America

[Moliphino]

I'm genuinely curious... is it only Americans that refer to themselves by their heritage? Irish American, Italian American, African American, Mexican American, etc. Do people in other countries do this also?

From what I've seen on TikTok, people in other countries get annoyed by Americans claiming their heritage. It's not something done most other places, especially ones not formed by immigrants.

 

[prairie_girl]

Canadians do and I believe the UK does as well. Feel free to correct me.

Canadians from other places tend to call themselves Canadian when they gain their citizenship. I honestly have never heard anyone refer to themselves as a hyphen.

 

[michellev]

Canadians do and I believe the UK does as well. Feel free to correct me.

I can't speak for all Canadians, however, I have never heard this phrase used in Canada. French Canadians, yes - but that refers to Quebec and not France. I have never heard someone say "I'm Italian Canadian or German Canadian or even African Canadian. Now, you will see people be proud of their heritage, especially if they are fairly new immigrants, but they would just say in context to the conversation, "I'm Italian" or "My family is from Nigeria."

 

[bcwife76]

I was staying in New Westminster as it was only about 20 minutes away from the lab I was working at. That is the first time I have ever seen a crack pipe being used in the open on a park bench. But maybe I am just sheltered in a small town in a flyover state.

That's sad. We used to live in New West (for about 3 years) before moving elsewhere. There are some lovely areas but yes, also some not so great ones. I don't think you have to be "sheltered" to find it jarring, I've lived all over the Metro Vancouver area and seeing things like that still makes me sad/sickened. You said you'd like to come back for a visit though so I'm glad it didn't scare you off.

 

[bcwife76]

Canadians from other places tend to call themselves Canadian when they gain their citizenship. I honestly have never heard anyone refer to themselves as a hyphen.

French Canadian is the only one I've ever heard. My mother certainly never walked around calling herself a Welsh Canadian

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Yeah, I am certainly not a French / German / Irish / Italian / Indian (not native like the country India) American either, just American will do fine for me.

 

[Buzz Rules]

OK. I stand corrected. When I was in college, some Canadian classmates did the hyphenated thing. Most commonly if they had dual citizenship (Canadian-American).

 

[Buzz Rules]

Thanks to you for a large part of it.

In a good or bad way?

 

[GreatLakes]

It's also racist, in an "all lives matter" kind of way. People who say things like that are so transparent, or ignorant. Or both.

No it's not. That entire premise is just silly.

 

[dvcgirl67]

That their home country might be worse than the US, doesn't equal that the US is a good place for them.

This for sure. I have many immigrants in my town, mostly from Mexico and Central America. Many have settled here for good, but some go back and forth. I know many who would prefer to be in their home country....as it's home to them, but they're here because they can make more money and feel safe.

So much of this mindset on display here is that as Americans, we're truly taught as children that "this is the greatest country in the world". We're an incredibly self-centered country....thinking that the world literally revolves around us. It's not until you begin to travel the world and interact with other people/cultures/societies, that you begin to understand that obviously, that's not the case.

None of this is to say I don't love my country. I do, but I'm greatly concerned for it, especially since 2016. And we're obviously a major player in world events, but the earth does not in fact revolve around us. We're a part of a global family, one that most of us would like to continue to be a part of and not close ourselves off from the rest of the world.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

French Canadian is a bit different though. As you likely know, Canada was founded by both the British and the French, they had a war that the British won, we became a British colony. However, Quebec (then Lower Canada), which is where the French had been has always held itself apart/separate (they’ve tried to literally be separate a few times). You hear French Canadian often but rarely hear something-else Canadian. People may say it if pressed about their background but I rarely hear it (certainly less than I heard Americans doing it).

Perhaps we hear it more “down here”.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think the notion of “freedom” was why the USA was felt to be a great country by those who lived here.

And why others risked often their and their families’ lives to come here.

Many in certain other countries today are not free. Especially women.

When I was growing up, people said the difference between certain countries and the US was that the US had a line waiting to get in and others had a line waiting to get out. To a degree that still seems to be true.

Today there is a lot of criticism of the US, even by its own inhabitants, but life might be quite different living elsewhere in ways they don’t anticipate. Maybe they’ll prefer it, and if so, good for them.

Yesterday I was talking to a lady from England who went back to visit recently. I was surprised, she was talking about some of the changes she’d seen there recently which she saw as negatives. This will always be the case - some like it, some don’t. Whatever. People should live wherever they like.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

I think the notion of “freedom” was why the USA was felt to be a great country by those who lived here.

And why others risked often their and their families’ lives to come here.

Many in certain other countries today are not free. Especially women.

When I was growing up, people said the difference between certain countries and the US was that the US had a line waiting to get in and others had a line waiting to get out. To a degree that still seems to be true.

Today there is a lot of criticism of the US, even by its own inhabitants, but life might be quite different living elsewhere in ways they don’t anticipate. Maybe they’ll prefer it, and if so, good for them.

Yesterday I was talking to a lady from England who went back to visit recently. I was surprised, she was talking about some of the changes she’d seen there recently which she saw as negatives. This will always be the case - some like it, some don’t. Whatever. People should live wherever they like.

Americans should thank their lucky stars. True, they have tonnes of gun crimes, but when you get right down to it, the USA is a very peaceful country with opportunities and equality for all. That's pretty cool.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Although that is outdated information now as far as the actual numbers since it was done before the most recent census.

CA lost one, FL gained one, TX gained two, New York lost one, etc.

Slightly outdated, but the most current data I could find. The 2020 census was delayed by Covid-19 and other factors. The gains and losses of electoral vote count by those states you mentioned and others still don’t make a significant difference, enough that would have changed the results of the 2020 election.

And your discussion about influence isn't steeped in real life because while there may be 2 senators per state it doesn't mean that smaller states have much more influence. That entirely depends on the issues, the time period, etc. A smaller populated state can absolutely be drowned out by other states.

Then maybe you don’t understand my last post. We can agree to disagree. Without getting political, there is unequal representation in the Senate due to the disproportionate distribution in population and diversity between rural and urban/suburban metropolitan areas.

(Difficult to cite source material that some may disregard as biased.)

 

[DCLMP]

Yeah, I am certainly not a French / German / Irish / Italian / Indian (not native like the country India) American either, just American will do fine for me.

I think if someone is born in lets say India and immigrates here as an adult and becomes a citizen its perfectly understandable to want to hyphenate. If your born and raised here it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but people can do what they want.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Americans should thank their lucky stars. True, they have tonnes of gun crimes, but when you get right down to it, the USA is a very peaceful country with opportunities and equality for all. That's pretty cool.

I love GB, too. And the vast majority of us live our lives without encountering the crimes we see headlined on the news.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Btw I take care of patients from all over the world. They come for things that may not be offered in their countries. Even though we don’t speak the same languages, there is a universal language - and that’s being human. Everyone understands that.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

And most patients are nice, although I do remember one time when we had a patient from a country where women are not treated as equals. The patient got mad at one of our nurses because she tried to explain something to him. Angrily, he told her, “In my country, you’d be in the house for a month for saying that to me!”

 

[AustinTink]

Many in certain other countries today are not free. Especially women.

I think a lot of women in the US would say we have less freedom than ever in this country right now.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think a lot of women in the US would say we have less freedom than ever in this country right now.

Im sure they would. Personally, I don’t define my freedom over any one issue.