Are German Americans seen as 'ethnic' in the South? (transplants, moving)
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I think they could in some cases. For example if they're in a more rural area and their church seems to identify them as German. (Mennonite, Moravian, a Catholic monastery strongly modeled on a German one, maybe Lutherans in rare cases) There looks to be a fair amount of Amish in Kentucky and if you don't count Kentucky as "Southern" there's also some in Virginia and Tennessee by the looks of it. It wouldn't surprise me if they're seen, or see themselves, as German or Swiss German.
I would say the Germany-American heritage is pretty well integrated with mainstream American culture and that includes the south.
I am from the south and my family goes generations back to the 1600s is mostly from here. My ancestry is that of a UK mutt. I am mostly British, but also have some Scottish and Irish blood in my veins. I also have one small part Cherokee Indian and one small part French in my ancestry.
Most people don't trace their family histories enough, but this is a very common mix that is found in the Georgia, Alabama, and Carolinas area.
With that said.... I travel ALOT for work, mostly international. I am a frequent flier on Lufthansa. With my mainstream American-English and knowing just a few words in German I have fooled and been complemented on my German accent by Germans on my overseas flights. (Of course my looks and serious pragmatic attitude helped with this)
But, this has made me realize just how much the German dialect, even if not language, has made a mark on American-English. I also think this is partly on reason why American-English sounds very close to the Euro-International-English default language for all cultures (even though the French don't like to admit that).
Why is "ethnic" being used as a description of some kind? It seems like a derogatory connotation of the word.
I just don't like it when people use the word to refer to non-whites. Everyone, white or not, belongs to an ethnic group. A German American is just as ethnic as a Filipino or a Mestizo.
Isnt' German considered "Eastern European"? In general, Eastern Europeans are considered more "ethnic" than Western Europeans. Germany is at the crux of East vs. West though. Our family and extended family is mostly Eastern European (Polish, German and Russian) and some people look much more "ethnic", or non-traditionally white-American.
I just don't like it when people use the word to refer to non-whites. Everyone, white or not, belongs to an ethnic group. A German American is just as ethnic as a Filipino or a Mestizo.
The odd thing is, some people like my grandfather/mother still do very "ethnic" things, like say things in Polish or make homemade Polish Sausage (yuck!), while others who are considered more "ethnic" because they are non-white have very few ethnic traditions at all. So I see your point, but not all white Americans have much ancestry or ethnicity left in them. This country is becoming so "American" now, and I love it!
German-Americans aren't seen as ethnic anywhere in America. The largest European ancestry is German in Illinois, but I think the most ethnic whites here are Polish, unless Arabs are included as white. At my job, virtually all the white female sercurity guards are Polish/Eastern European and they speak in their mother tongue to each other. Those of majority Western European ancestry(German included) for the most part are viewed as plain white.
Last edited by Chicagoland60426; 01-16-2011 at 05:29 PM..
German-Americans aren't seen as ethnic anywhere in America. The largest European ancestry is German in Illinois, but I think the most ethnic whites here are Polish, unless Arabs are included as white. At my job, virtually all the white female sercurity guards are Polish/Eastern European and they speak in their mother tongue to each other. Those of majority Western European ancestry(German included) for the most part are viewed as plain white.
I dunno about that, there is a pretty big German community in Chicago, esp among some older folks, and yes they speak German. I've been in to a few markets when they are speaking German.
Hang out around Lincoln Square etc and you will see what I mean (if you haven't)
There was a long period after the war when many didn't not want to be associated with Germany, but people now are more willing to celebrate their heritage.
No, it's Central European same as Austria and maybe Switzerland. We don't use the term "Central European" much but it's used on occasion in geography and cultural geography.
"Eastern European" tends to mean Slavic although Romanians and Hungarians are not Slavic yet generally deemed Eastern European. (Hungarians isn't even an Indo-European language and some Hungarians have a slightly "Asiatic" look) Hungary and Romania are former Communist states though.
I think where places are classed is not always geographic. Greeks are classed as Southern European, which makes sense, but geographically it would seem to also make sense to call them Eastern European. However they were never Slavic or a Communist dictatorship so they're not counted as "Eastern European" very often in my experience. I think I saw one deal refer to them as part of Western Europe even.
As for white groups deemed "ethnic" I think there might still be a few. I would guess in many places in the US Azeris, Bosnians, Kosavars, Romani/Gypsies, Kashmiris (They are Indo-Aryans from what I can tell), and Kurds might still count as "ethnic." I would think Iranians, or many Iranian ethnicities anyway, are also "white" and there's long been debate about people from Northern India.
A German American would be someone born in Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. So yes, they'd be "ethnic," although that term is relative to whomever is using it.
If you're referring to someone of German descent, they are very common in the south Atlantic. We are not just "English and Scotch Irish," although those are dominant. We had large influxes of French Protestants and Germans that assimilated throughout the 1700's, and a decent share of Dutch, Swiss, and Welsh. German family names are very common, at least in North and South Carolina. The fact is, though, these nationalities/ethnicities were quick to Anglicize, and not to mention have been mixed together for many generations.
One of the lines of my family came from France in the 1700s. Upon coming to America, they Anglicized their last name. I live in the South.
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