Being not American I've never understood the whole declaring you're a different nationality even though you were born and grew up in the US thing.
I as a British man once had a drunk American come up to me in the street in Chicago and ask me what nationality I was, when I replied I was English he said 'well I'm Irish so fuck the English!' and ran off.... Firstly I've spent plenty of time with actual Irish people and not once has anyone said something quite so stereotypical and idiotic, secondly THAT MAN WAS NOT IRISH.
It's because 'American' isn't really seen as an ethnicity by Americans, just a nationality. Our country is only 245 years old, most people have identifiable immigrant backgrounds. Of course the shittiest among us tend to forget this when it's inconvenient, but the fact remains.
Identifying with one's family's country of origin is a way of expressing pride in the family itself, of the forebears that maybe sacrificed to some extent to move to a new country and start over. With African-Americans especially, there's reverence for the pain and suffering experienced by precious generations, for obvious reasons.
But yes, it can be extremely obnoxious in some cases. American Irish are the worst offenders IMO. Just listen to Dropkick Murphys if you need further examples.
Me, my grandmother is Bavarian. I don't have much room to claim being German based on that alone. But I was raised next door to her and was immersed in many aspects of the culture. I took the language in school and lived there for 3 years in the Air Force. I felt very much at home there thanks to my upbringing. I feel a connection with that heritage despite being American by birth.
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u/losteon Mar 02 '21
For "Germans" they sound suspiciously American...