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Americans and Europeans think about origin, ancestry and nationality in different ways.
When an American says (for example), I am a quarter Scots on my mother's side, my reaction is ... no .... you are 0% Scots, you just happen to have some Scots ancestry.
For Europeans, where they were born, where they grew up and where they went to school defines where they think they are from.
i know what you mean , having a grandmother who came from france does not make you a french american
we get that from tourists in ireland a lot , " im irish " , my great grandmother was from cork
conan o brien is irish american , he,s solid irish on every side going back to the old country , im not saying you need a criteria as strict as the mafia but this business of oh im one eight italian , just silly
then their are those americans who tell you im scots irish , scots irish isnt even irish , its 100% british and the present day scots irish would be highly offended to be considered irish
We had a guy at work who was from New Zealand. He had a chinese name, looked chinese and was of chinese ancestry. He was outraged when HR classified him as 'Asian' for diversity purposes. As far as he was concerned he was a New Zealander and not Asian.
We also had a Spanish guy who was over on a two year secondment. Same story. The clowns in HR decided he was 'Hispanic'. He informed them that he was Spanish and European.
most americans never heard of new zealand , being chineese would get him further career wise
Unlike many European nations, the US hasn't been around that long
My ancestors from Ireland, England, and Germany lived there for hundreds of years. Just because a generation or two of my family has been in the US, it doesn't erase my geneology or the history that came with it.
Obviously I'm culturally much more American than I am European, but in my mind, my DNA and heritage count for something- whether Europeans like it or not...
most americans never heard of new zealand , being chineese would get him further career wise
False. I'm not sure why there's so much American bashing on here but until you've surveyed most Americans then I'd venture to say that blanket statement is inaccurate.
Unlike many European nations, the US hasn't been around that long
My ancestors from Ireland, England, and Germany lived there for hundreds of years. Just because a generation or two of my family has been in the US, it doesn't erase my geneology or the history that came with it.
Obviously I'm culturally much more American than I am European, but in my mind, my DNA and heritage count for something- whether Europeans like it or not...
True, but the distinction here is that American culture is as stated influenced by Europe but is also different in its own way. Second generation Americans are just that, AMERICANS and have only a mixture of ancestry to claim and not much else.
Unlike many European nations, the US hasn't been around that long
My ancestors from Ireland, England, and Germany lived there for hundreds of years. Just because a generation or two of my family has been in the US, it doesn't erase my geneology or the history that came with it.
Obviously I'm culturally much more American than I am European, but in my mind, my DNA and heritage count for something- whether Europeans like it or not...
I agree with this.
My British ancestors sailed with Captain Cook on the Endeavor. They were nobles and professors and members of the clergy in England. But they were also Jews who were persecuted under Calvin in Switzerland. They were French Huguenots who fled to North America to escape religious persecution. They were Germans who entered into indentured servitude just to pay their way to the New World. They were Irish farmers who struggled to pull a living out of the soil in Ireland, and who risked all they had to bring their families to America - where their struggle continued.
I connect in some way to all of them, and when I have traveled to where my ancestors are from, I feel their pull and the call of something ancient and oddly familiar.
I am of English and Irish ancestry mostly, maybe a few other things mixed in too that I'm not aware of. I wouldn't say I'm immensely proud of it but I'd probably describe my ethnicity as British or Irish before I'd say I was an 'ethnic American' since I've never really felt strongly connected to America despite being born here and a citizen and living here my whole life.
Plus my grandmother was born in London so I feel more English than anything else as far as ethnicity.
This is absolutely true and especially among first generation Americans whose parents are born in Europe or Asia. Most of us are the sons and daughters or grandchildren of immigrants from other countries and that is true from Hudson Bay to La Tierra del Fuego. Yet one thing is curious, we (people from the USA) are the only ones who are "hyphenated" people. You don't hear from Argentinians, Brazilians or Canadians etc "I am Brazilian-Italian etc. They are simply Brazilians, or Canadians (except the french Canadians and that has nothing to do with France really), People of German descent in Chile are simply Chileans and Peruvians are not Spanish-Peruvians. I am sure that most Americans (I mean people born in The Americas) are aware of their backgrounds but we are the only ones who constantly advertise it. Maybe we should bother with that unless asked or it becomes necessary in some cultural context.
Yes, they do. You hear a lot about "Italo-Argentines", "German Brazilians", "Japanese-Brazilians", Lebanese-Salvadoreans, Anglo-Argentines and Jews and Chinese are another identity.
But they are more related to the old country, for example. I used to know a lot of Peruvians that were descendants of Germans and they all spoke German, went to the Deutsche Schule there.
I guess it goes with income and culture, for example, I met some Argentineans that were descendants of English, some with money or living in cities went to English speaking schools, the rest did not speak a word of English.
Spaniards in Latin America are Gallegos, Gashegos in Argentinian.
False. I'm not sure why there's so much American bashing on here but until you've surveyed most Americans then I'd venture to say that blanket statement is inaccurate.
wasnt my intention to bash americans with that statement , i spent a while living and working in new zealand when i was twenty , when i came back home , every second person asked me how i got on in australia , the odd time when i corrected them , they seemed stuck
Yes, they do. You hear a lot about "Italo-Argentines", "German Brazilians", "Japanese-Brazilians", Lebanese-Salvadoreans, Anglo-Argentines and Jews and Chinese are another identity.
But they are more related to the old country, for example. I used to know a lot of Peruvians that were descendants of Germans and they all spoke German, went to the Deutsche Schule there.
I guess it goes with income and culture, for example, I met some Argentineans that were descendants of English, some with money or living in cities went to English speaking schools, the rest did not speak a word of English.
Spaniards in Latin America are Gallegos, Gashegos in Argentinian.
i spent a little over a week in argentina in 2004 , i ment plenty of argentines who refered to their italian and german ancestry , also met one person who refered to their irish ancestry althought it went way back , only one significant wave of irish emmigrated to argentina , 1870,s , due to the language difference , the connection was never really formed
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