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

Lol at us being jealous because Biden visited Ireland and not the UK 🤣

But why do they feel the need to add the African / Irish / Italian etc? If they're born and bred in America, why don't they just say they're American?

Why is their heritage and ancestry so important that it needs to be named over and above their actual birthplace?

I agree. Its almost as if being American alone isn't good enough.

I have mixed race family and they have had Americans insist to them they couldn't be British because they are black. Just bizarre.

Did it ever cross your mind that Americans hold on tight to their heritage as this was passed down and given huge importance in their upbringing and the upbringing of their parents, grandparents, great grandparents etc. Did you ever stop to think that so many went to America as they had no choice - such as the Irish Americans who had to leave on coffin ships as the British were starving them to death. So to these people they idealise and love their home and heritage - they never wanted to leave and so they want to preserve it as much as they can and tell their children and grandchildren all about how they are Irish even though they live in America and pass on pride on their heritage. Personally I think it’s nice.

People were very racist of new migrants (still are!) maybe they were proud of their roots and this carried through the generations. Everyone in America knows they're an immigrant so it would be strange to not acknowledge that. Lots of judgement, nasty comments on here 🤨 It is interesting that I think only Americans seem to do this, so there's obviously something different about their history, maybe it's something to do with the way it was colonised.

Agree. It's a nice thing

Well said. I wonder also if @GordanoBenito and her ilk would have told Ngozi Fulani why is she playing up her African heritage and wearing African dress as she is British - somehow I don’t think so! 🙄

Its not their home. It likely hasn't been their home in a hundred plus years.

They may as well idealise Africa.

As I said earlier in the thread (and following on from what you're saying) there's a very subtle difference in language. British is usually stated first (such as British Asian) unless specifically addressing race (then it's Black British). In America it's ethnicity first (Irish American) always. It's just an arse about face way of doing things and for me probably hampers race relations by keeping people firmly in a box rather than having a shared identity and then your individual one.

Thinking about it that's about right for America though, it's a very individualistic nation politically and socially. Maybe that's partly why they don't yet use a collective identity they are proud of.

Exactly!! 👏👏👏
Such double standards.

Well, I'm Irish, and as far as I am concerned Biden and other descendents on Irish emigrants are very welcome to identify as Irish / Irish American.

I do not think that this is an unusual position in my culture or in theirs.

I understand that other nations won't all share this concept of identity. That doesn't make them wrong. Concepts have cultural context. It is normal that we would not all have the same approach.

If there were evidence of Biden manufacturing a connection or faking it, I'd be sorry. But the man is very obviously Irish American of a type half of us are related to! And like most of us, he has British family links too. So what? Irish ancestry isn't a blood purity thing. DNA is thoroughly mixed across Britain and Ireland. Nobody thinks Irish American means no British blood.

I find it rather whimsical

This! 💯

But Britain is almost entirely populated by migrants. We are a seafaring nation for millennia with a history of migration in all directions from day dot. You'll be hard pressed to find a British person who isn't some hybrid of nationalities.

It's because Americans think their "heritage" makes them so very interesting and different.

I have lost count of the times my American colleague claims to be a direct descendent of William the Conquerer.

Why are they always related to royalty?

It's tiresome and immediately makes me decide the person is a huge bore. Every time.

I am an American whose family goes back to before the revolutionary war. Like other Americans whose families have been in North America for generations, I’ve lost all touch with my English roots. They are just too distant and forgotten. I’m more aware of more recent antecedents from Ireland, Scandinavia and German speaking middle Europe, who came more recently.

After so many generations, my background is very mixed. I’m not much of any one thing.

With a list this long, which should I choose?
Irish
English
Scottish
German
Austrian
Hungarian
Belgian
French
Dutch
Danish
French

There is a great deal of English DNA in Americans, it’s just lost in the sands of time, so to speak. The culture is not lost though. There is a strong historical/sociological argument that as the first settlers, the English set the pattern, and subsequent settlers learned English and English folkways thus assimilating and perpetuating English culture. This might not feel true to contemporary English people, but remember the jumping off point was the 1600s. There has been a lot of separate, isolated further development since then.

Fun fact, I had a DNA test done out of curiosity a couple of years ago and, I'm as British as you can get.

My ancestors hail from Sheffield. We've migrated slightly south to Nottingham over the millennia.

I find American history and the language and accent formation fascinating. There's a town in the south that has a dialect that is almost unchanged from when the settlers landed. If you want to hear early English they're the best group of people to hear it from, it's like another language compared to modern English.

Seasoned travellers I see, that's an epic voyage to make i can see why it took so long

Exactly. We are all mixed, as are the Irish.

Anyone with any knowledge of our history knows this which is another reason x generation Americans claiming to be Irish or Scottish or whatever is just nonsense.

"I wonder also if @GordanoBenito and her ilk would have told Ngozi Fulani why is she playing up her African heritage and wearing African dress as she is British - somehow I don’t think so! 🙄"

@Anotheronetwoone My ilk? Would you care to elaborate what you mean by that?

Ngozi's parents were immigrants so she has direct living experience of her heritage. This thread started specifically about Americans and I'm taking about Americans who claim to be Irish American etc even when their family has lived in the US for several generations with no living experience of what it means to be an Irish person.

@Isanyoneup "It's just an arse about face way of doing things and for me probably hampers race relations by keeping people firmly in a box rather than having a shared identity and then your individual one."

Totally agree with you on this point.

It's interesting how the American posters explain the importance of their heritage as so many immigrants were forced by circumstance to leave their country of origin.

I would think that actually there are a lot of immigrants to the UK who also emigrated unwillingly - eg, those who escaped the Nazis, Ugandan Asians, and of course the current wave of Hong Kongers. I would be interested to know if any descendants of such immigrants to Britain also give their ancestry such prominence in their identity, or just says they're British.

Ah ok so people are allowed to be proud of their heritage if you approve of the circumstances but otherwise it’s not permitted. I get it.

You’re Ilk - sneery people who can’t stand someone else being happy to embrace their heritage as Americans do and Biden has this week. I find it pathetic how put out you are by Americans being proud of their roots.

and the absolute tantrums by the British media that Ireland is getting global attention and is Biden’s ‘favourite’ have been ridiculous. 🙄

I posted upthread about this. Coloured people are always asked "where they come from" even if they are third, fourth etc generation. It seems if you are coloured you will always be asked what your ethnicity is. Yet if you do this if you are white, this is ridiculous to many. Very, very bizarre. Is fourth generation Chinese American allowed to identify as a Chinese American? Or is that ridiculous too?? Genuine question and something to think about