There has been some discussion in the Theresa Heinz Kerry thread of hyphenated Americans.  I am an American.  My family on both sides have been here for countless generations, we were taught to call
ourselves Americans. In our homes we were Americans, but in the streets, media, politics, we were not.  What do you think of when you here the term "All-American".  Some of you are too young to remember the term"free, white and 21", but it was used, very casually, to denote ones status as an American.  The use of the term African was considered derogatory until one day,  after so many generations of being considered not quite American, Americans of African descent decided that there wasn't any shame in being of African descent, and started calling themselves African Americans.  It was cathartic in a way most Americans of European ancestry
will not understand.  We have always considered ourselves American, unfortunately, America has not alway
considered us Americans(how often has an American of European descent been told to "go back where
you came from"). The hyphenation of other groups, I believe , was a hyphenation of pride in ones ancestry,
the hyphenation by African Americans seems to me to be more of a rallying point.

I am a Native American.  Born here and lived here all my life.  Just like my parents and most of my grandparents.

My great grandparents were born as Scottish or Irish citizens, then immigrated to the USA and became naturalized citizens of the U.S. of A.

My paternal great grandparants migrated here from Germany and were naturalized.  My maternal grandparants were born in Puerto Rico before it became US property, so they became citizens by act of congress.

I will add that I am African/Dutch/English/Narragansett/ on my mothers side, African/French/Scottish on my fathers I opt for alphabetical order so as not to show favoritism to one grand,great, or great great over another.

WASP-Irish with a little Romanian.

My father's side: Russian-Jew, Polish-Jew, and (I think) German. My anscesters on this side of the family came to the U.S. in the late 1800s.
My mother's side: English, Canuck (French Canadian), (I think) Scot, and Irish. My anscesters on this family-well I think some came over on the Mayflower (or shortly there after). Others settle in what they THOUGHT was Canada but there was a border dispute and ended up on the U.S. side. So, they became American citizens instead of moving their home.


In other words, I am pure American mutt.  ;D ;D



Cat

I am pure American mutt.  ;D ;D



Cat


After all this time you have come up with the term I like and plan to use from now on.  ; :)

After all this time you have come up with the term I like and plan to use from now on.   ; :)


But, being a mutt means you are a mix of things where the mix would be apparent. Without any mean intent or anything, you discussed white ethnicities where there's no signaling aspect of mixture. Basically, you are "white" in the general sense. For example, I'm African/Welsh/French on my dad's side and I'm African/Irish/Native American on my mom's side. I am a light-complected African-American. My mixture is apparent when you see me.

Tanya

WASP-Irish with a little Romanian.


What is WASP-Irish, Maxwell?

I was born in England and don't really know too much about my ancestory. There is a little Welsh in my blood.

But, being a mutt means you are a mix of things where the mix would be apparent. Without any mean intent or anything, you discussed white ethnicities where there's no signaling aspect of mixture. Basically, you are "white" in the general sense. For example, I'm African/Welsh/French on my dad's side and I'm African/Irish/Native American on my mom's side. I am a light-complected African-American. My mixture is apparent when you see me.

Tanya


Ahhh, but are you(we) light complected of African descent  or dark complected of European descent? 
Just as there are "whites" with out a signaling aspect of mixture, there are also "blacks" without a signaling aspect of mixture.

But, being a mutt means you are a mix of things where the mix would be apparent. Without any mean intent or anything, you discussed white ethnicities where there's no signaling aspect of mixture. Basically, you are "white" in the general sense. For example, I'm African/Welsh/French on my dad's side and I'm African/Irish/Native American on my mom's side. I am a light-complected African-American. My mixture is apparent when you see me.

Tanya



You should post your picture up on the thread in the Playful Penguin Place.  ;D




Cat

What is WASP-Irish, Maxwell?



I stand to be corrected, but I think it's an acronym for 'White Anglo-Saxon Protestant' (?)...or something like that...

(I prefer the rock group Wasp's interpretation of it...'We Are Se*ual Perverts'...!!)

I don't think any of the English could safely say where their roots lie - we used to get invaded ever other Tuesday...!

Speaking of Tuesday...strange how our days of the week were mostly named after Viking Gods, and our months were bequeathed to us by The Roman Empire...

I stand to be corrected, but I think it's an acronym for 'White Anglo-Saxon Protestant' (?)...or something like that...

(I prefer the rock group Wasp's interpretation of it...'We Are Se*ual Perverts'...!!)
(W.A.S.P. = We Are Satan's People
:D
Another dumb acronym attributed to Blackie Lawless' band.)
White Anglo-Sax Protestant it is.  Americans of English stock often refer to themselves as WASPs.  However, WASP carries with it a cultural and class implication having to do with the U.S. eastern yankee establishment.  George H.W. Bush was an ultimate WASP.  George W. Bush affects a Texas cowboy image to try to distance himself from what he is--an ultimate WASP.
Whereas, I have no money, no social capital, and no family connections to the eastern establishment,  I do have six ancestors on the Mayflower.  With this ancestral cache, I could be drunk in a gutter and still refer to myself as a WASP.
However, I'm not pure blue blood.  I'm 20% Irish from my paternal grandmother, and one of my paternal great-grandfathers was the son of a Romanian miller.  I might actually have a trace of Jewish blood from that!
:)




Speaking of Tuesday...strange how our days of the week were mostly named after Viking Gods, and our months were bequeathed to us by The Roman Empire...


I know my Puritan ancestors rejected the names of the days of the week because they were Pagan.  They adopted the more Christian First Day, Second Day, Third Day...  Of course Sunday was Seventh Day.

Not sure what they did for the months.  January through August have Roman provenance.  January=Janus, February=Februs, March=Mars, and so forth.  However, September through December merely indicate numbered months from the Latin, Sept=Seven, Dec=Ten, etc.

You should post your picture up on the thread in the Playful Penguin Place.  ;D




Cat


You want to take my picture, Cat!  ;)

Tanya

Ahhh, but are you(we) light complected of African descent  or dark complected of European descent? 
Just as there are "whites" with out a signaling aspect of mixture, there are also "blacks" without a signaling aspect of mixture.


Interesting conflict, isn't it? My physical features reflect a predominant African ancestry, though from my hips to my derriere to my lips to my hair (in its natural state). So, I'm a light complected African.

Tanya

I'm a heterosexual-canadian.

Interesting conflict, isn't it? My physical features reflect a predominant African ancestry, though from my hips to my derriere to my lips to my hair (in its natural state). So, I'm a light complected African.

Tanya


My physical features reflect a predominant European ancestry, why is it that Caucasians are surprised at my freckles? But my skin is a shade past the paper bag, So I am also a light complected African.

I stand to be corrected, but I think it's an acronym for 'White Anglo-Saxon Protestant' (?)...or something like that...

(I prefer the rock group Wasp's interpretation of it...'We Are Se*ual Perverts'...!!)

I don't think any of the English could safely say where their roots lie - we used to get invaded ever other Tuesday...!

Speaking of Tuesday...strange how our days of the week were mostly named after Viking Gods, and our months were bequeathed to us by The Roman Empire...


Thanks for the explanation, Paul. I guessed it was an acronym but had no idea what the words were.  ;D

Your last point is quite an interesting one:

Sun- Sun
Monday - Moon
Tuesday - Tyr or Tiw (Norse God of war)
Wednesday - Woden's day (Norse Chief God)
Thursday - Thor (Norse God of Thunder)
Friday - Frigga (Norse Goddess of marriage and the home)

I'm a heterosexual-canadian.


:D


While my ancestors are from Italy, I just refer to myself as an American-Princess ;)

:D


While my ancestors are from Italy, I just refer to myself as an American-Princess ;)


One of my sisters have been referred to (by my other sisters of course) as a JAP-Jewish American Princess.



Cat

      Ladies, Ladies, we have gone past the princess stage,
      Hold your heads up, We are QUEENS

      Ladies, Ladies, we have gone past the princess stage,
      Hold your heads up, We are QUEENS


I did say that it was my sister who was the princess. I, myself happen to be a GODDESS! ;)



Cat

My father is Italian and mom is part Irish & German.....

Like many who have answered, I consider myself first and foremost an American. 

However, my ancestors were:

Maternally: British and Polish

Paternally: Irish and Cherokee

Like many who have answered, I consider myself first and foremost an American. 

However, my ancestors were:

Maternally: British and Polish

Paternally: Irish and Cherokee
Right on, Koop :)

My physical features reflect a predominant European ancestry, why is it that Caucasians are surprised at my freckles? But my skin is a shade past the paper bag, So I am also a light complected African.


I'm a two shades below the bag, meaning I'm definitely, light, bright, and damn near - you know the rest.

Tanya

this is a fun thread...I am a native American mongrel myself...French and English, on my mothers side...and Scottish on my dads...

Speaking of Tuesday...strange how our days of the week were mostly named after Viking Gods, and our months were bequeathed to us by The Roman Empire...

And interesting too is that this is 2004 A.D....  ;)

One of my sisters have been referred to (by my other sisters of course) as a JAP-Jewish American Princess.



Cat



Hey, you taught me how to search for things, thanks! ;)  So I did a search for the word JAP, as an original 80's JAP myself and still going strong, lol!  The only thing that keeps me from being a true blooded JAP is that I clean my own house and proud of it too, Dh offerred the cleaning lady help like my friends have and I turned it down even though I have 2 babies, I like the way I clean better, ok, sorry I know I'm bragging!  But my look is definitely JAP and it just feels right, I got my makeup on, and my hair in place and my outfit with the brand I'm obssessed with at the moment(Juicy Couture perfect SAHM attire) and a Fendi or Prada bag dangling from my fur coat(vintage 80's), that's me plus a couple of whining kids pulling at me, lol!  I only have one Jappy friend :(  she's not married and is so busy with her single life, only calls me to complain about her parents or rant about a guy she's chasing, she's beautiful and deep down wants to get married I'm sure but picks guys that don't want to.  I have my other sahm friends but I just can't talk clothes, bags and the like with them w/o feeling a little funny.  Anyway...my little prince just woke up, gotta go!

I am a "Heinz-51 American".

There are so many backgrounds in me, "American" is the only one I claim.

I am a "Heinz-51 American".

There are so many backgrounds in me, "American" is the only one I claim.

Do you mean Heinz 57?  Or Bush 41?

Do you mean Heinz 57?  Or Bush 41?


sigh

Does everything have to be about politics with you?

Oh wait, I forget.  Politics is everything.  And how dare I describe myself as "Heinz-57"  After all, Mother Theresa Heinz is the enemy, right?

I am a Welsh-AngloSaxon-Scotish-Native American(Cherokee)-MiddleEastern(Turkish)-American. LOL.


EDIT: Almost forgot, we think my great grandmother might have been of Jewish descent. I'm talking about my mother's mother's mother. Her last name was Caine, and we think it might have been changed from the Germanic spelling(which is a Jewish name). However, we have tried to research her ancestral history to no avail, we cannot even find out where exactly she was born. So I may or may not be part Jewish.

:P


BUT, if I had to pick one ethnicity to label myself, I'd pick Welsh-American, since my last name is Welsh.

However, I am not big into ethnic pride, it is certainly no the main factor I build my identity around, like some people choose to.

      Ladies, Ladies, we have gone past the princess stage,
      Hold your heads up, We are QUEENS

i second that..  ;)
i am,however,a princess through and through  :)

I'm a princess that lives in Queens, lol.  But if I keep making boys I joke around and say I'll be Queen of my castle, softens the blow of never getting a little angel to dress up in gorgeous boutiquey clothes, and to of course turn into a future JAP like me, :)

I'm a princess that lives in Queens, lol.  But if I keep making boys I joke around and say I'll be Queen of my castle, softens the blow of never getting a little angel to dress up in gorgeous boutiquey clothes, and to of course turn into a future JAP like me, :)




Lol.

I knew a Jewish guy who always went on about how he couldn't stand JAPs.

sigh

Does everything have to be about politics with you?
Oh gosh! You know, you're right.  I shouldn't politicize Heinz...

Oh wait, I forget.  Politics is everything.  And how dare I describe myself as "Heinz-57"  After all, Mother Theresa Heinz is the enemy, right?

I suppose if you're from Team A-1!

Do you mean Heinz 57?  Or Bush 41?


;D ;D ;D ;D I thought it was funny.  Lost the sense of humor 'shroom?  And Max,I know you have run
into to people who are very seriously impressed by their Mayflower background, it happens all the
time when you live around the Boston area.  I love to turn my little brown face around and say
"yeah, well who ain't?"  watch them get all huffy around the butt, not what they want to hear, as I
walk away laughing ;D ;D ;D ;D

I don't think any of the English could safely say where their roots lie - we used to get invaded ever other Tuesday...!

My word, you do have a long memory: the last successful invasion was in 1066 (unless you count the "Glorious Revolution" which could have been construed as invasion, but is usually told as being, er, "by invitiation only")


I am a Welsh-AngloSaxon-Scotish-Native American(Cherokee)-MiddleEastern(Turkish)-American. LOL.

Sounds like it ought to be a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious parody ;-)

On-topic, briefly: my heredity is German/Engish on my mother's side, Russian/Polish on my father's (all his grandparents were Jewish immigrants).

Well, my situation is a bit iffy. I could be called a Canadian-American/American-Canadian because in fact, I was borne with dual citizenship to both respective countries, and I take prinde in both of their respective achievements and scowl at their wrong-doings (most of the latter having been done by the American half... lol).

But as far as my ancestry

Paternal: Irish and Scottish (which is basically the same thing, both being a gaelic-speaking people).
Maternal: English and German.

So I am an Anglo-Gaelic-German-American/Canadian. Grammar check please...?

Lost the sense of humor 'shroom? 


No, not at all.  But I often get tired when everything is turned into a political jab.  That seems to me less of an attempt at "humor", and more into an attack.  And to be honest, I am starting to get sick of it.

I make no effort to hide my politics.  But neither do I shove it into everybodies face over and over again.  I do not use every chance possible to make an attack on Kerry.  In fact, I can barely remember ever making an attack on Kerry.  But over and over, I see that Bush is fair game.

Oh wait, I forgot.  Bush is evil, so it is not an attack, it is "truth".  So bringing him up all the time is only right and fair.  George Bush eats Iraqi children with onions, that is true.  Who cares if it is not true, he might, so go ahead and say it.

I am just getting sick of it.  And the funny thing is, this moderate is only being pushed farther to the right out of disgust. 

But, being a mutt means you are a mix of things where the mix would be apparent. Without any mean intent or anything, you discussed white ethnicities where there's no signaling aspect of mixture. Basically, you are "white" in the general sense. For example, I'm African/Welsh/French on my dad's side and I'm African/Irish/Native American on my mom's side. I am a light-complected African-American. My mixture is apparent when you see me.

Tanya
Well,I'm white and most people seem to think the mix is apparent--they have a hard time figuring out what i look like1Cheers!