Mastodawn

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

https://discuss.online/post/36437150

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

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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MurrayL Mar 4

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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BassTurd

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.