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How is German defined? I have a German surname, but I'm also Anglo and Irish from my father's side as well, so does that mean my genes are too diluted to qualify even if I'm 100% Indo-European genetically?
German means born in Germany. They would most probably have to be of German parentage themselves as well as you don't get German citizenship automatically if you are born in Germany to foreign parents.
You don't have to be pure German to get citizenship you do have to have a German parent who has German citizenship.
Historical ethnicity is an interesting area - I always call myself Anglo-Saxon, to distinguish myself from the Normans, who, even now, almost a thousand years after the 1066 invasion, still effectively own & run England - as a child I did suffer from the English class system, which is actually a race system, both in terms of Education and Employment opportunities. Normans, by their accent and facial characteristics were distinct right into the 1960's, went to a different church, used different shops, wouldn't associate with us 'commoners'. Angeln & Saxony do, of course, still exist and the Angles and Saxons still live there. Although Angeln is currently in Germany it is clearly Denmark as the capital is Sorup, and Saxony is just a bit further south along the German coast facing England. A German friend from Hamburg tells me that people from that area are ethnically & culturally a lot closer to the English than they are to Germans from Bavaria. I never call myself British because it is so non-specific - Wales and Scotland are a world away in terms of culture and ethnicity. If the Americans with ethnic ties to Europe returned I wonder whether we in England would also have to return to our homelands, and give England back to the original Celtic peoples. It could start a ripple effect right across the Euro-Asian continent!
From my understanding if you have a German parent you are entitled to German citizenship. The only way you can get German citizenship through a grandparent is if they were displaced during WW2 and this is only from the Grandfather not the Grandmother. This would apply to Jewish people but most people would not be eligible through a grandparent.
Sounds about right. All 'former' Germans who have grown up on the other side of the iron curtain are entitled to German citizenship, if they can still proove some German roots, such as language or customs. There is a long history of Germans all over eastern Europe, even before WW2 many settled all the way to Russia. The language requirement was introduced later on because after the fall of the iron curtain many of those former Germans came to Germany, but culturally they were nothing but Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, etc., because they'd been living in those areas for 50+ years and assimilated. There was a joke that they only had to have a German Shepherd in their family to be granted citizenship.
Just having German grandparents, however, does not entitle you to German citizenship. It's only possible if the grandparents pass the citizenship to one of your parents who then passes it to you.
Sounds about right. All 'former' Germans who have grown up on the other side of the iron curtain are entitled to German citizenship, if they can still proove some German roots, such as language or customs. There is a long history of Germans all over eastern Europe, even before WW2 many settled all the way to Russia. The language requirement was introduced later on because after the fall of the iron curtain many of those former Germans came to Germany, but culturally they were nothing but Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, etc., because they'd been living in those areas for 50+ years and assimilated. There was a joke that they only had to have a German Shepherd in their family to be granted citizenship.
Just having German grandparents, however, does not entitle you to German citizenship. It's only possible if the grandparents pass the citizenship to one of your parents who then passes it to you.
I guess most so-called "German-Americans" are more "German" than the "Russlanddeutsche". The latter are mostly assimilated now, however, there were several issues with them back in the 1990s because in contrast to the "real" Germans, they had totally different cultural habits and had also developed an own "Russian/Kazakh etc." identity. A lot of Russian Germans were influenced by the culture of the historic German minorities in Eastern Europe and obviously also had adapt many Russian, Kazakh and Uzbek traditions or mixed with the local populations. Therefore, they are hardly "Ethnic" Germans although they were always peceived as those back in the Soviet Union.
Due to all these reasons, they came into a complete different world when arriving in contemporary Germany. It probably would be a similar situation, if U.S. Southerners of English/Scottish/Irish stock would immigrate to urban Great Britain and experience a different culture, albeit they are "ethnic" English/Scottish etc.
I had a thought. Since the native population of Europe is dying, do you think it's possible they might eventually encourage Americans and Canadians to move there and assimilate so that the European ethnic groups don't die out and become swamped by African and Asian groups moving in?
Could the idea of a mass exodus back across the Atlantic be a possibility?
You have to temper your ideas of what a mass immigration really involves.
(1) Historians estimate that fewer than one million white immigrants—perhaps as few as 400,000—crossed the Atlantic during the years from 1600 to 1800.
(2) Probably only 400,000 African slaves were imported into British North America. The present population of "Black or African American alone or in combination" of 42 million is primarily by descent from those original 400K,
(3) European immigration to the USA peaked at about 1.2 million in 1907.
So while the idea of "mass immigration" is logistically unlikely, the idea of selective preference is perfectly valid. Most of Argentina's people are of European descent, particularly Spanish and Italian. When they began to have economic problems, Italy extended an open invitation to anyone of Italian descent who wanted to return to the country of their ancestors (mostly grandparents).
You will never find a definitive answer to how populous is the "white race". Loosely, it would be roughly a billion people given a large possible unknown error. All reputable geneticists since WWII have determined that the grouping of ethnic groups into a larger divisions of humanity called "races" has no scientific basis, and is basically biased.
You have to temper your ideas of what a mass immigration really involves.
(1) Historians estimate that fewer than one million white immigrants—perhaps as few as 400,000—crossed the Atlantic during the years from 1600 to 1800.
(2) Probably only 400,000 African slaves were imported into British North America. The present population of "Black or African American alone or in combination" of 42 million is primarily by descent from those original 400K,
(3) European immigration to the USA peaked at about 1.2 million in 1907.
So while the idea of "mass immigration" is logistically unlikely, the idea of selective preference is perfectly valid. Most of Argentina's people are of European descent, particularly Spanish and Italian. When they began to have economic problems, Italy extended an open invitation to anyone of Italian descent who wanted to return to the country of their ancestors (mostly grandparents).
You will never find a definitive answer to how populous is the "white race". Loosely, it would be roughly a billion people given a large possible unknown error. All reputable geneticists since WWII have determined that the grouping of ethnic groups into a larger divisions of humanity called "races" has no scientific basis, and is basically biased.
You will never find a definitive answer to how populous is the "white race". Loosely, it would be roughly a billion people given a large possible unknown error. All reputable geneticists since WWII have determined that the grouping of ethnic groups into a larger divisions of humanity called "races" has no scientific basis, and is basically biased.
Most people don't give a crock about reputable geneticists, most are tokenish parrots living off gov't grants. The white race might not have a scientific basis, but everything human is human, not scientific.
As to white Americans moving to Europe, I'd rather have them than "non-Christians non-whites". And I'm willing to bet most people would rather have christian people of European origin.
Of course, many people won't admit it until too late....but after seeing that poor English man butchered in the middle of the road, or Boston, or Madrid...really..why don't they expell those fanatics?
I guess most so-called "German-Americans" are more "German" than the "Russlanddeutsche".
Actually, having met a fair share of both, I'd say neither are really "German", besides maybe their last names. The closest one I can think of is a girl I know here in Wisconsin (apparently one of the "most German states) whose grandparents emigrated from Germany right after WW2. Her father is bilingual and she is somewhat, speaking German with more of a Franconian than American accent. Culturally though, she is more American than German. I think everyone who is not a first or second generation usually assimilates for the most part.
But yes, Americans and other Westeners are probably closer to Germans culturally than Russians. Which doesn't mean they are particularly German.
I've never met any German in the US except German Jews in MB, cultured people and very German, most must be dead by now. A lot from South America, their kids and descendants spoke German since they studied in German schools.
A lot of people said I'm German, and then I started to speak my rather poor German..and they went blank with a poker face.
Most people don't give a crock about reputable geneticists, most are tokenish parrots living off gov't grants. The white race might not have a scientific basis, but everything human is human, not scientific.
Well even casually many people are confused. The census bureau recommends that people from the Middle East check "white". But Iranians are not even sure if they are from the Middle East or not. Many Arabs don't think they are white. Certainly many Latinos consider themselves of a "brown" race, which is not an option on the census form. So these people check "other". Some slavic people don't consider themselves to be "white".
We have an accurate count in the USA, but it is only an accurate count of how people describe themselves.
223,553,265 White 72.4% of the total U.S. population in 2010
196,817,552 Non-Hispanic White 63.7% of the total U.S. population in 2010
026,735,713 White Hispanic or Latino Americans 8.7% of the United States population 2010
So only about half the Latino people describe themselves as "white". The most popular choice besides "white" is "other", which they are probably thinking of as "brown".
So any count of the world's white people is clearly going be subject to a great deal of debate.
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