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What? Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying.
I think it was meant to say that Europeans understand that some Americans have ethnic pride, but still don't consider them European.
I wouldn't want to be considered European, simply because it wouldn't be true. I didn't grow up in Europe and don't have a European education. The flow of society that I know is surely quite different from what happens in Europe. The most I'd hope for is to be considered an American who gets along well in Europe.
I think it was meant to say that Europeans understand that some Americans have ethnic pride, but still don't consider them European.
I wouldn't want to be considered European, simply because it wouldn't be true. I didn't grow up in Europe and don't have a European education. The flow of society that I know is surely quite different from what happens in Europe. The most I'd hope for is to be considered an American who gets along well in Europe.
I agree with that. I don't personally know any Americans who would try to claim to be European.
A lot of Americans are mutts like me. I am Dutch, Irish, Scottish, a little French, a little spanish, a little Japanese and all German from my mother. My kids are that plus English and Swedish!
A lot of Americans are mutts like me. I am Dutch, Irish, Scottish, a little French, a little spanish, a little Japanese and all German from my mother. My kids are that plus English and Swedish!
Oh dear God in heaven, don't say that - Europeans will think you are trying to claim being European or something.
I live in the NYC area where we have a lot of ethnic neighborhoods and some occupations are dominated by one or two ethnic groups. Most white people in my area are of either Italian descent or a mix of Italian and another group. We still have many lodges of the Knights of Columbus, Sons of Italy, etc. Unlike, the English/Scot/Welsh, immigration was not that long ago. Many people here still have or have memories of their grandparents (with thick accents) who were the first immigrants in the family to the US. Columbus Day has become a big celebration for Italian heritage. Most people here descend from southern Italy, usually poor areas and spoke dialect, as opposed to proper Italian. Even the younger generation can at least understand enough to get the gist of a movie or conversation. We still have major celebrations of the various saints and have street festivals. Our mayor and governor are part Italian. And we do self-identify as "Italian or Irish or Greek," or half Irish and half Italian," leaving off the obvious second part of the hyphenation of "Italian-American." Obviously, we are American but we tend not to self-identify as American in order to distinguish between our heritage and all the other heritages here in multi-cultural New York.
Most Italian-Americans that I know either have made trips to Italy and/or stay connected through various relatives still living in the "old country." We have hundreds of "Italian" bakeries, butchers, and even some fairly large "Italian" supermarket chains that sell imported food from the various regions of Italy. In the free public schools in my immediate local area, Italian is one of the most popular languages of study.
Italy was not a unified country until mid-19th Century. Each "region" had it's own distinct culture and dialect. Most of our New York Italian immigrant population hail from the Naples-Neopolitan areas and Sicily. It is not uncommon to see cars with an Italian flag decal or the Italian flag hanging from someone's home along with the American flag on certain holidays. I don't think the latter is common in any of the European cities, even ones that have "ethnic neighborhoods." New York has several "Little Italys," as well as "Little Yemen," "Little Odessa," "Koreatown," etc. The main drag in New York City, Fifth Ave., is usually the place for ethnic pride parades and they are generally large affairs. The various ethnic neighborhoods attract many tourists. I think you will find that most large cities, especially in the northeastern part of the US, are organized in the same manner. Philadelphia is another city with a large "Italian(American) population with a lot of Italian pride.
My point is that immigration from Italy is not that long ago-depending on the person's age, maybe one, two or three generations or maybe even more recently with people born in Italy but spent most of their childhood in the US. They still feel connected, even if they go back for a visit and the natives of ____ (fill in the name of the country) can tell that they are obviously from the US.
Italy was not a unified country until mid-19th Century. Each "region" had it's own distinct culture and dialect. Most of our New York Italian immigrant population hail from the Naples-Neopolitan areas and Sicily. It is not uncommon to see cars with an Italian flag decal or the Italian flag hanging from someone's home along with the American flag on certain holidays.
So true. An Italian cousin's fiancee complained to me. The cousin's mother was upset that the fiancee was from a different region of Italy. The cousin's mother kept telling her "she didn't understand ANYTHING!" As if she was from a different country rather than an Italian town a couple of hundred miles away.
It's the same in Westchester, there are pockets of Italians. We have a many Italian butchers, bakers and grocery stores. I have three stores with 10 minutes of me which make their homemade mozzarella. It's a beautiful thing.
A lot of Americans are mutts like me. I am Dutch, Irish, Scottish, a little French, a little spanish, a little Japanese and all German from my mother. My kids are that plus English and Swedish!
It is amazing how ignorant people still are of the difference between genetics and political divisions.
No one is a mutt anything, just like no one is pure anything, there is only one human Genome.
Sweden, Germany, Japan, Spain and all those countries are Human inventions.
Evolution created genetics, people invented Countries.
So let's get rid of this idea that genetically there are people that are mutts If parents come from different countries.... and there are pure people If parents come from the same country.
As a person who works with biology it annoys the heck out of me.
Oh dear God in heaven, don't say that - Europeans will think you are trying to claim being European or something.
It is amazing that you still do not get it.
You are not your seen as a European because you are NOT from Europe, you are seen as An American because you ARE an American.
Who cares about some Scottish ancestor, a thousand years ago Scotland did not even exist.... and 2000 years ago your ancestors were Probably somewhere in Afrika, like most of the human race ancestors. Does that mean you are also from Africa?
You are not your seen as a European because you are NOT from Europe, you are seen as An American because you ARE an American.
Who cares about some Scottish ancestor, a thousand years ago Scotland did not even exist.... and 2000 years ago your ancestors were Probably somewhere in Afrika, like most of the human race ancestors. Does that mean you are also from Africa?
Europe is just lines on a map, right? People invented continents, there is only one planet.
As a person who expects some internal consistency between posts literally 7 minutes apart it annoys the heck out of me.
So true. An Italian cousin's fiancee complained to me. The cousin's mother was upset that the fiancee was from a different region of Italy. The cousin's mother kept telling her "she didn't understand ANYTHING!" As if she was from a different country rather than an Italian town a couple of hundred miles away.
It's the same in Westchester, there are pockets of Italians. We have a many Italian butchers, bakers and grocery stores. I have three stores with 10 minutes of me which make their homemade mozzarella. It's a beautiful thing.
Italian culture has really become mainstreamed here in Sydney and the traditional Italian areas have shrunk to about one suburb. Which is increasingly becoming Asian. Food such as aranchini and cannoli are now found all over the place as well as, of course, the usual Italian food. Some of the Italian wedding customs have become the norm and as the community ages the language is rapidly being lost.
I heard my MIL complain one day about a lady speaking in a different dialect, she told her to speak in proper Italian or in English. Which amused me as MIL spoke a real mixture of dialect, Italian and English as long as she lived. It is difficult to find places to learn or practice Italian in Sydney. I do it as a hobby and places are few and far between. We went away to Italy with an Italian sports group that DH is involved with. Barely heard of word of Italian spoken in the group the whole trip which was a bit disappointing.
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