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What's the point of specifically Americans identifying with other cultures if people born there will just make fun of them for it? (discuss.online)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
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Sorry to ask, I don’t want to seem ignorant but I really don’t get it. Like, I saw a post on someone identifying as Norwegian-American and I thought of what another commenter said that most people don’t do the stuff Americans do and how most people will see them as American. But I see many Americans strongly identify with a culture they were raised with. Is it still okay for them to do that? What’s the point?

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[–] 63 points 5 months ago* (5 children)

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 foreign heritage 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/fractional. If it helps them find meaning or feel connected to something then I’ve got no issue with it. Humans like to feel connected to other humans, and it’s fun to discover that you have things in common.

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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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    You don’t tend to see this behaviour in other OECD nations which is why its so weird.

    It is a uniquely American thing to harp on about their culture… that they’ve never lived in.

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  • [–] 22 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    That's actually pretty ignorant and judgemental. That statement sounds so MAGA.

    Setting aside the U.S.'s current political disposition for the moment.

    The U.S. has always been a huge melting pot of different peoples of the world. A lot of those people would stay together, creating little islands of culture all over.

    They would celebrate their culture and often celebrate other people's culture along with them. (I have been told that the U.S. celebrates Cinco De Mayo way more than Mexico ever did.)

    A lot of it comes from asserting your own culture identity against this broad mixing pot. Or even asserting it against active suppression. Some of it is evolved tradition over the generations.

    Many people value their ancestral roots and like to celebrate it.

    Saying America has no history is so ethnocentric.

    The U.S. is made up of immigrants from the entire globe. The U.S.'s history shares its history with every other nation of the world.

    I love that there are so many different festivals, from different cultures, all the time. Houston is in Texas, but it is a massively diverse city. We named a highway after a Sikh policeman who had been murdered in the line of duty. The city (county maybe) even lets us sell fireworks for Diwali. There are Greek festivals all over. (Yes it has a terribly racist past, and it is considered the human trafficking capital of the U.S., fuck you big oil.)

    I have never had someone introduce themselves to me as a -American. But plenty of people will talk about their ancestral culture if you ask.

    I guess if you live in a monoculture, then you may not value that culture identity as strongly as you might when your ancestral culture is just one of a thousand.

    Diversity is king. If someone wants to let their cultural freak flag fly, who the hell are you to judge?

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  • [+] -6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

    That statement sounds so MAGA.

    Not a statement, it’s an observation.

    Do you always start out by straw manning a persons political beliefs? What an oddly blue haired ring nose wearing gay anarchist thing to do.

    Tap for spoilerIts a joke, not a dig at blue haired nose ring wearing gays. Anarchists though…

    The U.S. has always been a huge melting pot of different peoples of the world.

    The US is not unique in its diversity amongst OECD nations and this behaviour stands out.

    If someone wants to let their cultural freak flag fly, who the hell are you to judge?

    Who the fuck are you to stop people from commenting on this uniquely American oddity?

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months 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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  • [–] 4 points 5 months 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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  • [–] 2 points 5 months 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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  • [–] 1 point 5 months 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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