What ethnic heritage do you associate most with Oregon? (Portland: how much, homes)

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Where I grew up in the Midwest, people were very conscious of the exact countries in northern Europe that their ancestors came from. You weren't just "Scandinavian-American," you were Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or Finnish, or combinations thereof.

When I moved out West, I was just "white." I think a lot of westerners see it that way. With the face of immigration having changed from primarily European origin to primarily Asian and Latin American, the minor distinctions of Caucasian ethnicity have faded. The old paradigm of keeping track of 19th century Euro-national bloodlines..."I'm half Irish, one-quarter Swedish, one-eighth German, and one-eight Polish"...is from a bygone era. In today's realities if you're white, you're just white.

Yeah it seems different in the cities of the East and Midwest. I have Polish-American relatives who've moved every generation basically a town or so away from the old neighborhoods on the southside of Milwaukee where my great grandparents ended up from the old country--but still mostly everyone they know is either of Polish or German descent(and some Irish). Everytime I go back for some cousin's wedding everyone has a Polish or German last name.

I think out west, while there was a lot of immigration from the Irish or Germans or Scandanavians or Italians and Jews at various points in history(Portland at one point had thriving Italian and Jewish neighborhoods), it was much more of boom-bust cycle in the early years(Butte, Montana was at one time one of the most diverse places in the West at one point)--and after immigration tapered off with the restrictions of the 1920s, those that were around seemed to assimilate and maybe only occasionally keep some touchstones of their original culture. In the cities back east, a lot of ethnic groups would stick toghether even when they ended up in the more assimilated suburbs. Out west, everyone just got mixed together pretty quickly--and the populations weren't as large, so you just ended up marrying whoever was around.

You also had a lot of settlers from the South in the more rural regions of Oregon, who while probably of Scotch-Irish or English descent were pretty much at the point where they just looked at their heritage as being American. My dad's family has been in California and Oregon since the 1850s--and their heritage is a mix of Irish, Scotch-Irish, English, Swiss, German, Native American, and who knows what else...

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by Deezus

Yeah it seems different in the cities of the East and Midwest. I have Polish-American relatives who've moved every generation basically a town or so away from the old neighborhoods on the southside of Milwaukee where my great grandparents ended up from the old country--but still mostly everyone they know is either of Polish or German descent(and some Irish). Everytime I go back for some cousin's wedding everyone has a Polish or German last name.

I think out west, while there was a lot of immigration from the Irish or Germans or Scandanavians or Italians and Jews at various points in history(Portland at one point had thriving Italian and Jewish neighborhoods), it was much more of boom-bust cycle in the early years(Butte, Montana was at one time one of the most diverse places in the West at one point)--and after immigration tapered off with the restrictions of the 1920s, those that were around seemed to assimilate and maybe only occasionally keep some touchstones of their original culture. In the cities back east, a lot of ethnic groups would stick toghether even when they ended up in the more assimilated suburbs. Out west, everyone just got mixed together pretty quickly--and the populations weren't as large, so you just ended up marrying whoever was around.

You also had a lot of settlers from the South in the more rural regions of Oregon, who while probably of Scotch-Irish or English descent were pretty much at the point where they just looked at their heritage as being American. My dad's family has been in California and Oregon since the 1850s--and their heritage is a mix of Irish, Scotch-Irish, English, Swiss, German, Native American, and who knows what else...

That's true, they mixed more out West. I guess if you're a hodgepodge of a bunch of different groups, the 'White' moniker makes sense. My English and Irish ancestry on the other hand, is largely pretty recent and the two ethnic groups are pretty similar so I would say I'm specifically 'Anglo-Celtic' and not just a 'white American'.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Why would anybody care? Nobody cares what your (generic you, not anybody specific) pedigree is. It's pretty self-centered to think that your personal heritage is endlessly fascinating to anyone but you.

[PNW-type-gal]

Far more common out here to view your ancestors as being "from" the Northeast, the East, the South, the Midwest or individual states than the original country of origin prior to the US. There are a few pockets of ethnic groups (Finns in Astoria, for instance), but for the most part people came west from other parts of the US, rather than directly immigrating from foreign countries (not so much true for a lot of the Asian countries).

A cousin just did the "long form" tree for my father's side and we are English, Scottish, Irish, French, Welsh, Dutch, Russian, German, Swiss, Northern Italian, arriving in the US or Canada between 1680 and 1850 and then dispersing mainly in the the US Midatlantic and South and gradually west. There are some "other" thrown in there, particularly Cherokee and Hispanic (Spanish Mexican).

The short of it is: I don't regard myself as particularly having an "ethnic heritage," more as general American "mongrel" pretty much. Easier for someone like my neighbor - his family came here from Italy (Calabria) in 1922 and his generation was the first to marry outside of the ethnic enclave (back east) they moved to.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Why would anybody care? Nobody cares what your (generic you, not anybody specific) pedigree is. It's pretty self-centered to think that your personal heritage is endlessly fascinating to anyone but you.

I don't agree. I think we all would like to know our story, if our families had kept it current. I agree with the consensus that out west, the younguns married who they were attracted to, and who was nearby, which meant that there was rapid blending among white Europeans. I am sure it just became too hard to keep up with the varied histories. I know I had very little interest in history as a young man, but now it fascinates me, and moreover, I would love to learn more about my ancestors.

Funny, I was just listening to something on NPR about "how to be black." I do find the obsession with race and the "black" or "asian" or "hispanic" experience to become a bit much at times (I just think it perpetuates racial narratives), but I don't blame anyone for wanting to understand their origins. I think we lose something when the history is lost. But perhaps along with the good stories, the grudges and resentments also die, and maybe that is not such a bad thing.

[max.b]

Missing option: Californian?

[mamh]

max b
what is this bit about missing option californian?
i'm a native northern californian and proud of it..
married a new yorker, so we laugh when we talk about our
marriage as being bi-coastal...
we are all people with a story who found a home here and love it..
thats my two cents worth

[ReineDeCoeur]

Randomly hit this thread as it seemed interesting. However, I just to have to shake my head at the listing of these ethnicities for european & asian descendants and then "black." If one is not familiar with different African/African descended ethnicities, then leave them out altogether. Very telling though.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by caribdoll

Randomly hit this thread as it seemed interesting. However, I just to have to shake my head at the listing of these ethnicities for european & asian descendants and then "black." If one is not familiar with different African/African descended ethnicities, then leave them out altogether. Very telling though.

Probably because most blacks in Oregon have been internal migrants from the Southern US and most of those have been in Portland--and it's been a fairly small population historically that increased in the post-World War II period.

Except for a population of East Africans--mostly Ethiopians and Somalians--Portland hasn't had a lot of African or black Caribbean migrants either over history or recently. The Ethiopian community is fairly strong in Portland though--in a lot of neighborhoods in NE Portland they own a lot of small businesses--and there's a number of Eritreans, Sudanese, and Somalis as well--plus a small number of West Africans that have settled here more recently.

[ReineDeCoeur]

Originally Posted by Deezus

Probably because most blacks in Oregon have been internal migrants from the Southern US and most of those have been in Portland--and it's been a fairly small population historically that increased in the post-World War II period.

Except for a population of East Africans--mostly Ethiopians and Somalians--Portland hasn't had a lot of African or black Caribbean migrants either over history or recently.

The groups mentioned in your second paragraph are just who I am referring to in my post. Whether or not there is a lot, it is what it is. If one is not familiar with the different African descended ethnic groups, leave them out. They list all kinds of ethnic groups for other groups and then "black." Seriously? Because clearly it is understood in this thread that "white" is not an ethnic heritage. But I suppose that kind of ethnic/cultural ignorance toward African descendants is very much ingrained in American culture, especially among European descendants/"whites" if you prefer.