But if you've got an Italian last name or come from an Italian family, you can go to a lot of places on the east coast and be considered Italian by the community. Same goes for Greek, Hungarian, Polish, etc.
It's not as strong as it used to be, since everyone's been getting smeared into the generic "white" category for the last 40 years, but if you've got a last name that ends in a vowel, it's still there.
I'm born and raised in the US. When would I identify as, German or whatever?I've worked with Census data alot, and around a lot of people who have long worked in Census data. We've always wondered who answers "American" on the Census ancestry questions. Only about 6 percent of Americans report as you do. Now I know.
Hispanics are some of the most racially diverse people on the planet. :) You probably be surprised to find out how diverse you are! I follow Ancestry subreddits and Latin Americans always have a little bit of everything. Native American, Spanish/Iberian//French/Italian/Sephardic Jewish/Arab etc
I think both "American" or "German American" or xyz American works. It's how you feel you should identify yourself. German American can be considered it's own ethnic group.I'm born and raised in the US. When would I identify as, German or whatever? And it's obviously not just me as there are a bunch of others in this thread that answered American.
What is polish facial hair to you?White/Italian/Polish
My last name is Italian but I think I look more Polish than anything else, especially my facial hair. I've got some German/Jewish in there too from my mother's side.
I have no personal interest or connection to any non-American cultures though so really I guess I'm just a generic American white dude.
I would probably argue that Italian-American, Polish-American, Russian-American, and so forth, are distinct ethnic subgroups (i.e., they are distinct ethnic communities that are not accepted or entirely accepted as members of their ancestral ethnic communities). I'm not sure how this intersects with identities like Japanese-American or Chinese-American, so I don't want to overextend here. That said, I think you could run the same argument from my post on those communities. Someone who identifies as Italian-American might not be accepted as Italian (culturally, linguistically, or what have you) by an Italian person. Like I have been arguing, ancestry is an important part of identification with some ethnic groups, but in general ethnicity as a concept is distinct from ancestry.
Here is an example. I recently watched an advertisement for a genetic testing company. The subject of the advertisement was your typical white North American. The person discovers that they have Italian ancestry, and suddenly develops an interest in pasta dishes. What is this commercial attempting to illustrate? Is there something about this person's genetic heritage that makes them like pasta? That makes them believe they should like pasta? I'm not sure, but my intuition is that we are seeing racist tropes play out on the level of ethnicity and culture.
I'm born and raised in the US. When would I identify as, German or whatever?
I mean, yeah, ethnically American doesn't make sense as it's not an ethnicity. But just in general I identify as American. Not German American.People certainly identify their ethnicities as where they're born. Some people - particularly here in the US - have closer ties to their respective immigrant groups than others. I've really never come across someone identifying their ethnicity/ancestry as American before, so you're among the first! I identify closely with the Irish immigrant community of my grandparents because that's the community I grew up in. Other parts of my ancestry I don't identify as closely with either because relatives did not pass on that knowledge and partially because some of that cultural knowledge was destroyed.
I agree with the bolded part of your post. Unless they actually immigrated from Italy, there aren't any Italians in the States, and they wouldn't be recognized as such back in the old country, but if a 4th generation person says, "I'm Italian," it's always an identification with their ethnic community in the US. I'm sure there's a sentimental or romantic identification with the old country, but I don't think it goes far.
As far as the genetic testing commercials go, I think they're playing on the need for a lot of people to identify with something more interesting than Basic Blanco. As people left the ethnic enclaves, began inter-marrying with other ethnicities, and moved out to the suburbs, I think their children & grandchildren developed a disconnect from any real identification with a community, and the commercials are meant to appeal to those people.
I can understand this. There is only one of me and nobody else can replicate that :)I'm white, but I only associate myself with clones of me. Everyone else is a big weirdo and all suck at an equal amount. Every race, gender, religion, all of it unless you are an exact DNA match as me.
I hate when people try acting like me talking shit about white people is some form of self loathing. There is only one of me.
You identify as all of those based on some genetic material? That seems so odd to me. Like.. Do you have any cultural connections to any of those?Mostly Scottish, English, and Norwegian, and a bit of French and German.
You don't identify as a carbon based lifeform?None. I don't identify with things I didn't get to choose.
I am a minority however.
I'm Austrian because I was born an raised here, and I got no immediate family to add to that.
You identify as all of those based on some genetic material? That seems so odd to me. Like.. Do you have any cultural connections to any of those?
I mean, I read "identify" differently I guess, despite the OP. To me, it's about being part of your identity. Some genetic markers just don't mean enough to me, I think.Ethnicity from a genetic perspective, yes. Not sure how else to interpret ethnicity, it's not like someone says they are Tennessean as an ethnic group. My family had a pretty good idea of our ancestry and the genetic testing turned out to confirm it. Only surprise is that depending on the current data I have 0.1% oceanic.
I mean, I read "identify" differently I guess, despite the OP. To me, it's about being part of your identity. Some genetic markers just don't mean enough to me, I think.