Do you have an ethnic identity?

[Ringo]

Reading about the Mafia, and in particular Joseph Colombo's Italian-American Civil Rights League, today started me wondering about ethnicity.

Over the years, I've known people who strongly, or not quite so, asserted their Italian, German, Jamaican, whatever roots.

I know of there being neighborhoods separated by ethnic divides in our (U.S.) older, northeastern cities. That's not the case in my part of the woods.

There are enclaves of more recent immigrants here, particularily Asian and Central Americans. But that does not affect me.


With that preface, let me attempt to attack the question.


If race is to be considered as part of the equation, well then, I would be considered a white guy by most. But I don't think of myself as a white guy - that never really enters my perception. My grandparents on my Dad's side were ethnic Swedes from Finland who emmigrated to Canada, where my Dad was born. Frankly, nothing I can identify as Swedish or Finnish culture was transmitted to me as a developing child. The same can be said of my Mom's ethnic roots (English and German).

I grew up in Texas, and I'm somewhat of a booster of the place, but I don't easily fit the stereotype of a Texan (never owned any cowboy boots, don't drive a pickup truck, don't hunt).

So, AFAICT, I don't have an identifiable ethnicity. I'm just a guy who grew up in a big city in a great state. Five years ago, when I responded to the census forms we all got, I described my ethnicity as American. Far from being just a wise-ass Republican reply, it was truly the best I could do.

So, do you belong to some identifiable ethnic group? Is that part of your own personal identity?

[Little Nemo]

I've always described myself as white trash. My ancestors were Irish on my mother's side of the family and French Canadian on my father's side. As I grew up in an area where the ethnic diversity was around zero and these were essentially the only two ethnic groups around, my sense of ethnic identity was basically non-existent.

[Soul Brother Number Two]

I am half-Italian on my father's side. My dad is a first generation American. Two of his brothers were born in Italy. I have relatives in Italy that my dad and my younger brother have hung out with.

Thinking about it, I self-identify as Italian, especially to friends and acquaintances with Italian surnames. But that ethnic identity doesn't MEAN anything to me, really. Maybe if I went to visit my relatives it would be different. I have a first cousin who runs a cheesemaking collective that makes Taleggio and stracciato. That would be fun, hanging out with him.

So my longwinded answer is yes but no.

[StarvingButStrong]

Looking up my family tree, I'm English/Scot/German, but I don't identify with any of those to any significant extent.


If someone insisted that I pick an ethnic identify, I'd have to go with Trekkie. ;)

[Eonwe]

I've got four-quarters in my ethnic make-up. On dad's side there's Polish and Russian (the Jewish side :) ), and on my mom's there's Italian and Danish.

Since dad's side doesn't know of any relatives/connections still in Eastern Europe (all of my great-grandparents on his side managed to get smuggled out of there during/before WWI), I don't feel any specific connection to any one country over there, but I do consider myself significantly Eastern European Jew (culturally/ethnically).

On my mom's side we still have connections (no, not those kind of connections) with the family (no, not that Family) in Italy, and in fact are going there this summer for the fourth family reunion during my lifetime (25 years). So, I still connect with that pretty strongly.

We don't have any connection with any Danes, but we still honor a lot of traditions and recipies passed down through my grandmother.

So, to answer your question more directly, the answer is yes, and it's mixed up quite a bit.

[Shagnasty]

My last name comes from my X great grandfather who came Jamestown about 1610. That is pushing 400 years in America on that side. I don't know of any ancestors that arrived after 1800 and all were probably earlier than that.

I am simply American with some very distant English and Scots-Irish roots.

[astro]

English-Scottish with some Dutch German thrown in. I'm king of the lapsed Episcopalians! I'm as common as an old shoe. I'm an ethnic blancmange.

[Cunctator]

My forbears mainly came from Ireland and Scotland, but I wouldn't describe myself as anything other than Australian.

[LifeOnWry]

When faced with a census form, I identify as white or Caucasian or whatever. Ethnically, I am Italian, Spanish, Swedish and German, but I was raised in a pretty ethnic Italian home (my stepfather is Italian, my Swedish/German father was absent) so when someone asks me, my first answer is that I'm Italian. I'm apparently Hispanic enough to qualify for certain grants and/or kinds of financial aid if I were to go back to school, but I would feel really stupid doing that.

[Fern Forest]

Not really. I will root for the Slovak (I'm 25% My grandma was born there.) team during things like the Olympics unless they're up against the Americans.

Another quarter is German/Italian but I've no special interest there beyond the original towns.

The quarter on my dad's dad's side is all southern all before 1700. Mostly English, Scottish and Cherokee, but some others down around the 0.1% to 0.3%. Nothing really connects me to them beyond my interest in genealogy.

The last quarter is unknown to me. He was a local boy (I'm in Hawaii) born here is all I know. Judging from my mother's looks there's definately quite a bit of Hawaiian. I'd have more affinity with that if I lived somewhere else.

Really that's all just basic interest in genealogy beyond those people I know and have met.

[Kiros]

I self-identify as Greek (my mother is completely Greek, she betrayed the family by marrying a guy who was half Irish and half European mongrel :) ), but it's not really something that matters to me in everyday life... especially since I don't have the obviously Greek surname of my mother's side, or even the Irish one, but the Euro unidentifiable all the way. When push comes to shove, I'm just another American white boy.

[Governor Quinn]

Too ethnically mixed. I have known ancestors from England, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, France, Wales, Northern Ireland, Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, and Luxembourg, and could, possibly, have ancestors from elsewhere (around a quarter of my heritage is not traceable, due to adoption). Some arrived in the 1600's, while my paternal great-grandfather arrived here circa 1905.

Due to this, I have no ethnic identity whatsoever.

[Queen Tonya]

Throw a dart at a map of Europe and yeah, we came from there.

Some of my relatives on a couple of sides have done extensive digging but we seem to be such well-mixed mutts it seems pointless to try and identify with any particular ancestral branch.

[psycat90]

As with you , Ringo, if race is considered part of the equation, then I'm a white chick. I'm pretty darn pale.

My mother is Puerto Rican, born in Ponce, raised in New York City. My father is French Canadian, born and raised in central Louisiana.

Since my sisters and I were raised near our mother's family (a fairly large family, my mother was the only sibling of 7 to not marry another Puerto Rican, making my sisters and I the only 'mixed' kids among our first cousins), the Puerto Rican heritage, culture, foods, etc., is what we have come to identify with most. We did get a good dose of Cajun/Southern heritage from Dad, but, not being around that side of the family, it was just never as formidable a presence as Mom's Puerto Rican heritage. She's always been intensely proud of her heritage, and she passed that down to her children. Heck, she passed it down to her grandchildren (my children), who are 1/4 this, 1/4 that, etc., yet proudly proclaim themselves part Puerto Rican if asked.

I consider myself Puerto Rican, though I don't even speak Spanish. I can understand my mother and my family very well when they speak, and I can get the gist of a conversation in general, but I've never been totally comfortable speaking it.

Might be time to sign up for some classes.

[Ephemera]

All I know for certain is that I am a quarter-Italian on my mother's side (her father was an immigrant and her maiden name is Belline) and 1/16th Cherokee on my father's side and aside from that (and my Irish last name -- Deaver), I have no real idea what my ethnic background is although I supposedly have some German in my background and considering the geographic history of my father's family, probably some African blood as well.

Which is all just a roundabout way of saying I'm an American with no real ethnic identity.

Growing up, I was always fascinated with Italy and still have a special place in my heart for it though.

[fishbicycle]

My ancestors are all from England, Scotland and Wales. I'm a white guy from a long line of white people. I have the most common of all English names. I am in fact a generic white guy. Where I grew up, there were only white people, like us, or from Europe and Scandinavia. We never saw a black person until 1973. I am a Canadian living in America. Other than at times like this when I'm asked about it, I never think about it.

[matt_mcl]

Ethnic? Not so much. My nationality and (in particular) my sexual orientation are more important sources of identification.

[Sunspace]

All my grandparents came from England*. I'm about as boring white-bread Anglo as they get. However, I have no English accent or anything (being born here in Canada), just a taste for steak-and-kidney pie and Monty Python, so I call myself Canadian.

*Not just Britain or the UK, but England**. I do know the difference.
**Come to think of it, in the polyglot multi-ethnic mixing-bowl that is Toronto, maybe that is unusual...

[bdgr]

Cherokee(maybe),scottish,irish,welsh...whatever.....

When I was younger, I looked a lot more Cherokee than I am...I got called things like chief, wagon burner, prarie nigger etc...which I found odd at the time, since I never really considered myself any kind of ethinic group. Don't get it so much any more....But back then I got people all the time asking me "what sort of injun are you anyway?" I usually told them Hekowi just to shut em up. Finally I did some digging in my family history.

[Panzram]

psycat, you and I are in a similar way. I'm also Puerto Rican and don't speak the language. My father was my link, but he died awhile ago.

I don't identify very much because of it. I'm also rather dark as well, and it's very embarrassing to counter the Spanish language with an, "No hablo espanol, I guess." :dubious:

[Pensandfeathers]

My last name is Italian, but the ancestry is very very distant. The name just managed to keep going. My maternal grandfather's side is prominently Irish, and my maternal great-grandmother was Swiss German. Other than that, there's a smattering of Basque/French on my dad's side, and Scottish and English on mom's.

There is a bit of American Indian on both sides of my family - which I've always liked. It's like I have a connection to this country somehow. There's something in me, in my blood, that has been on this land for hundreds and hundreds of years - long before white settlers. I guess you can say it makes me feel more American, but not in that jingoistic bumper-sticker sort of way.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Does Wisconsinite count as an ethnicity?

I'm kidding . . . sort of. The area of Wisconsin that I grew up in has a lot of people of Cornish descent. Most people think of Wisconsin as having heavy German roots, but where I'm from, the big cultural food tradition is Cornish pasty. Practically everybody has some Cornish miner blood floating around in their veins somewhere. After that, it's definitely German.

The part of my family that I get my surname from came to Wisconsin sometime before 1848 -- that's when the land records begin for the family farm, but they were definitely there before they owned the land. They were from Cornwall. After that came a long stream of various European ancestors. The palest peoples of Europe went into making me: English, Scottish, Irish, German (except they were dark-haired, brown-eyed Germans, not flaxen.) There are various others, but I'm essentially anglo-saxon.

If forced to choose an "ethnicity" other than generic rural American, I'd probably go with Cornish and then German, if only because of where I grew up and the traditions there and within my family. My great-grandmother on my mother's side was born in Germany, but the Cornish influence, despite being over a 150 years distant, is definitely stronger.

[jayjay]

I'm half-Italian (on my mother's side) and...let's see...parts Irish, Welsh, German, and Native American on my father's side. However, I consider myself and refer to myself as Italian(-American), because while my mother's family is (smotheringly) close, my father's tends to be much more distant (I think I've seen my aunts on that side twice in the last four years (and one of those was for my father's funeral)).

From my mother's side, however, I get a love of Italian food, a heritage of Italian music and dances, childhood and adolescent membership in an Italian Catholic parish (and continued attendance of parish carnivals), and all the little Italian Catholic traditions (cheek-pinching, torrones and pizelles at Christmas, dancing the tarantella at weddings).

[roger thornhill]

I'm as English as they come. I love cricket, football, beer that isn't fizzy and cold, Guinness, Marmite and red wine. I am a hypocrite and am overly fond of toilet humour. For some reason, my parents made me have orthodontic treatment when I was young, so my teeth aren't as English as they ought to be. I fancy myself a bit of an eccentric and a radical, but am in fact very conservative.

I dislike working very hard to earn money, but I love inheriting it or spending it.

[Nvme77]

I am 100% Mexican.

But if you heard me on the phone, you would never know since I have no accent or any accent associated with a region.

[Siege]

I was a toddler when we moved from England (Sussex, to be precise) to the U.S. Some Britishisms still creep into my speech and writing and I still have a weakness for sausage rolls and Yorkshire pudding. In other words, yes, I do have an ethnicity, although some people don't seem to be sure "English" counts as one.

I'm also 1/8th Irish on my father's side, which basically means I look very good in green. I blame my habit of writing poetry and my unusual relationship with the Divine on the Irish streak, but that could be stereotyping.

CJ

[An Arky]

My last name is French. My GGGGGGGG-GF was a huguenot and came to Williamsburg, VA in 1700. From there on, they've mixed with basically English, Welsh, Irish or Scots-Irish Americans. The only French thing about me is my name, and possibly my attitude. So, put me down for American.

[Jayn_Newell]

I also don't really have any ethnic identity. On my father's side--well, I grew up just thinking of him as English, which is what you were if you're not French (yes, I lived a sheltered childhood). Since that was the side of the line I grew up on and went to school with, I never thought much of it. I know he has some Celtic roots, but I don't he identifies with it much either.

My mother is Acadian, and I've always looked at that as being a little special and setting me apart a bit. But I though I think of myself as Acadian before anything else, I don't really identify with that side either. Partly because as I said earlier, I grew up on the other side of the line. I went to an english school, didn't really have any french friends past the age of 8, and I never really learned that much about the culture either. I don't even like rappie pie--I'm not sure if I need a :p or a pukey here.

As far as the culture I grew up in, I'm not a part of that either. I've never been like the people I grew up with, except maybe a bit of an accent, and I don't want to be like them.

So where does that leave me.......oh right, Canadian. Yeah, that works.

[VanGogh'sEar]

My father's grandparents were Italian and Irish, but his parents and he himself were born in South America, as was my mother. I lived there until I was about fourteen, and the cultural identity there is strong.

I've had this discussion with other Anglos I know, and the fact is, other countries have a perception of what "white" culture is, but most white people themselves do not. It may be because the country, as of yet, is still young and evolving, and that identity is constantly changing due to the influx of immigrants such as myself.

[Askia]

Oh, sure.

[Amazon Floozy Goddess]

Well, my mom's side has roots primarily in England and Scotland, with a bit of German and Irish tossed in. My dad's side is Native Canadian (Cree) and French. So growing up I had a lot of choices as to what kind of culture I wanted to follow, but I think I identify myself now as Metis (Native/French). I just seemed to gravitate towards that more than the other cultures - the others are definitely not boring, they just didn't make me feel like I belonged.

[Anaamika]

I don't think this will be a surprise to anyone, but I identify quite strongly with my E. Indian background. I was born there, and was old enough when I took U.S. citizenship vows to remember taking them (8). My first allegiance is always to the States, but as long as there's no interference I still hold plenty of love for the old country.

[Mississippienne]

I typically identify as white, just because people have two typical reactions when I tell them I'm Melungeon: they say "You're what?" and then they say, "I didn't know those Black Dutch folks was real." Also, there's no "Melungeon" bubble on government forms.

[Nametag]

My mother was born and raised in Amsterdam. My father was born in the U.S., and is ethnically Irish -- I don't know whether either of his parents was born in the U.S., but I know none of his grandparents were. I usually identify as American, but I usually identify as Irish more than Dutch, just because there's more Irish family and culture hereabouts.

[foolsguinea]

Well, I thought, doesn't everybody? But in the sense you mean, I'm not sure I qualify. I'm pretty much a mix of normal Southwest Missouri white guy & sort of child of global post-British-imperialist Anglo.

[SamIAm336]

Ethnically I am a Hillbilly. Family on all 4 sides were in the US before the revolutionary war. and most moved to the hills. Scotch, Irish, English, Swiss, and American Indian.

[The Great Sun Jester]

North American?

ok I got nothing.

[Cemetery Savior]

I'm from Chicago, and we have those neighborhoods like you mentioned for NE Cities. You can still find areas that are (almost) exclusively Polish, Latino (with a special neighborhood for Puerto Ricans), Korean, Chinese, Indian/Pakistani, and the list goes on.

Three of my four grandparents were from Ireland, one was from Germany. I identify more with the Irish, as my Gaelic-speaking (she spoke English, too) grandmother moved in with us once Alzheimer's kicked in. Also, at my univeristy, there was a strong south-side Irish contingent. So, I'm Irish.

However, when it comes to the World Cup, I am 100% German. ;)

Pogue mo Hrone! :D

[AskNott]

I believe the answer depends on whether your people were oppressed. I always said "I'm English-Scottish, but it doesn't matter, and I don't think of myself in those terms." However, for a big chunk of US history, my people were in charge here. It's denial for me to ignore it. There were never signs that said "no Brits need apply" or "Scots not allowed here." The Irish, on the other hand, and the Poles, and the Africans were shunned. They had to hold on to their ethnic pride and stick together just to survive. Maybe I'm out on a limb, here, but I think that's why folks of English, French, and Scottish descent in the US don't feel strong ties to the old country.

What do you think? Is this nonsense?

[Cosmopolitan]

Dad's side: All of my great-grandparents came over from Sicily in the early 1900s. My dad & uncles grew up with their grandparents & spoke Italian when quite young. Thing was, this was immediately post-WWII; my grandmother told my nonnas to speak only English around my dad & uncles - she wanted them to be able to avoid most anti-Italian sentiment.

Mom's side: My grandfather's family came from Ireland way back. Maybe they were potato famine folks; I have no idea, which is sad. My nana came from Scotland when she was four; we still have relatives there - we visited about ten years ago.

I feel pretty connected to my ethnicities; we're not super-Sicilian, but we're in touch. I think that maybe those of Sicilian descent are a bit more...fierce about our heritage. And I feel equally connected to my Scottish & Irish heritage; we even do corned beef, cabbage & boiled potatoes on St. Patrick's Day/my sister's birthday. I think my fondness has to do with being an underdog, myself. ;)

If non-Americans ask me what I am, I tell them that I'm American; if Americans ask the same question, I answer that I'm Sicilian, Irish & Scottish.

[vix]

I identify as Italian-American. All of my great-grandparents were born in Italy, as was one of my grandparents (my mother's father). My father didn't speak English until he got to school. I've visited family in Italy. I grew up eating Italian food and celebrating aspects of Italian (and Italian-Catholic) culture. Although I personally don't follow all the traditions of my childhood (especially the religious ones) members of my extended family certainly still do so.

[FairyChatMom]

My dad's parents and my mom's grandparents came to the states from Poland in the early 1900s. My folks kept some Polish traditions alive, but among my sibs, those things have gone by the wayside. None of the 5 of us learned to speak Polish. I don't know if we have any living relatives in the old country - no one kept in touch after my paternal grandmother died.

So I think of myself as an American of Polish blood. But I do make a mean pierogi!

[VunderBob]

I'm a northwestern European mutt. Strongest identification is Swedish, because my maternal grandmother was pure Swede, followed closely by German/Swiss Mennonite from my Dad's side. There's also French, Netherlands Dutch, and any other ethnic group that settled in the Great Lakes states after the Civil War.

[whistlepig]

I'd have to say "No" for having much of an ethnic identity. I'm German, 4th generation on the US on one side and 4th-6th generation Chezch/Swedish on the other side. I make krumkake for Christmas and say "Uffda" but couldn't eat lutefisk on a bet.

But I do have a strong cultural identity. I guess I'd have to describe it as northern Plains scandahoovian crossed by cowboy. Polite, slow to anger but deadly when crossed, small-town manners, etc. I say "Please" and "Thank you" when crossed but won't back down from a fight and don't hold with cursing in front of a woman unless she curses first.

So I guess I'm a classic cowboy type, I just don't look like one.

whistlepig

[Dorjän]

I believe the answer depends on whether your people were oppressed. I always said "I'm English-Scottish, but it doesn't matter, and I don't think of myself in those terms." However, for a big chunk of US history, my people were in charge here. It's denial for me to ignore it. There were never signs that said "no Brits need apply" or "Scots not allowed here." The Irish, on the other hand, and the Poles, and the Africans were shunned. They had to hold on to their ethnic pride and stick together just to survive. Maybe I'm out on a limb, here, but I think that's why folks of English, French, and Scottish descent in the US don't feel strong ties to the old country.

What do you think? Is this nonsense?

No, that's not nonsense at all.

FWIW, I identify as a Black American. Both sets of grandparents from the south (on my father's side, from Alabama and 1 generation removed from slaves. On my mother's side its a bit more murky, but definitely descendants of slaves in South Carolina and Florida, with some very strong Creole roots in there that still reflect in the food they like to eat.). The story of my family is one oft repeated by descendants of southern slaves; my grandparents moved north to Cleveland after WWII to pursue industrial jobs, and here we are today.

Naturally, anything past my GGGP has been lost to the void of history, although it certainly involved slave trading and that big bad boat trip across the pond.

[Cervaise]

I'm a mutt and proud of it. My father's mother is Mexican; my father's father is half NA Indian; my mother's parents are German/Norwegian.

I consider myself quintessentially American for my primary identity, as a result.

[RickJay]

I have no ethnic identity at all, and there's really no particular ethnic flavour anywhere in my family going back to my grandparents. I'm a mix of Irish, French, Welsh, German, Scots, English, possibly some Dutch, and Christ knows what else.

[medstar]

I've always described myself as white trash. My ancestors were Irish on my mother's side of the family and French Canadian on my father's side. As I grew up in an area where the ethnic diversity was around zero and these were essentially the only two ethnic groups around, my sense of ethnic identity was basically non-existent.

WowLittle Nemo, we've got the same ethnic makeup! My dad has said many times that although he was born in New Hampshire, he didn't learn to speak English until he was eleven years old. He also said that there was some evidence that his grandmother had some Native American ancestry -- but he didn't know which tribe or how much. And Grandma wasn't talkin' :D .

On my mom's side, she was full Irish -- I think her ancestors came over from Ireland by the turn of the last century. In 1976, my parents and my sisters and I vacationed in Ireland and met many of our Irish relatives. It was great connecting with them and comparing experiences.

[Gorsnak]

Mennonite on all sides of the family. Not religion-wise - I'm an atheist, myself, but there's a definite ethnic component as well. Even if my Plattdietsch is very limited, I love me some verenikje with schmountfat. (The best thing about Plattdietsch is that you can spell however you like and you can't be wrong, since there's no universally accepted orthography.)

[pravnik]

Visigoth, baby!

[Typically Sunday]

I've got more ethnicity than I know what to do with. My mom is black with some Native-American and European(not sure what country, but I think it's England) mixed in, and my dad is German although his relatives seem to have come from all over eastern europe. Neither of my parents raised me with their particular ethnicity, so I guess I wound up identifying myself as an ethnicity that's all my own.

[Sleel]

I don't really identify as any ethnicity. I semi-resent being called "white" since it's basically meaningless, and Caucasian is just wrong. No relatives from the Caucasus mountains that I know of.

My makeup is basically Western Europe (English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swedish, Dutch, French) and two tribes of Native American (Cherokee and Iroquois). I have one of those faces that look vaguely "foreign" (another meaningless term) but can't be identified as being from anywhere in particular. I've been mistaken for Saudi Arabian, Italian, Puerto Rican, French, Jewish, and Irish, and only two of those guesses have any truth to them. The Roman nose I've got could be blamed on multiple sources. I've got relatively pale skin, but I eventually turn a dark copper-red color, if I spend enough time in the sun over a period of time, that prompts people to tell me I might have a slight sunburn even when there's no chance that I could be sunburned. That, I think it's safe to say, can be blamed on some weird inheritance from my Native ancestors.

[Ringo]

...so I guess I wound up identifying myself as an ethnicity that's all my own.

Hmmm..., I'm not sure you can be the sole representative of your ethnicity. I'd hardly describe myself as Ringonian, although it wouldn't surprise me to learn there's some way out there Trekkie who actually speaks that tongue.

[Philster]

I'm Italian. 100%. Italian roots, family.

Got in fights with friends who didn't marry Italian girls. I grew up in South Philly (which is like a Little It'ly, but we would never call South Philly 'Little It'ly")

Pasta: 2-3 times per week

Friends: Various federal sentences of various lengths

Peppers: dried and fried.

Pizza: hands would fall off if I had one delivered.

Stereotyped: Out my wazoo. Hate defeating the Rocky Balboa or Soprano stereotypes everywhere I go, but people eventually judge me almost exclsuively on my character and qualities.

[Penchan]

I skimmed this thread and I'm surprised that there are no other Asians (except what one East Asian person)!!

I'm Chinese by blood, Thai by culture (parents were born there), but American by citizenship. Who am I fooling, I'm as white-washed as you can get :rolleyes: .

[longhair75]

my father was first generation irish, my mother german and swiss. the irish identity seems to have transmitted well through the generations. my older sister (somewhat of an eccentric) has made several trips to ireland an affects a slight brogue. my kids are three eighths german, a quarter irish and an eighth each french, english and swiss. their chosen ethnicity out of this melting pot is irish.