<p>Because you’re not. You are American. Stop being so damn pretentious and accept you are NOT in any way linked with Europe… i mean seriously, a family claiming to be Irish because they have one Irish great, great grandparent? Ridiculous.</p>
<p>/rant</p>
<p>My Dad attended the University of Warwick. His sister has a degree from Oxford. My grandparents attended the London School of Economics. Two of them were born in London, one in Cardiff, and one in Paris. My cousin was born and raised in London; his father in Glasgow. I’m eligible for a British passport.</p>
<p>/rebuttal</p>
<p>Elitism, on CC? No way.</p>
<p>I am a born and bred U.S. citizen who hasn’t set foot in Europe for years, but I also hold citizenship and a valid passport from an EU country, so I can live and work in Europe in the unlikely event that I should desire to do so. Your rant makes you sound jealous that you lack equivalent ties to the U.S.</p>
<p>I remember learning about some “tribe” in New Mexico or Arizona or some place comprised of all white people claiming to be native American (they invented the tribe themselves), and some psychological theory that went with it (and I guess your claim) is that a lot of (white) Americans see themselves as boring or lacking an identity and will try to claim another culture’s identity as theirs.</p>
<p>The reason many Americans will place their ties to Europe (and to a certain degree, Asia), is because the United States, like many New World and Oceanic countries, laks a common gene pool. As a country, we’re so diverse that there is no such thing as being an ethnic “American.” One can be Native American, but that is as broad a term as “White.” Many people with a Native American background will identify with a specific tribe or group. Similarly, other Americans identify with an ethnicity which goes back to Europe. So, while I’m an American, I’m also Ashkenazi Jewish-American when it comes to my ethnic background. When it comes to citizenship background, I trace my roots back to Germany, Russia, Poland, Austria, and Romania.</p>
<p>It is incorrect to call one’s family “Irish”, but it is correct to say I come from the Irish diaspora. Simple definition. However, most people don’t understand the difference.</p>
<p>In the massive immigrations of the 1860s to 1930s, people of different cultures were very separated due to incredible racism. Descendants of the English bloodline, the Pilgrims, are the blue-blooded preps we see today. These are the “Elite” of America. So, people developed a strong pride for their ancestry because that is what they can tie themselves to. I am in fact 3rd generation Slovakian and (the other half) is 5th generation Irish. So perhaps I am a little disjointed myself, but to call one’s self “American” is more of a political than a cultural thing. Remember that the US has 350 million people, but 20 million, so there isn’t really a common identity, and people generally feel the need to participate in their own identity. </p>
<p>To put an entire group of people down for their history, their ancestry, and call it BS is going to get you nowhere. You’re probably distantly (to the power of ten) related to us all.</p>
<p>Because, while a lot of American families have been here for generations, a lot of Americans are only first or second generation. My grandparents and mother(she was an infant at the time) are from Italy, and my father is a first generation American. I know this is the case for a lot of mexican-americans and asian americans, not so much from Europe though.</p>
<p>OP, I think that many of us who are of European heritage are justifiably proud of that fact. After all, the only “true” Americans are the Native Americans. Lighten up, huh?</p>
<p>Many large, American universities will offer a sociology course based specifically on the tendency of Americans to fabricate their own ethnicities - Creating American Ethnic Identity or something. Symbolic ethnicities usually go no further than food and holidays. It should also be noted that it occurs mostly among middle-class whites who, according to sociologist Mary C. Waters, feel ethnically “optionless.” </p>
<p>Growing up in Philadelphia, a majority of my classmates and friends self-identified as either Irish or Italian. Of course, they didn’t hold passports from these places, speak the languages, etc. They did, however, make seven fishes on Christmas Eve and wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to see those on the “inside” of fabricated ethnicities defending their perspective. This is a great thread!</p>
<p>I say that I am a German-American, but that my family consists of Germans and German-Americans. When talking about heritage in America, people that claim to be Americans typically mean Native Americans. I say that my family comes from Europe, because we have many ties to Germany.</p>
<p>I will not “accept I am NOT in any way linked with Europe”, because that is a lie. I am American, not European. But I am linked to Europe.</p>
<p>I’ll admit. The most recent immigrants in my family came here six generations ago. But I’d say my family has still retained a few German traditions, especially the dessert recipes and whatnot. So while I don’t claim to be any form of German, the “I am NOT in any way linked with Europe” statement would be false.</p>
<p>Okay, the “fabricated ethnicities” idea is interesting, and I do know (having witnessed it) that it exists, but I actually see both perspectives. I have many family members that are ESL from the Slovakia/E Europe area on my mothers side. On my father’s side, it is interestingly mixed, as over time, people have gone back and forth from Ireland. You can definitely see the difference between my family and other middle class whites, as my family (both sides) has maintained their ties with our ancestry, whether it be near or far in the past as to when the first person emigrated to America.</p>
<p>So I would say that my family doesn’t quite demonstrate the norm in this way. I also have British relatives. People are very fierce and protective of their identities. People in America really have two strains: those who were not associated with a cultural identity, and those that were. Those that were: well, they may be third generation Italians, but the proactive handing down of cultural ideals can certainly make an impact. Those that aren’t try to create their own. Wiccans and “Native American” lovers tend to be like this as well: they like the culture but forever must be alienated from it because they weren’t born into it. I see this as somewhat bigoted, because a person that dedicates their time into becoming part of an identity deserves acceptance, IMO.</p>
<p>This thread is most likely just the product of British jealousy and a desire to get a bunch of Americans arguing with each other.</p>
<p>yeah and the OP is succeeding and giggling in glee while people are proving his point.</p>
<p>People need a history to fall back on, and since American heritage usually only goes back so far, they “keep” their ties to Europe. As for being the product of different cultures, most Americans do include those as well. For example, they’d say, “I’m 1/2 French, 1/4 Portuguese, and 1/4 Puerto Rican.” But if they’re “mostly” a certain ethnicity, then it’s just quicker to say just that one.</p>
<p>Do you have multiple accounts on here, Loki12? Because SamualUK was the OP, but you retracted a statement that he said…</p>
<p>“You can definitely see the difference between my family and other middle class whites, as my family (both sides) has maintained their ties with our ancestry, whether it be near or far in the past as to when the first person emigrated to America.”</p>
<p>I can’t see the difference. Like I said, it’s a middle-class white phenomenon. You are self-identifying in place of having a unique ancestry. You’re American.</p>
<p>Oh relax, usually when people say they’re Italian or Irish or Swedish or whatever they mean in terms of their heritage. It’s just one of our many lazy ways of speech. However, I think most Americans DO have ties to Europe as many either have families that are relatively new to the country (ex: my mother is first generation American and spent some of her childhood in Italy) and/or retain homeland traditions and culture.</p>
<p>wantsbrown is 100% correct</p>