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1) Anytime the subject of ethnic diasporas and immigration from various countries comes up, the first thing people rush to say is that "English ancestry is massively underreported in the US".
This comment shows up anytime the ethnic makeup of the US is discussed, and every thread about ethnic diversity in the US, whether here, on Reddit, or elsewhere, ends up devolving into a bunch of weirdly aggressive comments from British people, other foreigners, and Anglophilic Americans that insist on ratcheting up the number of English Americans to 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 million people, alongside arrogant dismissals of other ethnic groups in the US, from Italian to Dutch to German.
This strikes me as very odd, because I can't reconcile the aggressive obsession with the alleged underestimation of English/British ancestry in America with the popularity of proclaiming Canada and Australia to be "way more diverse than the US".
2) Australia, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, etc, are all allowed to be "multicultural", and much will be written on these countries about how floridly diverse they are, with much emphasis being placed on all the many wonderful non-English ethnic groups that have made their way to Australia and Canada overtime. Non-English ethnic groups in the US, however, are scoffed at, insulted, minimized, and people on here routinely lie about and understate their numbers in the US.
When the discussion turns to the US, it almost always involves a very aggressive undermining of American ethnic diversity, with a bunch of outright ridiculous and bizarre claims about how "most Americans are descended from Colonial stock", "Most Americans are just English", "Americans just lie about their ancestry, I guess English/British ancestry just isn't glamorous enough", etc.
It seems to me that this is some kind of delegitimization tactic being aimed at American identity, history and culture - 1) Anglophiles, anti-Americans, and Brit chauvinists get to knock America down by claiming that it's culture is not original or unique, and could've been invented in Britain 2) In an age where "diversity" has become quite the societal virtue, having America associated with that is upsetting to many 3) The ethnic diversity of the US unsettles those who desperately want to legitimize inaccurate, insulting, and unflattering generalizations of Americans and of American culture.
Brazil and Canada and Australia are all allowed a complex identity that relishes in the beauty of their ethnic diversity...
But it seems that if Americans can't just be shoved into the "British ethnic" box and delegitimized, they have to be insulted as inferior, ugly, degenerate, insignificant, etc, and then we get all the oddly selective and utterly arrogant moaning and groaning about how "Americans are the only people who think they're from somewhere else".
You see, when it's Brazil, the wonder's of a mixed, integrated and assimilated "multiethnic, diverse" society are sung...
But, at least on City-Data, when America's assimilated, multiethnic nature is brought up as a point to it's diversity, everyone is all of a sudden quick to tell you "who cares? America isn't diverse just because a bunch of ethnicities mixed together. You're all Americans! THAT MAKES YOU LESS DIVERSE!"
My main point is that many people have assigned a lot of pride to "diversity" in a national sense and made it a point to compete with America on the topic. This results in a lot of confused and conflicting argumentative tactics being employed that unfairly minimize America's ethnic diversity, delegitimize America's globally popular culture, and deprive it of any kind of multiethnic identity.
"America isn't racially diverse like Brazil because ____"
"America isn't ethnically diverse like Argentina or Canada because _____"
"America is mostly English and English ancestry is understated" will be the only point brought up in discussions about ethnic diversity in the US, which is ridiculous when smaller countries that are objectively a lot more ethnically English or "colonial" than it get all of this attention for their "massively diverse" ethnic populations.
That's to say nothing of the really weird obsession with talking about proportions rather than absolute numbers, in terms of ethnic populations and immigrant populations. It's like people lose any kind of grasp on sense and basic math when, after being presented with a list of ethnic groups in the US, and their sizes, they say hilarious things like "Of course America is going to have higher amounts of various ethnic minorities! It's a much more populous country!. Like, for real, you guys?
To top it all off, American racial diversity is problematized, stigmatized, and argued against, to the point where we can't point out that America is a far more racially mixed society than, say, Canada, or the UK. Oh, and what's more, there is hardly anyone willing to point out the basic and obvious fact that the US has a much larger, more mixed, and more historic black population than the UK, Canada, etc, countries that are always being compared to the US on "racism" and diversity and multiracialism...it's insane.
Why is America deprived of the multiracial, multiethnic, diverse identity that it obviously has?
You've posted similar nonsense in the past Irene - and I note yet another new identity.
It should also be noted that -
1. That diversity is not a competition and there is plenty of diversity in the UK and Europe,
2. As stated in another thread, a lot of big cities in the West have diverse populations and I mentioned some of the ethnic enclaves in relation to London in the recent thread regarding diversity, and I stated that big cities such as London, Paris, NYC etc all have a substantial degree of diversity.
3. I don't think any Britons are remotely interested in suggesting that "British ancestry is massively under-reported in the US" or that we play any more of a role than anyone else.
In terms of the US, much of it has Spanish, Italian, Irish, Germany, French, Scandinavian etc etc influence, with British history and influence being mostly concentrated on the East Coast, and in areas such as New England, and the original colonies.
Beyond these facts, I don't know any British forum members who really care or really want to engage in this nonsense, although be my guest if anyone actually does.
Last edited by Brave New World; 01-18-2022 at 06:47 AM..
Personally, I prefer a nation where all men are created equal (before the law) and have Creator endowed rights that governments are instituted to secure - and nothing more without consent of the governed. Absent consent, all that government can do is adjudicate disputes, prosecute criminals, and defend against all enemies, foreign or domestic.
. . .
But if you want a socialist democracy, with its compulsory charity and confiscation of surplus and where a majority can legally persecute a minority, feel free to opt for that.
Personally, I prefer a nation where all men are created equal (before the law) and have Creator endowed rights that governments are instituted to secure - and nothing more without consent of the governed. Absent consent, all that government can do is adjudicate disputes, prosecute criminals, and defend against all enemies, foreign or domestic.
. . .
But if you want a socialist democracy, with its compulsory charity and confiscation of surplus and where a majority can legally persecute a minority, feel free to opt for that.
You've posted similar nonsense in the past Irene - and I note yet another new identity.
It should also be noted that -
1. That diversity is not a competition and there is plenty of diversity in the UK and Europe,
2. As stated in another thread, a lot of big cities in the West have diverse populations.
3. I don't think any Britons are remotely interested in suggesting that "British ancestry is massively under-reported in the US" or that we play any more of a role than anyone else.
In terms of the US, much of it has Spanish, Italian, Irish, Germany, French, Scandinavian etc etc influence, with British history and influence being mostly concentrated on the East Coast, and in areas such as New England, and the original colonies.
Beyond these facts, I don't know any British forum members who really care or really want to engage in this nonsense, although be my guest of anyone actually does.
To just two of your points:
I wasn't talking about "big cities". America has a population spread across the country that stems from multiple ethnic groups and racial identities, and some of America's most racially mixed regions are rural...
Three, British ancestry and history is most predominant in parts of the intermountain west and the upland south. Not the east coast.
You've posted similar nonsense in the past Irene - and I note yet another new identity.
It should also be noted that -
1. That diversity is not a competition and there is plenty of diversity in the UK and Europe,
2. As stated in another thread, a lot of big cities in the West have diverse populations and I mentioned some of the ethnic enclaves in relation to London in the recent thread regarding diversity, and I stated that big cities such as London, Paris, NYC etc all have a substantial degree of diversity.
3. I don't think any Britons are remotely interested in suggesting that "British ancestry is massively under-reported in the US" or that we play any more of a role than anyone else.
In terms of the US, much of it has Spanish, Italian, Irish, Germany, French, Scandinavian etc etc influence, with British history and influence being mostly concentrated on the East Coast, and in areas such as New England, and the original colonies.
Beyond these facts, I don't know any British forum members who really care or really want to engage in this nonsense, although be my guest if anyone actually does.
Aren't you the one who's always gotten into ridiculous fights with people who reject your anti-American claims with data? You link-bomb threads with any kind of pro-British article or "data", and then fume, pretend not to see conflicting data, and dismiss it as "nonsense" when any kind of statistic or piece of information doesn't cast America in a negative light vis a vis Britain in every possible way?
I don't entertain discussions with people like you. I'm afraid it's the I button on you, Brave.
Aren't you the one who's always gotten into ridiculous fights with people who reject your anti-American claims with data? You link-bomb threads with any kind of pro-British article or "data", and then fume, pretend not to see conflicting data, and dismiss it as "nonsense" when any kind of statistic or piece of information doesn't cast America in a negative light vis a vis Britain in every possible way?
I don't entertain discussions with people like you. I'm afraid it's the I button on you, Brave.
I haven't provided any Anti-American claims with data and don't know what you are talking about.
The only thing I have stated in relation to diversity, is my knowledge of some of London's enclaves and I am a well established forum member, unlike yourself, as you keep getting banned for trolling.
Personally, I prefer a nation where all men are created equal (before the law) and have Creator endowed rights that governments are instituted to secure - and nothing more without consent of the governed. Absent consent, all that government can do is adjudicate disputes, prosecute criminals, and defend against all enemies, foreign or domestic.
. . .
But if you want a socialist democracy, with its compulsory charity and confiscation of surplus and where a majority can legally persecute a minority, feel free to opt for that.
And which country might that be? Seriously, it doesn't sound like any real country in current existence.
The problem is that Americans believe to have monopoly in "diversity", when most American immigration happened 40-50 years ago, and nowadays other countries are getting (per capita) higher immigration.
You've posted similar nonsense in the past Irene - and I note yet another new identity.
It should also be noted that -
1. That diversity is not a competition and there is plenty of diversity in the UK and Europe,
2. As stated in another thread, a lot of big cities in the West have diverse populations and I mentioned some of the ethnic enclaves in relation to London in the recent thread regarding diversity, and I stated that big cities such as London, Paris, NYC etc all have a substantial degree of diversity.
3. I don't think any Britons are remotely interested in suggesting that "British ancestry is massively under-reported in the US" or that we play any more of a role than anyone else.
In terms of the US, much of it has Spanish, Italian, Irish, Germany, French, Scandinavian etc etc influence, with British history and influence being mostly concentrated on the East Coast, and in areas such as New England, and the original colonies.
Beyond these facts, I don't know any British forum members who really care or really want to engage in this nonsense, although be my guest if anyone actually does.
DNA tests would suggest that British ancestry is massively under-reported. Take for Example English-Americans alone used to eclipse the number of German-Americans until 1980 census, but suddenly by 1990 those english-Americans dissapeared as if there was a massive exodus or famine of English-Americans. British Isles is by Far the largest ancestry in the US, no comparison, specially if you combine all of the different labels which usually encompass british ancestry such as English, Scotch-Irish, Welsh, Ulster-Scots, Irish and lets not forget "American" Ancestry.
But what is relevant to the conversation is that your average Ben affleck in NYC shares a lot more in common with Tyrone Williams, than an Ethnic European with a recent African or middle eastern refugee... Both John and Tyrone speak english, eat hot dogs, use a reversed baseball cap, support the new york mets, listen rap, and follow the same mainstream media.. call it diversity if you want lol
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