To wonder why some Americans are intent on mentioning they're from 'the small town' or that they have Irish heritage?

[SpeedbirdSquawker]

It's so weird!!!

Why?

Because it is.

I'm sure lots of things British people do are seen as weird and odd by Americans.

It's important to them that they have heritage. Isn't it important to everyone?

Nothing wrong with that even if they're vocal about it.

Huh? What does being from a small town have to do with Irish ancestry? And why does it bother you?
You do know that when people moved to the ‘New World’ they often hung on to their culture and it became important to pass them down to their children?

Why not? I have family in canada and Australia and they equally interested in their Scottish and irish heritage. I always assumed others are similar if their families talk about it or continue traditions.

I also have a lithuaniun background but my grandmother, never spoke about it or did anything traditionally lithuaniun, such as cooking etc so i dont feel a connection.

OMG. Not Irish! Personally, I find it weird that so many English people have a problem with Americans being proud of their Irish ancestry.

I find it odd when Biden calls himself Irish, he's not he's American!

I do think it's odd when Americans refer to themselves as Irish or Italian etc when they, and more often than not their parents and grandparents, are born and bred in the US!

Don't be silly. A ton of Irish citizens emigrated to the US because our English ancestors (government level/ruling class ones) starved them out.

A general interest in their roots and heritage? What's wrong with that? USA is still a really young country so there is an interest in finding out where their ancestors are from. I'm sure there are a lot if things that British people do that Americans think are weird too.

Agree. His Irish ancestors emigrated to the US sometime in the 19th century.

i can’t help wondering if some white Americans maybe want to identify as being racially oppressed so they can lay claim to underdog status in some form.

It's time for the annual Christmas American bashing thread! I was afraid I might miss it this year..

I certainly got told off by an American once for my role in the Famine/genocide.

My English ancestors were illiterate and didn't have the vote, but it's still all my fault for being English scum of course.

Yes its like my great great great great grandparents came from Ireland therfore I'm Irish!

So did mine I was born in England though therfore IM ENGLISH

My DH takes a special interest in this issue and follows it around the internet. We're not Irish, we're Scottish (though going by ancestry we are both as Irish as many Americans who seem to claim the identity) and the Americans do it to us too. My DH finds it endlessly infuriating and also hilarious. I have a bit more empathy for people who have a strong emotional attachment to this identity as it's not really their fault and it does mean a lot to them. BUT then not infrequently there are these really bananas aspects to it where they claim that they are somehow more Scottish than the people living here, definitely a descendant of Robert the Bruce and simultaneously have zero clue anything about modern Scotland and seem to think Outlander is a documentary. Then I do feel it's necessary that someone intervenes a bit.

So did mine I was born in England though therfore IM ENGLISH

I do understand why 2nd gen immigrants see themselves as Irish, Indian etc as their parents will likely have influenced them culturally. However I don’t really get the “my great great grandmother was born in Poland so i’m Polish”.

1. the US is a nation of immigrants, everyone has a cultural heritage outside the country and it's natural that they take an interest in it

2. the US is fucking vast and it's easy for people to feel like a tiny cog in an enormous wheel...why wouldn't people feel the need for a connection to another culture and one's ancestors who came from elsewhere?

3. why does it bother you?

So they come from a heritage that has strong traditions that everyone enjoys such as st patricks day, irish pubs, irish dancing for the dc to name a few and that continues the connection and for them a pride in their heritage.

My cousins in canada do Scottish highland dancing, go to celidhs, visit Scotland with their dc and that connects then. Perhaps tidy find the quaintness of a small country endearing. In years and generations to come I guess it will lessen as the family ties become weaker but if they enjoy it now why not.

Yeah, same. I wouldn’t ever dream of describing myself as Irish.

Who really spends time being bothered by this stuff? Really? Who has the energy to care about something so trivial?

There’s another agenda behind this - I don’t know what but honestly if people really care about why some American they’ve never met them they have an issue.

The descendants of different counties emigrants in the us often maintain a strong community. They go to the same church, live in the same areas, marry people from same group, eat the food, maintain language, music, sport, culture. The dominant culture was wasp, so many people weren't and would never feel part of that.

*then not them

I have extended family who emigrated to Canada in the late 40s/early 50s. The Scottish heritage stuff does seem a lit more important to them than the family branches that stayed in the UK (mostly Scotland my Mum moved to London).

Its important to them... and why not? The fact my grandfather worked on lifeboats is important to me, or that my Dad is from a mining family. It all shapes who are family are.

Actually the thing that bothers me is this:
American: Where are you from?
Me: England
American: Where in England?

My initial reaction is to always want to ask “just how good is your English geography?”