Why is there so much sneering at Americans with European ancestry?

[BrBa]

I don’t understand! I identify with all my ancestors whether they came as religious refugees or early colonisers, were already indigenous to the region or brought in as slaves.

Yours
Swiss, German, Native American North, Central and South, Sephardic, Irish, South East African, Scottish, Acadian/French, and English

Because Americans never accept they're American despite being several generations into being an American. It's just strange.

I didn't know there was a lot of such sneering. Where and who is doing it?

I'm not aware of any sneering.

I was (and probably still am) very angry at the American supporters of the IRA though. They were not living in the midst of a serious terrorist bombing campaign that claimed many innocent lives.

I think, if there's any sneering, it's at Americans with Irish / German / Italian heritage who describe themselves purely as Irish, German or Italian.

If you've been born and brought up in Dublin or Limerick, it sounds strange if a fourth-generation Californian Irish-American starts teling you how Irish they are.

I just think it's a bit odd.
I did my ancestry DNA and it came out as English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Swedish but I was born in England and so were my Grandparents.
One of my Great Grandparents were Irish but I'd never claim to be Irish. I'm English!

@VickyEadieofThigh Id imagine this is in relation to Biden and his claiming of his Irish heritage. As I understand it he had a set of great grandparents who came from Ireland over 170 years ago but has really been playing up his links.

We may as well all call ourselves African cos that's where we all come from

I don't see it that way at all. It's just a nod to your ancestry as so many of us are children/grandchildren of immigrants.

Americans who identify as Polish American (for example) are just proud of the ancestry, not denying that they're American.

Ive lived on both sides of the Atlantic and can’t say I’ve particularly come across any sneering. The only time I’ve ever felt the need to sneer was when we were asked to do a cultural presentation about our homeland (the U.K.) in the town I was living in in the USA and some random American guy came in and started ranting at me about Scottish independence and how wicked the Union was etc etc . Turned out he’d never even been to Scotland but felt a strong connection to his distant Scottish ancestors (personally I think he’d just seen braveheart too many times) I told him that I was half Scottish and been to Scotland many, many times so perhaps knew a little bit more about the country than he did? So id say it’s only when someone claims (based on distant ancestry) to know more about your own country than you do does it get annoying.

I'm unsure if it is sneering, isn't in it more like bewilderment as I don't think many who were born in England for example with an Irish surname would claim their Irish. My children have an Irish surname but they are not Irish.

Biden calling himself Irish is bloody ridiculous. He's 4th generation American with 1 side of his family having Irish heritagem he's not bloody Irish. It's nonsense. By the same token I'm either Welsh or Caribean

Caribbean even. Oops. Except I'm not. I'm English as I and both my parents were born in England.

Because they seem to latch onto a caricature of Irishness - the dancing and shamrocks etc

I grew up in America and people would always tell me they were ‘English’ or ‘Irish’ or whatever. My grandparents are Irish but I wouldn’t ever claim to be. It’s just possibly a bit strange to claim to be from
a country when you haven’t ever stepped foot in it!

As a 2nd gen immigrant I do find it weird that Americans claim they are Italian or Irish because their great great gp was.

America is a complex country- built on the slaves of Africans and the genocide of Native Americans.

When you put it like that, it makes sense that many Americans want to align themselves with somewhere else.

They might for the passport though

I don't think it's sneering, more bewilderment. Why do people cling to what can be 1/32nd or a 1/64th of their hereditary, and ignore all the other parts?

*enslavement, sorry

I don't think it's sneering as such just incredulity at people claiming heritage from distant ancestors. And yes Biden does this.

I'm mildly curious at distant ancestry but not very much. As pp we're all related going back in time and it appears we all came out of Africa (or may still be there!)

Britain is a complex country built on the slaves of the Romans and the genocide of various native groups by invaders. It's part of our history but we are still British.

I see America as a tween trying out their identities in a safe space around older relatives

It's just claiming to be something you're not though isn't it? Biden is American. He goes to Ireland and says he's "home" except he isn't so it's a lie. I bet a load of Brits could claim to be Vikings for instance if you look back for enough. I think it's one thing to say you have "Viking heritage" for example but to call yourself a Viking is just lying. And that is what a lot of Americans do when they claim to be Irish or Italian or whatever. They're not, they're American. A lot of the time their parents and even grandparents were born in America as well.
And Biden for example only talks up the Irish side of his ancestry - his mother's side. He keeps quiet about his father's heritage which has been shown to have been slave owners! Really annoys me.

Americans sometimes use "Irish" (for example) as shorthand for Irish American. Nobody actually thinks that an American who describes himself as Irish is claiming to have been born or brought up there. He is saying that he has ancestors who came from there.

Many Americans are proud of their ancestry/heritage, and there's nothing wrong with that. We are a nation of immigrants (for the most part), and the way that Americans keep traditions and customs from their homelands alive while simultaneously embracing "American" traditions - such as Thanksgiving - is rather lovely.

I don't sneer, but i do find it odd how so many Americans seem to be so keen to feel as if they are something other than 'just' American.

It makes zero difference to me obvs.

@Isanyoneup

True, but that was nearly two thousand years ago.

The last band of free Sioux surrendered only about 60 years before the world of Madmen happened.

Totally, totally not comparable. There are people alive today who will remember grandparents telling stories about actually living through those events in the US.