe when people's home countries become mixed because of immigrants, people will stop thinking about it.

Fine, just say a mutt then. This is only if someone is trying to investigate one's ethnic background. I have a beautiful, interesting-looking friend who's parents were Puerto Rican and Korean. Someone asks her what ethnicity she is, she can't get away with just saying, "I'm from Florida". A better answer is (if she doesn't want to get into a % breakdown), "I'm a mutt".

sorry..."who's" should be "whose"

german >> rupp wrote:

You are white, Caucasian, from South Carolina, Virginia or else. Don't feel bad about it! Pretending to be "European" doesn't make you any more sophisticated or worldly...

OK, you done brought up 'Caucasian'. This is straight outta Wikipedia: The concept of a Caucasian race was developed around 1800. Today some scholars reject the concept because human genome studies have not demonstrated a precise genetic definition of Caucasian.

I can understand your Canadian angst in this regard but knowing one's ancestral history can go a long way to understanding where that person is coming from, both literally and figuratively.

I actually enjoy hearing the story of people's past which is infinitely more interesting than the "mutt/Heinz 57" reference alluded to by another poster. To me there is nothing more boring than someone who doesn’t bother to know their own cultural heritage.

Believe it or not, the genetic makeup of an individual will affect the way they view the world. If you want to know somebody then you have to know their ancestors.

So I would argue that the problem with Americans isn’t that they are too hung up on their ethnic identity but rather the opposite – they are not cognizant enough of their collective past.

So get over yourself, discover your own ancestral roots and feel free to delve into others'.

Jefe in the CO wrote:

I actually enjoy hearing the story of people's past which is infinitely more interesting than the "mutt/Heinz 57" reference alluded to by another poster. To me there is nothing more boring than someone who doesn’t bother to know their own cultural heritage.

For the record, I do know most of my ethnic heritage, but I responded with the mutt comment to the poster who was annoyed by people asking him what ethnicity he was. I would venture to say most people enjoy knowing their cultural heritage.

Okay, here is the thing:

I don't think the original poster (and I agree with him) has a problem with you stating where you are from if your cultural heritage is indeed different. e.g. if your family's habits, recipes, temper, looks, hell whatever still reflect that, it's more than fine to tell us (Europeans) about where you are from. We will be interested.

But if you are just a regular, white-socked, trainer-wearing, baseball-loving american, don't say you're from somewhere else. not that there would be anything wrong with being an average american, but you're not German if you don't know the Reinheitsgebot, don't say you're English if you can't tell the difference between rugby union and rugby league, don't say you're italian if you don't know the difference between Inter and AC... you get the point.

Sorry to go through the stereotypes but I thought this way is best to get my point across.

PS: Yes, I always use this name to post here.

Saying "I'm a mutt" is silly and self-important. You don't seem to realize that everybody is "mixed." In the case of your friend, of course she won't say "I'm a mutt." If asked about her origins, she'll probably say, "my father is from Korea and my mom from Porto Rico. I learned Spanish as a kid, but not Korean"....or something like that. She's talking about her parents, not her great-great-great parents, so she might mention it. It's a completely different case from someone growing up in Akron, Ohio, from two Ohioan parents who says she's a Heinz 47 or something ridiculous like that.As for you and the other poster who is "100% Irish on both sides of the family," get over it. You are white Americans, and nobody cares about your origins. You are, indeed, boring in that regard in this country. Try to distinguish yourselves in other ways. Good luck!

Mrs. M wrote:

Fine, just say a mutt then. This is only if someone is trying to investigate one's ethnic background. I have a beautiful, interesting-looking friend who's parents were Puerto Rican and Korean. Someone asks her what ethnicity she is, she can't get away with just saying, "I'm from Florida". A better answer is (if she doesn't want to get into a % breakdown), "I'm a mutt".

true, many latin americans are mixed in what is called mestizo, they have other terms like zambo and pardo.

essentially this means that many latin americans are mixed with native, european, and african blood.

they really don't focus on ancestry, they take much more pride in their actual culture.

Off the Grid wrote:

I'm 5-6th generation US citizen and 100% Irish on both sides - until 30-40yrs ago, nobody would marry the Irish except the Irish.

My paternal great grandmother from Cavan married an English guy in New York circa 1890. My maternal great grandmother from Leitrim married a German around the same time as well.

Aahah, what bull crap.

My grandmother is from Ireland and my grandfather is from Sicily. In the neighborhood where I grew up there are actually quite a lot of Irish/Italian marriages.

Off the Grid: get off your high horse, you are American, not Irish!

As for me I am American and proud of it!

robert deniro really isnt full italian either.

he's only about a 1/4 italian, the rest of him is Scottish and Irish.