International Why do Americans not claim to be English?

[Winstone]

guys please forgive me if this a stupid question to ask.i have been wondering about this as im not an American.alot of americans claim to be irish as they had an irish ancestor.alot of americans call themselves african.yet ive never heard an american say hes english.
we know that you had a war of independence which you obviously won which was against the britsh empire.you still kept the language and some of the culture then gradually done things your own way.
there are lots of americans with english surnames yet none say they are english.there are more claims for irish descent which is a far smaller country.yet most of these people cannot speak the irish language or really know anything about irish history.i was asking why this happens.please be kind to me as i have been respectful in asking.thanks.

 

[aunshi189]

Because English people aren't cool or exotic.

 

[K-Bag]

Cuz y'all got beat buy some farmers.

 

[all caps]

And while you're at it, why are black people called "African American" ? That dont make no sense.

 

[Sketch]

Because they are American first. If you were born in America and America is all you know why would you claim English heritage? It’s a difficult question to answer as well because you have people such as myself who don’t live in America but identify as Americans.

 

[Jack V Savage]

 

[blaseblah]

Because Irish-Americans are minorities. It's cooler to claim something like that than it is to claim the majority.

 

[Seano]

Because most of us aren't. Most of us are diluted. I'm about 25% English. I just don't really find much reason to bring it up.

 

[blaseblah]

And while you're at it, why are black people called "African American" ? That dont make no sense.

African American only refers to the people decended from African slaves brought to America. It is a distinct culture, separate from Africans.

 

[Mendacious]

Because American’s of English ancestry usually have very, very long ties to the land.

More importantly, we fought against the English/British.

Also the whole pride thing only seems to be popular among groups that were disliked at some point. You don’t see German-Americans, Scottish-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans, etc. showing off their ancestry.

 

[Headkicktoleg]

Most of the American population came to America after we separated from England and since then there have not been many immigrants from England

 

[Seano]

African American only refers to the people decended from African slaves brought to America. It is a distinct culture, separate from Africans.

I think its just become a general term for anyone black.

 

[Limbo Pete]

You don’t see German-Americans, Scottish-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans, etc. showing off their ancestry.

 

[Gregolian]

We beat you in two wars and removed the Queen from our money unlike the Aussies and Canucks. Fuck England.

We are the black sheeps drunken alcoholic family member of the British "empire" that used to exist. We'll claim the other shit first cause it's better.

Also, a LOT of the people that came to the colonies from England came because they were being persecuted by the crown in the Empire. So there was already an ingrained "fuck yo couch" sensibility even in the 1700s.

 

[HomeCheese]

I'm not sure I agree. There are many in the US that will gladly speak about their English heritage. I also think at this point most every caucasian is basically a Euro mutt. I fit both of these categories.

Some groups like the Irish just seem to take a little more pride in their heritage. Perhaps this comes from being subjugated and maligned so much over the years both here in the US and back home. Perhaps you could say this about the African Americans too.

 

[Mendacious]

I haven’t seen anyone with a tattooed German flag or Danish flag on their leg but I know people with Italian flag tattoos and shamrock tattoos. I see the same with Polish people even.

I never see German, Scottish, Danish, Swedish, etc. cultural festivals and flags

Is this a common thing where you live? Maybe it’s different in Minnesota or some other states with populations of Germans and Northern Europeans

 

[Gregolian]

I never see German, Scottish, Danish, Swedish, etc. cultural festivals and flags

They don't have Highland games where you're from?


That's your neighbor state Michigan.

As to German:


Also, the Scottish/Irish thing is fully ingrained in LEOs on the east coast:


I know that scene is from The Wire but one of the writers was a cop and said that actually happens in Baltimore. Then look at other instances of the NYPD having funerals or Boston PD:

 

[Slick_36]

I haven’t seen anyone with a tattooed German flag or Danish flag on their leg but I know people with Italian flag tattoos and shamrock tattoos. I see the same with Polish people even.

I never see German, Scottish, Danish, Swedish, etc. cultural festivals and flags

Is this a common thing where you live? Maybe it’s different in Minnesota or some other states with populations of Germans and Northern Europeans

They tend to be more recent immigrants which means they connect more to their old countries. English are the oldest and Germans aren't too far behind. It's not that it's "cooler", it's just farther removed.

African Americans have a distinct culture created after they had their home cultures taken away. It's a unique identity.

 

[Mendacious]

They don't have Highland games where you're from?


That's your neighbor state Michigan.

As to German:


Also, the Scottish/Irish thing is fully ingrained in LEOs on the east coast:


I know that scene is from The Wire but one of the writers was a cop and said that actually happens in Baltimore. Then look at other instances of the NYPD having funerals or Boston PD:

Well I’m from Florida and my friends and family live on the east coast so that’s where my views come from. I’m very aware of Irish Bostonians being prideful of their heritage and Italians too since one of my best friends is from there and his dad is one of those guys.

When I see people showing off flags and openly expressing ethnic pride it was always Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, and to a lesser degree, Mexican.

 

[Mendacious]

They tend to be more recent immigrants which means they connect more to their old countries. English are the oldest and Germans aren't too far behind. It's not that it's "cooler", it's just farther removed.

African Americans have a distinct culture created after they had their home cultures taken away. It's a unique identity.

Italians, Polish, Puerto Rican’s, etc. may be more recent and they probably have family that speak their native language, but the Irish have been here forever and have no connections to Ireland but they’re very outspoken about it.

The common thing about all those groups, in my opinion, is that they weren’t very liked at first