International Why do Americans not claim to be English?

[bref]

Maybe it's because Italian Americans and Irish Americans are so loud and annoying with that shit that they drown out everyone else.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

They do, they refer to it as angelos

 

[Gregolian]

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

The Irish though when they got here were treated ALMOST as bad as the blacks. Literally they'd get off the boat in New York, be forced to sign papers and were sent to the frontlines of the Civil War.

If you notice, most of the "pride in backgrounds" ethnicity are those that were persecuted in some fashion.

EDIT:
I know it's a movie but what Bill the Butcher did in Gangs of New York legit happened.

 

[Swing]

I doubt you have many people calling themselves Irish whose entire family tree has been born in the US. I refer to myself as German on occasion, but I was born in Berlin to an American father. If both my parents were from the US, I doubt that I'd claim any other heritage (though it is true that some people still identify deeply because their parents make a big deal about Irish heritage or whatever).

 

[Slick_36]

The Irish though when they got here were treated ALMOST as bad as the blacks. Literally they'd get off the boat in New York, be forced to sign papers and were sent to the frontlines of the Civil War.

If you notice, most of the "pride in backgrounds" ethnicity are those that were persecuted in some fashion.

Yeah that kind of experience has an impact on communities and solidified their identity. I don't know why people always have to see the worst in these kinds of things.

 

[blaseblah]

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

Nope. People from Africa are not African Americans. Gospel, blues, R&B, hip hop, soul food, etc. These are things that rose out of African American culture.

 

[Gregolian]

Yeah that kind of experience has an impact on communities and solidified their identity. I don't know why people always have to see the worst in these kinds of things.

It's literally why there are "Little Italy" areas in major cities and "Chinatown/International Districts". Most cities up until probably the 1950s had fucking laws on their books about where non-English/Anglo Saxon's could settle.

Seattle did, there were riots about it cause the Filipinos were treated different than the Chinese and Japanese and Koreans who were forced into the part of the city that is next to the stadium's now.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

Most white Americans are
1. German
2. Scottish
3. Irish
4. Scotch-Irish

few actually have a good sense of their heritage.

For example, many of the so-called German-Americans are actually from countries outside Germany today but they identify as German because their ancestors immigrated from Prussian empire. (They don’t know that but that’s what it is)

have a conversation with the average American and you’ll find that they’re completely clueless about this kind of stuff.

also many Americans don’t even understand that being white is synonymous with being racially European- every white American thinks theyre unique for being of European ancestry.

 

[Slick_36]

Most white Americans are
1. German
2. Scottish
3. Irish
4. Scotch-Irish

few actually have a good sense of their heritage.

For example, many of the so-called German-Americans are actually from countries outside Germany today but they identify as German because their ancestors immigrated from Prussian empire. (They don’t know that but that’s what it is)

have a conversation with the average American and you’ll find that they’re completely clueless about this kind of stuff.

also many Americans don’t even understand that being white is synonymous with being racially European- every white American thinks theyre unique for being of European ancestry.

Yeah I'm Volga German myself, German heritage but we lived in Russia for 200 years and retained the culture.

 

[Gregolian]

Most white Americans are
1. German
2. Scottish
3. Irish
4. Scotch-Irish

few actually have a good sense of their heritage.

For example, many of the so-called German-Americans are actually from countries outside Germany today but they identify as German because their ancestors immigrated from Prussian empire. (They don’t know that but that’s what it is)

have a conversation with the average American and you’ll find that they’re completely clueless about this kind of stuff.

also many Americans don’t even understand that being white is synonymous with being racially European- every white American thinks theyre unique for being of European ancestry.

There's people like me too. Mom born and raised in Japan immigrated to the States after marrying my dad who is the son of immigrants from then Czechoslovakia (his dad's side) and Romania (mom's side, literally outside of Bucharest). Annoyingly, the Euro side of the family were in the TWO SPOTS that saw massive revolutions in the 20th century that had a ton of records destroyed so I can't find SHIT on them. So I'll claim the Japanese side.

 

[Seano]

Nope. People from Africa are not African Americans. Gospel, blues, R&B, hip hop, soul food, etc. These are things that rose out of African American culture.

That may be the intended use of the term but not the way we use it in society today.

 

[blaseblah]

That may be the intended use of the term but not the way we use it in society today.

Maybe where you live. Where I live we use the terms properly. I would not recommend going to Africa and calling the people African Americans.

 

[Limbo Pete]

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

Spoiler

​

 

[DoomPatrol]

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.

People ask me what my background is sometimes, and I'm English as fuck. Maybe some French in there too, but it's pretty much honkey as honkey cracker gets. I don't care. If people ask me, I'm fuckin American.

 

[all caps]

Maybe where you live. Where I live we use the terms properly. I would not recommend going to Africa and calling the people African Americans.

I think you're missing my point. What is African American about me? I have absolutely no ties to Africa. I'm American and American only.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

They want to be edgy and they think calling themselves irish gives them an excuse to be an angry alcoholic.

 

[Slick_36]

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.

How are you American again?

 

[blaseblah]

I think you're missing my point. What is African American about me? I have absolutely no ties to Africa. I'm American and American only.

Your ancestors did.

 

[Beechwood]

I've done our family genealogy and have noticed some nationals are more likely to celebrate their country of origin than others.

As an example, the original person with my surname came from county Limerick, Ireland. In America there are several papers written about his life and in the papers it is frequently mentioned how he was from county Limerick, Ireland. Even on his tombstone, my 6th great grandfather had it written in large bold letters that he came from Limerick, Ireland. He wanted people to know where he came from.

Others were that way. Another example, a great grandfather would often tells others that he was a Welshman. He would talk about his Welsh family past to others. He would sing Welsh songs. It was true, his grandfather and grandmother came from Wales.

What my great grandfather never mentioned was that he was equally Swiss. Why he never mentioned his Swiss heritage I don't know.

My English ancestors tended to be like my Swiss ancestor, their English connection wasn't mentioned much or celebrated in past historical papers that I found.

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

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.

Sorry but by what possible metric is Africa or Ireland 'better' than England?