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

I've always wondered that myself. I have a dark complexion so my whole life people have asked me where I'm from. I usually name the state I from at which point they say no-no like which country. I'm from AMERICA. I think it's just an off shot of American racism.

Good question. It's almost as if some people have an inferiority complex vis-à-vis good ol' Europe. At a party a douche guy told me (without being asked), "I'm from Norway," then he added, "I'm also German, Swiss, and French." It took me a while to realize he couldn't speak any foreign language, knew nothing about these countries, and had never been to Europe. What about saying I'm from Virginia? Strange.

It drives me nuts when people want to be refered to as ________-American.

I'm proud to be American and could care less if you know where my grandparents came from or what anyone thinks of it.

Jeezus...it was a topic that came up in conversation. And the guy was not claiming to be FROM any of those places.

We know we're Americans, but there's no problem knowing your heritage, especially if you still have living relatives from other countries, as I do.

I cannot even imagine why this would bother you.

Hibernian-Italian-German wrote:

Jeezus...it was a topic that came up in conversation. And the guy was not claiming to be FROM any of those places.

We know we're Americans, but there's no problem knowing your heritage, especially if you still have living relatives from other countries, as I do.

I cannot even imagine why this would bother you.

That's my point - they don't say their heritage is from a certain place, they say "i'm irish". No, you're not irish, you're american. You've never even been to Ireland. I doesn't bother me per se, i just find it interesting that they're so entrenched in their heritage that they claim the nationality of a country they've never even been to.

the reason is because many white americans really have no culture. even if their grandparents immigrated to the states, they have become so assimilated into american culture that they've lost the culture from where they originally came from.

essentially its just bland people trying to convince themselves that their different.

dtrtrt wrote:

essentially its just bland people trying to convince themselves that their different.

This.

When I was in Ireland loads of people asked me if my family was from there. Some of them were. Eventually I met some cousins in County Clare I didn't know I had until that trip. One of the first things they told me was that the family had emigrated to Ireland from Scotland. I don't recall them saying they were Scottish, but obviously it qwas something that mattered to them.

The thing is, if you're a German or a Brit and you wonder where your ancestors came from you probably can walk past their graves and to their home. you can't do that as easily in the US.

werfd wrote:

It drives me nuts when people want to be refered to as ________-American.

I'm proud to be American and could care less if you know where my grandparents came from or what anyone thinks of it.

Word. That one drives me apeshit. If someone happens to ask what nationality I am, I say American. They say, "No, what ARE you? Where are you from?"

I always say Oklahoma. This splintering of nationalities is a huge problem in our country today. No one has any cohesiveness. Whatever happened to the melting pot??

EAsy answer!: because being a white person is incredibly boring and undesirable, everyone wants a darker tanner shade to their skin, native americans and ethnic people are way more interesting and have culture, white people are plain and have no history or anything so they claim to be from here or there, in reality they are part of the "majority" and are plain.. hate to be so objective buts its the truth...

the reality wrote:

EAsy answer!: because being a white person is incredibly boring and undesirable, everyone wants a darker tanner shade to their skin, native americans and ethnic people are way more interesting and have culture, white people are plain and have no history or anything so they claim to be from here or there, in reality they are part of the "majority" and are plain.. hate to be so objective buts its the truth...

Dumbass alert!! You're not being objective.

I've got a thought read a dictionary. There are words there and it will teach you the correct meanings.

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 family still maintains we are "Irish", even though we barely know any relatives there. Its a relic concept (like a lot of things in the US, e.g. "God") that people latch onto in order to differentiate themselves.

America was built by the large populations of immigrants that arrived here during the great migration. These populations which stem from countless coutries across the globe are also responsible for our diverse backgrounds.

When Americans say they are Irish, Scottish, German, or what have you they are refering to their cultural background. A Chinese person born in America whos parents are both chinese, is still Chinese arent they? If you were to marry a women in America would your child be American, or would he claim your nationality? It seems to me that your hatred is brought about by extreme nativism, and your just looking something to fuel your hate.

Then where did Tom Hagen come from?

spare a thought for Lagat's son whose father is from kenya,mother is from canada butof a chinese origin.What does he call himself? american-kenyan-canadian-chinese?

I have a related question - Why are people proud of where they were born, for example, I'm proud to be a red-blooded American! or a green-blooded Irishman! or blue-blooded Italian! etc.

Also not meaning to condescend, and certainly no general disrepect intended, but...

I take pride in personal accomplishments of people, where they must make choices or sacrifices that influence an outcome that wouldn't have happened otherwise. I can understand being proud of America, for example, as a result of the accomplishments of some of our brave forefathers (and foremothers).

But no one chooses where they are born, or for that matter, what race and nationality and religion their parents and ancestors were. They should neither take pride in (nor be blamed for) something they had no influence or control over.

damn question mark wrote:

America was built by the large populations of immigrants that arrived here during the great migration. These populations which stem from countless coutries across the globe are also responsible for our diverse backgrounds.

When Americans say they are Irish, Scottish, German, or what have you they are refering to their cultural background. A Chinese person born in America whos parents are both chinese, is still Chinese arent they? If you were to marry a women in America would your child be American, or would he claim your nationality? It seems to me that your hatred is brought about by extreme nativism, and your just looking something to fuel your hate.

Well being born of chinese parents makes you chinese, because the chinese are (perhaps contentiously) considered a race. There is no Irish, or Scottish, or German race. As others pointed out, if your ancestors were Irish, there's a good chance their ancestors were scottish, or english. Similarly, if your Spanish there's a good chance you're ancestors are African etc.

Nothing wrong with identifying with your heritage, but claiming to BE Irish, when neither you nor your parents have been anywhere near Europe is a bit silly.

Is lagat's son "a chino-african-american" then?

Ha, what a show of 'your and you're's. I was going to write 'your ancestors were Spanish' so that explains the first one. I guess i thought i'd flip the next one too to cancel out that error.