Why are Americans who can trace their roots to Ireland

[WCGreen]

Called Irish Americans...

Shouldn't they be called American's of Irish Decent.

Same with all the different nationalities.

Under the current way of identifying myself I would consider myself a Polish-Irish-German-Welsh-Russian American...

Or, as I prefer, an American of Polish - Irish - German - Welsh - Russian Decent.

But what I really am is an American who is a product of and enjoys the rich cultural diversity that we all here in this country are lucky enough to born into...

All those soldiers that fought and died under the American Flag that we will remember this coming Monday took to the battle field as Americans. Whether we agree or disagree with all the wars that were fought in our name and on our behave, make no mistake about it, it was American soldiers fighting together under the Stars and Stripes.

After two hundred and thirty odd years on, the United States of America is as much an idea as it is a country, a state of being, a conglomeration of many cultures and many beliefs that somehow works together toward a shared experience.

No other country in the world is quite like we are.

I just wanted to throw some of my thoughts about this country before Memorial Day passes on and gives way to the summer...

[DontTreadOnMe]

1. Native Americans describes the original Indians

it just sounds more natural than Americans of Native Decent

[WCGreen]

2. That's perfect....

[loose wheel]

12. How far back do you gotta go to claim your native?

Am I native Marylander? My parents migrated here to work for the federal government when I was two. I don't remember ever living anywhere else. Or is it my sister who was born after me, or her kids that are native Marylanders?

As far as Native Americans go...they are descendants of groups of people who crossed the Bering isthmus towards the end of the last ice age, and there is some good evidence to suggest that those groups were not the first. How native are they?

[intaglio]

3. I suspect it is the usual reason

Racism.

The Irish, Welsh, Germans, Poles and others have all been regarded as not real Americans, nearly unlawful immigrants. The haters probably emphasise the prior nationality as a way of saying these people are not really American.

[southernyankeebelle]

10. You also forgot Italians. My dad was from PA and his family changed their spelling

of their last name. He refused. Yes even to this day the rest of his family prounce their name the american way and we prounce it the Italian way. We correct his family. They don't like it. But who cares. I love my heritage just as much as my american heritage. I will never give up my american citizenship because I was born here. My mom became an american citizen and she doesn't want to have it any other way.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Woodrow Wilson quote:

“Any man who carries a hyphen about with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic.”

It was jingo-nationalistic crap then... and now.

[jberryhill]

7. Wow.. never heard that one

IMHO:

"Any man who carries a hyphen about him carries a recipe for something you never had, and is really good. They also probably have some music you've never heard, and is really good. Along with jokes, stories, dances, and all kinds of stuff you never would have thought of."

It's a freaking buffet of cool stuff.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Had he said THAT instead of what I quoted...

...his legacy would be MUCH stronger that it ultimately was.

[jberryhill]

5. "the United States of America is as much an idea as it is a country"

That's, IMHO, the coolest thing about being an American.

It IS a set of ideas. Which means there is no "type" of human who can be an American.

Anyone who understands the rules of baseball can be a baseball player. Same thing.

It doesn't require any particular ethnicity, language, religion, gender, etc.

I'm surprised at the recent SHOCK some have felt about the "racial" categorization of children born in America. I just don't get the point. Americans is Americans.

Some people object to identifying as "Irish American" and so on, as if being an American requires one to give up one's cultural heritage. Again, I don't get the point. We all get to share the best that every culture has to offer. Coming up on the calendar in my town is the Italian festival, the Greek festival, the Hispanic festival, Diwali... we just had Cinco de Mayo, and every year it seems there are new ones to check out. I will never understand people who feel "threatened" by this kind of stuff.

[barbtries]

6. i can trace my roots to ireland

and several other countries but i don't think anyone has ever referred to me as Irish American.

[WCGreen]

11. I think it is more prevelant in the large cities in the East....

The people tended move right into an ethnic neighborhood...

[monmouth]

15. That's very true. My family from Ireland settled in Montclair, NJ, they had their "Irish" church

and the Italian community had theirs. The nice thing was they supported each others benefits and events. That's how my Irish grandmother learned to cook some great Italian food. The Italian Festival was very popular and all of the ethnic groups merged.

[Siwsan]

9. Interesting question. I'm extremely proud to be of Welsh decent, but I identify as an American

Not a Welsh American or Celtic American. I wonder if it has something to do with the timing of the immigration. So many Americans of Irish, Asian and Italian families are just a few generations deep in American citizenship. The Dutch, Germans and English/Scot/Welsh have been here for many generations.

It's a theory, anyway.

[HeiressofBickworth]

14. My most recent immigrant ancestors

came from Sweden in 1880. I have never considered myself any kind of hyphenated American.

[rufus dog]

16. As an Irish American, or an American of Irish Decent

I can live with either. And with all benevolence to my departed Irish Mother, I have to say we are elated not to be referred to as "acting like drunk Irish Sailors," which unfortunately matched the description of one of her brothers, but was used on on my brothers and me on occasion.

BTW, this should have really pissed off the brother that it was used against most often, (close call between him and me) because he was stoned, not drunk!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. I LIKE how you put this, my multi-cultural friend!

After two hundred and thirty odd years on, the United States of America is as much an idea as it is a country, a state of being, a conglomeration of many cultures and many beliefs that somehow works together toward a shared experience.

I too am the product of many cultures: English, Irish, Scottish, French, Swedish, and German...

I was born here, and I am a proud American who honors those who brought the seeds that made me, here...

[caileagruadh]

18. Is this a post of right-wing origin?

???Do you normally call "a red car" "a car of a reddish color."
Hyphenated terms are like any combination of an Adjective and Noun. The most important, core term is second.

So using a term like Irish American is not a sign that one does not value one's American identity. If anything it emphasizes the "American" part. Sure, one could call onesself American, but the other alternative is to call onesself simply"Irish. People constantly ask me if am "Irish" or comment on someone who is "Italian." It seems like these labels should be your beef.

Hyphenated terms suggest that a person is an American with a background which is distinct from the background of other Americans. Is there anything wrong with this? Good for you that you are mix of many different cultures. Does this make you somehow more American than me?

There is no one American, and calls for behaving like a "true American" by pretending that we are all the same is illogical and nonsense. I would expect this on a right-wing blog.Not here.

[libinnyandia]

19. I have less problem with those who call themselves whatever-American than with those who

think being a native of one state is better or worse than being a native of another state. As far as I'm concerned the most important things is we're all Americans, with many different origins.

[Fumesucker]

20. The Civil War made a big difference in the way Americans thought about themselves..

That appears to be the time when the phrase "The United States are" became "The United States is", a minor shift in phraseology that reveals a marked shift in attitude..

[KT2000]

21. my grandparents were Irish-American

since they held both citizenships. Probably their children were considered Irish-American since the other half of the town where they lived was considered italian-American - in truth they considered their neighbors as plain old Italian and Irish - with plenty of criticism directed at each other.
I know my father was raised with the Irish traditions but his children were all tv watching/baseball playing/hamburger eating Americans who never stopped for 4 o'clock cup of tea. American through and through.

[RebelOne]

22. Both my mother and father were of Irish descent.

But I do not consider myself Irish-American. I am American. I have been to Ireland twice and I would not like to live there. I am glad I was born in the good old USA.

[hfojvt]

23. being Irish American

or German American or Swiss American

Allows me to be Irish AND American and German AND American and Swiss AND American

Plus German-American is much easier to say than American of German descent as well as not including the negative sounding word "descent".

[UTUSN]

24. Well, we took to battle for economic reasons, among others... n/t