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Comment on What's the point of specifically Americans identifying with other cultures if people born there will just make fun of them for it?

MurrayL@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

I think people make fun of it because to a non-American it comes across as deeply insecure. The trope is that the USA has no history of its own and so its people latch onto the smallest scraps of heritage via ancestry as a way to give themselves some cultural context and cachet.

I don’t think it’s invalid - in many cases the ancestry is genuine, even if distant and/or fractional. If it helps them find meaning or feel connected to something then I’ve got no issue with it.

The issues only really arise IMO if someone starts weaponising that ancestry or insisting they now have the authority to speak for a people they have no tangible connection to.

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NotSteve_@piefed.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

The trope is that the USA has no history of its own and so its people latch onto the smallest scraps of foreign heritage as a way to give themselves some cultural context and cachet.

I think this is fine in a vacuum but what gets really annoying is the simultaneous claim of being superior to any other nations and ignorance of the cultures they claim to be

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Venator@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
Another issue that can arise is people feeling more connected to some fractional heritage that they like, as a way to divide thier local community more and feel separate e.g. “Arian heritage”…

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BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
One of my best friend’s future in-laws identify as Italian-american but have barely left their home state. Not malicious and they aren’t bigoted about that, but they act like they’re direct deceandeants when they’re a generation or two removed, which is annoying at worst. I won’t be critical of someone identifying with their heritage as long as it doesn’t disparage anyone else. They do make solid raviolis which is nice.

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Pirat@lemmy.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
I was always proud to from the USA up until W and the Iraq war. My pride has been flagging ever since.

Having said that, to find out what it means to be US American, one has to know one’s heritage. This, of course, will be different for each individual but my heritage is one of the most common, that being ancestors from the British Isles and Germany. That does not diminish, in my mind, the contributions of other cultures. Those other cultures, particularly African and Spanish, help contribute to making me now different from my British/German heritage, thus American. There are many of my heritage who want to pretend other influences don’t exist. They forget … E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many One.

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