What if white Americans moved back to Europe? (Germans, UK, England)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No they weren't. Sorry but this really annoys me when Americans say they are european or irish or whatever. You are american nothing else.
If your parents are immigrants from any country you still have a pretty strong tie to it (as a first generation here). From the standpoint of what goes on in the home (first language, cuisine, traditions) you are closer to their ethnicity until you go off to school. I get annoyed by Europeans who act like the minute your parents step off the plane or boat you magical lose all ties to their homeland. Even if ancestral immigration were decades of centuries prior 200 million people in this country didn't just sprout out of the ground. Yes, time marches on. Yes, we have our own culture and traditions. Yes, particularly those of European descent have mixed with each other to the point of being "mongrels". Still, genetics say those people are from European Haplogroups speaking a European language with a society and governance based on European models. Get over it.
No they weren't. Sorry but this really annoys me when Americans say they are european or irish or whatever. You are american nothing else.
It doesn't sound like you have the whole picture. These were kids born to parents who came from Italy, Greece or France. They only spoke those languages in their homes. Their values and attitudes are often more similar to those from their respective countries than those of Americans. Their relatives live across the Atlantic. They qualify for, and sometimes have, dual citizenship. They might also live in an American city where they are the "tail end" of that cultural link, unlike living in New York or Chicago or Montreal, where their ethnicity is still represented. By this, I mean cities like Omaha NE, which is not that big, but once supported an Italian community. Or even San Diego, CA, where the Southern California surfer culture might be annoying to many but only has "shreds" of ethnic European communities, but instead has large swaths of Filipinos and Mexicans. It's all about gradations, and the fact that some make the return successfully tells me that they were European "enough" to want to be over there.
Last edited by robertpolyglot; 08-25-2012 at 02:25 PM..
No they weren't. Sorry but this really annoys me when Americans say they are european or irish or whatever. You are american nothing else.
Not really. If they were still raised by French/Greek/German parents, - i.e. people of the same nationality who were still born and raised overseas,) they still could have been more European than American as Robertpolyglot describes.
(At least that was my observation as well.)
Now the next generation - that's already a different matter.
If your parents are immigrants from any country you still have a pretty strong tie to it (as a first generation here). From the standpoint of what goes on in the home (first language, cuisine, traditions) you are "more" whatever until you go off to school. I get annoyed by Europeans who act like the minute your parents step off the plane or boat you magical lose all ties to their homeland. Even if ancestral immigration were decades of centuries prior 200 million people in this country didn't just sprout out of the ground. Yes, time marches on. Yes, we have our own culture and traditions. Yes, particularly those of European descent have mixed with each other to the point of being "mongrels". Still, genetics say those people are from European Haplogroups speaking a European language with a society and governance based on European models. Get over it.
I totally agree with all of this, particularly the bold. Here's where you can measure it. (I notice you are in San Francisco). There is a new wave of Italians coming to the West Coast cities. They are usually in tech, trendy restaurants/coffeehouses, or something (makeshift) capitalizing on culture (leisurely working their way through PhD programs in languages, translating, or some type of self-proclaimed "cultural consultant"). They are fairly arrogant to first-gen people of their same ethnicity who are fluent in the language. I once went to such a function in Seattle and could sense that they only wanted to talk to their immigrant friends. I looked at my watch and decided it was still early enough for me to take a jaunt up to Vancouver. I had a great time. It was the right decision. They think they are "way cool," and "way cool" Americans who think it's "cool" to have newly arrived Europeans friends, and fawn over them, seem to get along fine with them. I've noticed that first-gen kids tend to hang around together, particularly if there were strong ethnic roots in the house.
About the relocation, it would only really work if a person settled around where their relatives are located, so they would have a support system. People just don't aim for a city in Europe where there are no ties.
Excellent post.
Last edited by robertpolyglot; 08-25-2012 at 03:34 PM..
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?
I'd prefer white americans to immigrate to the UK rather than the poles, pakistanis and Indian's that we are getting. No offence to them. Its just that our culture is being eroded in some places.
You're coming across as prejudice and racist. White Americans, you only want them to immigrate to the UK? That's pretty awful, all immigrants are welcome if they bring skills and contribute, just like everyone else.
So, let me ask you this. Do you think first-generation Irish-Americans who grew up in a solid Irish Catholic (sorry, I see you're in the North) neighborhood in Chicago, Boston or New York, kept all the traditions in their families, and went to visit their relatives in Ireland regularly are "too American" or "not European enough" to either move to Ireland and, furthermore, be accepted once they got there?
So, let me ask you this. Do you think first-generation Irish-Americans who grew up in a solid Irish Catholic (sorry, I see you're in the North) neighborhood in Chicago, Boston or New York, kept all the traditions in their families, and went to visit their relatives in Ireland regularly are "too American" or "not European enough" to either move to Ireland and, furthermore, be accepted once they got there?
I often have a qualms with Americans calling themselves Irish. There are people who live here who were born to Pakistanis or Indians who immigrated here in the 60's who I would consider fully British, and they would too, even though they have kept their traditions. Even people who were born in a foreign country but have lived here virtually all their lives, consider themselves British, especially when they have a British accent. So I wouldn't consider them Irish, but they would easily fit in in Ireland.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
