Ethnicity, How Important Is It To You?

[HollyDolly]

Well,I think of myself as an American,and then as of Hungarian -German desent.
My dad's father was Bavarian and his mother's family was Prussian from Riga,latvia.So there maybe latvian and even Russian blood on her side.When trying to do some research on her family the Steldts,I discovered there is a Dutch company by the name of van der Steldt.I always thought her family was german.I know Peter the Great of russia spent time in Holland,and he invited Dutch and Germans to Russia to St.Petersburg,so maybe that's how the family wound up in Riga,I really don't know.
Going future back,with all the wars and such that happend in the past,there could be visogoth,roman,mongolian,etc blood in the family.
I don't know that much on my mother's side of the family in Hungary,though I would love to learn more.
I guess I am most proud of my german side and my father's family in Germany and their part in the history there.And I want to learn as much as I can. There is good and bad in all families,but more often the good out weighs the bad.

[Snowcatpa]

This whole issue came up when I was studying abroad in England a few years ago, because, even though some Americans may not say they really care or notice what mix of ethnicities they are, it's still seems like much more of an issue for them no matter how much it's diluted. It was pretty funny because myself and a couple of other Americans talked about how jealous we were of our English flatmates because they actually had an "identity" and a "culture" to cling to, where we're so mixed up it's hard to really put our hearts into any ethnic tradition in America [for the curious, I'm 1/4 Slovak, 1/4 Sicilian, and the rest English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, German and about 1/50th Native American ;-) ]. In contrast, they talked about how "boring" just being English was, and how cool it would be to be so many different things! Alas, the grass is always greener. hehe.

The only time I think about specific cultural traditions and what ethnicity means to me is like on Saint Patrick's Day, when I hold a mini-debate within myself about how culturally validated I would be to Irish up the festivities, doing a school project back in high school, being outside of America, or, most recently, planning a wedding and trying to decide what "ethnic" traditions to include (my fiance being around 90% German, but well settled in America, so few traditions clung to that were specifically that).

I understand the motivation to put being "American" first and to some extent I agree with that, it's just that sometimes it feels like to be "American" you almost HAVE to have some other ethnicity or subgroup to cling to. It's like you're not "really" American until you do. Personally, I feel a lot better about my culture tie in American once I realized that I'd really just like to be Catholic-American, cause that encompasses all the cultural traditions in whatever form that I love. :-) Consequently, we are having the mandatory Polka and cookie table, but it is way more important to me that I covered my head AND my shoulders (so often neglected these days) on my way down the aisle.

[inDEED]

[quote name='Paladin D' post='1347523' date='Aug 2 2007, 12:48 PM'][size=1]*[b]Question:[/b] His "hispanic" a derogatory word? I heard from one guy it was, and suggested using "Spanish" or "Latino". Doesn't make any sense, but if anyone could elaborate I would appreciate it.[/size][/quote]

I am Mexican American. Both my parents were born here, in the United States - and both are 2nd generation Mexican Americans.

Having said that - I've never taken offense to the term, "Hispanic". Now, I have met fellow Latinos who don't appreciate the word - as they state that there is no "Hispania" out there to identify with. I can tell you that I don't think of it as derogatory at all, though.

I often refer to myself as Mexican American, Mexican, Latino, Hispano, Chicano...

[inDEED]

[quote name='jmjtina' post='1348445' date='Aug 3 2007, 06:57 AM']Hispanic is fine.[/quote]

[goldbug16]

My ethnicity is very important to me! I love it. I am Irish, French, Scottish, Lithuanian and English. I love making traditional foods from these countries. Oh, I also love to read folktales from these countries too. :

[Paladin D]

Judging so far by this thread, there seems to be two factions on this issue:

On one side you have those who don't pay much attention about their lineage (nothing wrong with that), sometimes their either extremely mixed and/or they can't trace it very well. Then you have those who still identify themselves through their ethnicity (but also as American), who are either 1st-3rd generation Americans and/or through whatever circumstances they can trace their lineage with relative ease.

I wasn't expecting such a large response, it's enlightening to see the different perspectives on this subject.

[hyperdulia again]

i'm german french and black...i'm not sure what ethnicity is...my mother's family is culturally franco german...my father's family is culturally german..i have negligible black ancestry...am blond...have two blonde daughters a half black son and the cultural mix of my household (music, food, etc.) is some kind of combo of hispanic and black culture..

[hyperdulia again]

oh and i'm proudly southern
and a kinda modern traditional orthodox catholic daily communicant..oh and jewish according to orthodox rabbis..

[tojo]

[quote name='hyperdulia again' post='1348732' date='Aug 3 2007, 04:31 PM']oh and i'm proudly southern
and a kinda modern traditional orthodox catholic daily communicant..oh and jewish according to orthodox rabbis..[/quote]

I'm a proud northerner. By most definitions, I'm technically a Midwesterner. I use to completely disagree with that. There aren't exactly a lot of cornfields here, just a lot of lakes and trees, and a lot more lakes and trees. Now I compromise with the term "Upper-Midwesterner."

[Paladin D]

[quote name='hyperdulia again' post='1348732' date='Aug 3 2007, 05:31 PM']oh and i'm proudly southern
and a kinda modern traditional orthodox catholic daily communicant..oh and jewish according to orthodox rabbis..[/quote]

Wow, long time no see!!!

[Groo the Wanderer]

[quote name='inDEED' post='1348612' date='Aug 3 2007, 01:47 PM']I am Mexican American. Both my parents were born here, in the United States - and both are 2nd generation Mexican Americans.[/quote]


Technically....Mexican is a nationality and not a race. Since you never had Mexican citizenship (do you?) you cannot technically call yourself a Mexican-American. Hispanic American would be closer. Latin American would be waaay off, since there is no Latinia out there either

The whole label thing is so silly, esp when we start throwing hyphens in there. Take the term African-American. There are very few people who could actually claim that term. Most blacks in America have never been to Africa (and never will) nor do they have African citizenship. That said, what the heck do you call a black man born in England? Call him African-American and you've likely offended him twice. He is a British citizen, so maybe Anglo-African?

Can't we just be Americans if you are a citizen of the USA? With so many racial problems in our history, he have to get past it to heal the wounds. Race will only continue to be an issue as long as we make it an issue.



On the last form I had to fill out that asked me race, I checked 'Other' then filled in "Half-elf". Made as much sense to me as the rest. My original USAF paperwork listed my race as 'Human'

[jiyoung]

[quote name='Groo the Wanderer' post='1349300' date='Aug 4 2007, 01:13 AM']The whole label thing is so silly, esp when we start throwing hyphens in there. Take the term African-American. There are very few people who could actually claim that term. Most blacks in America have never been to Africa (and never will) nor do they have African citizenship. That said, what the heck do you call a black man born in England? Call him African-American and you've likely offended him twice. He is a British citizen, so maybe Anglo-African? [/quote]

You know, I've always thought that was silly. Why not just call them black? They could be from America, England, Africa, Jamaica, etc etc. Calling them all "African-American" makes as much sense as calling all Asians Chinese-American, regardless of whether they ARE from America, or Britain, or from Korea, or Japan, or Singapore, whatever.

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='jiyoung' post='1349314' date='Aug 4 2007, 02:48 AM']You know, I've always thought that was silly. Why not just call them black? They could be from America, England, Africa, Jamaica, etc etc. Calling them all "African-American" makes as much sense as calling all Asians Chinese-American, regardless of whether they ARE from America, or Britain, or from Korea, or Japan, or Singapore, whatever.[/quote]

Ha! For reals! One time I was talking with a lady at my great-grandmother's house and she commented on my darker skin tone and curly hair. I told her it was because I am part black, that my grandma on my dad's side is black. She gasped and told me that I shouldn't say "black" that I should say "colored." I couldn't believe my ears. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying someone is black. Its way less offensive than "colored," and the PC "African American" has always struck me as ridiculous. [i]None[/i] of the black people I know call themselves "African American."

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Groo the Wanderer' post='1349300' date='Aug 4 2007, 12:13 AM']My original USAF paperwork listed my race as 'Human' [/quote]

haha nice

[Norseman82]

I'm mostly Polish (about 75%; the other 25% is Slovak, I think). But even my Polish part is at war with itself; on my mom's side, I was told I was Kaszubian Polish, which is the part of Poland that was ruled by Prussia and supposedly has a German-influenced dialect, while my paternal grandfather came from the southern part of Poland that is home to the [i]Górale[/i], or the "Highlanders", and they supposedly have their own dialect as well. (I identify with my dad's side more).

As far as importance, it would be nice to marry someone who is of the same ethnic background in order to carry on traditions, but it is not as important as marrying a good Catholic girl.

[quote name='Socrates' post='1348009' date='Aug 2 2007, 09:24 PM']In times past, much emphasis was made on "Americanizing" immigrants, and there tended to be prejudice against any non-WASP ethnicity. "Ethnics" would go out of their way to be "American."[/quote]

Yeah, I remember stories of when my dad was in the Navy and his sister begged him to write a letter home in Polish, but my dad insisted on them understandung English.


[quote name='Socrates' post='1348009' date='Aug 2 2007, 09:24 PM']This seems to be more of a thing in the more traditionally immigrant/Catholic North, than in the newer parishes of the more traditionally protestant South.
A few years ago I visited a Polish-American girl in Connecticut, and the parsishes were all segregrated along ethnic lines (largely either Italian or Polish).[/quote]

It was especially true in Chicago, where there would be several Catholic churches all within walking distance (and I mean a half mile), depending on whether you were Polish, Italian, Lithuanian, Czech, etc. Even in my dad's old neighborhood (Ukrainian Village), you have the traditionally Polish parish, but less than two blocks east is a Hungarian parish and a few blocks south a traditionally Italian parish, and a few blocks west another parish that is now primarily Hispanic. Then you have the Russian Orthodox, Ukranian Orthodox, and Ukranian Rite Catholic parishes, and then even some of these were subdivided over whether they used the Julian calendar or switched to the Gregorian calendar! All these within 1/2 mile walking distance...

Of course, with the demographics being what they are, they will soon all be one nationality: yuppie.

[quote name='Socrates' post='1348009' date='Aug 2 2007, 09:24 PM']I went to a nice Polish Church, but we seemed to be about the only young adults at Mass.[/quote]

Haha, there is one Polish parish up here that has a pretty active young adult group, but you'd better speak Polish (it's definitely an experience playing volleyball with them - at least I can understand the score!).

Edited August 4, 2007 by Norseman82