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Here is the percentage of people claiming an ancestry as their only ancestry compared of the total claiming that ancestry to any extent.
Italian - 38.9%
English - 36.1%
Polish - 34.1%
German - 33.9%
Irish - 28.0%
Same thing for New York metro area.
Italian - 50.1%
Polish - 40.1%
Irish - 29.9%
English - 21.4%
German - 20.8%
And for Philly
Italian - 39.6%
Irish - 29.7%
Polish - 29.6%
German - 24.4%
English - 23.6%
50% for Italians in New York isn't that surprising, given that most are probably still the children and grandchildren of immigrants. However the amount of 100% Irish around Boston is still pretty strikingly high (approaching 40% I think), given that they're mostly fourth or fifth generation now.
You keep saying this is a common situation, my guess is most of those that chose German as their ancestry were at least plurality German.
I suspect our views are dependent on what region we're from.
As I showed in a previous post, German ancestry dwarfs British/American ancestry in Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas. They're certainly the plurality in the Midwest region and in Pennsylvania.
50% for Italians in New York isn't that surprising, given that most are probably still the children and grandchildren of immigrants. However the amount of 100% Irish around Boston is still pretty strikingly high (approaching 40% I think), given that they're mostly fourth or fifth generation now.
Boston has the most "hard core" Irish. It also has one of the most diluted German populations (probably because it was so small to begin with).
Italian - 36.8%
Irish - 36.2%
Polish - 26.7%
English - 24.6%
German - 18.7%
You asked before why Italian ethnic identity seems stronger in Philadelphia despite Italians being less numerous than Irish (especially compared to Boston since the Irish % is similar). These numbers seem to show why.
It's the percentage of people claiming German as their only ancestry of the total number of people claiming German ancestry. Robert De Niro, for example, claims Irish, German, English, Dutch and French ancestry in addition to his Italian ancestry. Annabella Sciorra, on the other hand, claims 100% Italian ancestry since all four of her grandparents came from Italy. In this case, I'm focused on people like Sciorra who claim only one ancestry.
Boston has the most "hard core" Irish. It also has one of the most diluted German populations (probably because it was so small to begin with).
Italian - 36.8%
Irish - 36.2%
Polish - 26.7%
English - 24.6%
German - 18.7%
Boston also has the South Shore - the largest contiguous Irish American suburbia.
Quote:
You asked before why Italian ethnic identity seems stronger in Philadelphia despite Italians being less numerous than Irish (especially compared to Boston since the Irish % is similar). These numbers seem to show why.
Not so much that, but rather that Philadelphia is stereotyped as "Italian" and Boston as "Irish." There's probably nothing quite like South Philly either anywhere in the US (i.e. where the original Little Italy spread over a contiguous area).
I'm sure there are pockets of hyper Irish identity in NYC and Philadelphia, but Boston is the only place where the Irish American presence seems pretty ubiquitous.
Also, I can't mention Annabella Sciorra without posting a photo of Annabella Sciorra. Justice demands nothing less.
She certainly looks Italian
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