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

Yeah, but it doesn’t make any sense in this context. My friend is British. She isn’t African or American. I don’t think she’s ever even been to America. She would be confused to be called African American. She is black, but calling her African American would be incorrect.

Akala’s book Natives has interesting comments of the ‘racialisation of blackness’ (think that’s the term he used). Pointing out that when visiting his family in other countries he was treated differently/preferentially due to his light skin, where as elsewhere he’d just be considered black despite having both a black and white parent.

Obviously not for Americans or Pres Biden. And again, if he wants to define himself as Irish based on 10/16 g grandparents being Irish what harm is he doing?

It doesn't make any people with 2 Irish parents or 4 Irish grandparents any LESS Irish, does it?

But again @Fairislefandango what harm is it doing? It's no skin off my nose if someone from deepest Utah decides they're Scottish.

No actual harm, but I expect it's a bit irritating to genuinely Scottish people. It just seems a bit like cultural appropriation.

I am a genuinely Scottish person. (Parents both Scottish, all 4 grandparents Scottish, born here, raised here, live here). Not irritated. Someone from Utah claiming to be Scottish does not make me less Scottish.

And if they want to come here, spend their money exploring the places their ancestors moved from and support Scottish jobs, more power to their elbow. (Family tartan is not a thing though, and that is a huge misconception not exclusive to N America)

I was wondering how long it would be until someone mentioned Meghan. This thread certainly has been eye-opening, such judgement and hate. She didn't really stand a chance did she, can't say Im a fan, but there is certainly an undercurrent of racism in this thread.

"It’s the “one drop” rule. Basically it used to be that one drop of African American blood made you black. That tradition still continues in people’s minds and it is why in the UK Meghan would be described as Mixed ethnicity but would be seen as African American in the US."

I fucking hate this train of thought. I have 1 black grandparent. I guess I look a bit like Megan except sadly less beautiful 😆. I would say I'm mixed if anyone asked or if I was filling in a form, but at a glance I'd pass for white and I just consider myself British.
I would HATE to be referred to as an "African American".

Would you think the same of you replaced Scottish with Chinese?

@Whenharrymetsmelly I didn't think that post was racist.

Not yours, just the undercurrent to many of the posts.

@KnittingNeedles imo he's setting the tone for how others define themselves as a powerful world leader he knows this and it's unfair on anyone who simply wishes to claim the heritage of where they live and have had generations in. As PP have said they have known people to be told they cannot be American/British because they are black. They 'have to' fit a defined category attributed to them.

He's drumming up Irish politics in purpose too. there no need for the amount of parading he's doing here. He is a human. He can do things quietly if he wanted to,

I never really knew this about Americans.

I can understand Irish-American but stating you’re Irish would seem pretty odd over here.

I can totally understand wanting to let others know your heritage though, absolutely.

I’m English, my DF was Scottish, also my maternal DGM was Scottish, I have sometimes jokingly stated I’m 3/4 Scottish, I have a huge family in Scotland as both my DF & DGM had many siblings. I would never state I was Scottish though, that would just be weird to me.

She was born in Kansas... as were both her parents...

My friend just came back from a week in New York. The first thing he said was that everybody thinks that they are Irish lol

Correct. His parents or grandparents or great grand parents are from Pakistan. But he is not.

His ethnicity means he will always be from Pakistan.

There is so much veiled racism here..so many comments like "I find it odd that someone born in America would call themselves Irish" etc
You might find it odd but it is very much a normal part of American culture. Millions of Americans do not find it odd. It is a different culture so please show some respect. There are parts of British culture that I find odd or different but thats just a part of living in this world. We are all different but understanding and acceptance is so important. If you listen to Biden speak he talks a lot about kindness, tolerance etc

Just because someone identifies as Irish American, they also know that they are primarily American. Joe Biden is the President of the USA, not the President of Ireland. He knows he is American first and has said this but he is also proud of his Irish culture and says its part of what made him who he is today.

People have also said Biden is equally English so why does he not talk about this. He is not equally English, genetically or culturally. 10 out if his 16 g grandparents are Irish. He was brought up surrounded by those Irish grandparents in a very Irish community. He has strong ties to Ireland and has visited many times. Yesterday he visited the shrine at Knock which is very special to him as part of his Catholic faith. He also visited the hospice in Mayo which was partly set up by his cousin. He was there at the initial building of this hospice and visited there again yesterday where his son Beau who sadly passed away from cancer was remembered and acknowledged.

His ties to Ireland are incredibly strong and he has made many private and public visits.

The fact that British people do things one way doesn't make that the only right way. There's a whole wide world out there. There are some remarkably intolerant attitudes on this thread.

@Isanyoneup see I find the British way ass backwards. In the American version the ‘Irish’ or ‘African’ is the modifier and therefore less important than the core identity of being American.

About half of the relevant population in the US favour this term. Others don't. The main thing I think is to use the term people prefer for themselves.

I don't think the one drop rule is the driver here. That was the distinction between black and white. African-American was promoted as a way to get away from that history and the use of these terms in law.

Unbelievable 😳
So if I'm third generation living in England, yet my blood is ethnically from my great-grandparents country, I speak the language, eat the food, listen to the music, etc I must say I am British and I would be ridiculous to think otherwise?? Some of these posts are total batshit 😑

You have to have grown up in America to truly understand the dual (or more) ancestral identity that most feel. It's no different than the Italian American, Polish, etc. communities I grew up amongst. People are proud of where they come from, I don't get why that's so odd.

Fwiw, I used to identify as "Irish" when I lived in the States. My dad was born in Ireland and both of mothers parents were born there. I was a first-ish generation and grew up in a very proud immigrant culture complete with dance, parades, foods, etc.

But when I moved to the UK, I picked up very quickly that "being British" was more desirable than ethnic identity (sadly)than and it was quite clear that the prevailing attitude is that you are no more defined than by your place of birth.

That's very interesting. I thought that might be the case.

I’ve left the Joe Biden thread as it’s getting ridiculous.
My story:
I have Irish heritage. I visited some distant family in the US and it turns out that they are big on their Irish heritage. So big, in fact, that they named their newborn son “Devon”.
How we managed to keep a straight face I’ll never know, but we didn’t disabuse them of the notion that Devon is in Ireland, choosing to be kind about it instead, and agreeing that it’s a lovely name.
We did have a little laugh between ourselves afterwards about the ludicrous nature of the pride with which they had bestowed the “Irish” name on their son, but we were more baffled than anything else - I mean, had they actually seen a map of the place?
I’m aware that by airing this I could be accused of sneering - but what, exactly, should we have done without causing distant relatives we had only just met some upset?
There are so many stories and anecdotes like this out there - not exclusively from one heritage or another in America - but I notice that it does seem to be mostly American citizens with Irish or Italian “Roots” that appear to have formed some of the most pride in an ancestry that they haven’t bothered to fact-check. If, by noting this, I am sneering, then I’ll just keep it to myself and my immediate family in future - it is funny, though…

Because he doesn’t identify with it? And American has tons of non Irish Catholic priests. Obviously!

the bitterness coming out of Britain this week is astounding. Let’s be honest it’s because Ireland is getting so much attention from a powerful man and as many British people are still anti Irish they don’t like it. I really couldn’t imagine this strength of reaction from the U.K. if Biden had gone to Lichtenstein to meet long lost relatives and state he embracing his heritage there.

we’ve had anti Irish cartoons printed in major U.K. newspapers, articles saying most Americans want to be seen as American as apple pie but Biden wants to be as Irish as Paddy’s pig, accusations about why he isn’t embracing his U.K. heritage and so on.

grow up. It’s not all about you.