<p>Yeah, I do get what you say, and I understand it is kind of laughable when people claim to have a particular culture but don’t really know the connotations of belonging to that culture.
To rant about it with such conviction and animosity seems a bit extreme though. You grew up around very few immigrants, whereas I grew up around mostly immigrants. My family has a huge European influence: my uncle spent most of his life in Germany, and his family speaks nothing but. He doesn’t consider himself American, yet some people would say the simple act of moving to America forces you into that category. (Crevecoeur, famous words) I am used to both ideas, as this is a split argument in my family as well, with recent and not-so-recent immigrants alike. I think it really shows how attached you are to the American ideal. </p>
<p>I guess an easy test of your culture is if you have an accent, no? </p>
<p>Oh, and the proper term for descendants of immigrants that maintain much of their “blood” (50-100%) is they are part of the “___ diaspora”, the dispersion of peoples outside of their original locale. Most people in America say “I’m Irish”, when in reality the term would be “I am part of the Irish diaspora.” Everyone has a history, to not recognize it is a terrible thing.</p>